Oct. 24-- Oct. 24--LAWRENCE -- Mayor Daniel Rivera wants Columbia Gas' license to be revoked in Massachusetts after a final report on the Sept. 13, 2018 gas disaster reinforced the company's responsibility for the mayhem, he said in a statement.
The report conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board points to Columbia Gas' "weak engineering management" that did not adequately plan, review, sequence and oversee the construction project that led to the abandonment of a cast-iron main without first relocating the regulator that senses gas pressure.
The NTSB also found that the natural gas distribution system was not designed or run with proper protections.
Just over a year ago, a natural gas distribution line owned and operated by Columbia Gas, a subsidiary of NiSource, was filled with high-pressure gas that it was not built to handle. One person, Lawrence teen Leonel Rondon, was killed. Twenty-two people, including firefighters, were taken to hospitals.
Fires and explosions spread through Lawrence, Andover and North Andover, damaging 131 structures, including at least five homes that were demolished. The disaster continues to haunt residents of the Merrimack Valley today.
"For the first time, we are seeing the whole picture of how disorganized, unprepared and overwhelmed Columbia Gas was in dealing with the disaster," Rivera said in the statement. "We also see a full accounting of the missteps and orchestra of engineering failures that led to the explosions and fires throughout Greater Lawrence."
Rivera has repeated since soon after the explosions that Columbia Gas was the "least informed and the last to act."
"The report shows Columbia Gas had no access to maps of the systems for first responders," Rivera said in the wake of the final report. "Columbia Gas acted late in shutting down the system, and Columbia Gas had no real command and control at the height of the crisis."
The report discusses an emergency response plan and a NiSource emergency manual, which Rivera claims no one from the company has ever showed him upon request.
Evident through the report is Columbia Gas' failure to implement its own policies and industry-accepted practices, specifically a Sept. 2, 2015 NiSource operational notice on how to avoid overpressurization like the one that blasted the Merrimack Valley.
Short of the removal of the company's license, Rivera does not think other action will fix Columbia Gas' dangerous culture.
"The removal of their license is, in part, to punish Columbia Gas, but more importantly, sets a standard for utilities to place community safety above all else," Rivera said.
Source: INACTIVE-Tribune Regional
(October 24, 2019 - 6:51 PM EDT)
News by QuoteMedia
www.quotemedia.com
