Merrimack Valley Gas Explosions

A Massachusetts judge approved a $143 million class action settlement Thursday for residents and business owners affected by natural gas explosions in Massachusetts in 2018. The settlement’s approval comes days after Columbia Gas of Massachusetts pleaded guilty to causing the explosions that killed one person, injured dozens of others, and da...

Massachusetts officials are opening their own investigation into last September’s Merrimack Valley natural gas disaster. More than 100 structures were damaged in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover in the Sept. 13, 2018, fires and explosions. One person died and dozens were injured.

The National Transportation Safety Board has released its final report on last year’s deadly Merrimack Valley gas explosions....The 73-page report says the probable cause of the overpressurization that led to the gas explosions on Sept. 13, 2018 was Columbia Gas’ “weak engineering management that did not adequately plan, review, s...

A judge has given preliminary approval to a $143 million settlement in a lawsuit brought against the utility blamed for a series of gas explosions in Massachusetts in September 2018. Superior Court Judge James Lang wrote in the approval released Friday that the settlement “appears to be fair, reasonable, adequate and sufficient.”...

Elected officials in Massachusetts are objecting to a plan to divide up a $143 million class action settlement from last September’s natural gas disaster. Lawrence Mayor Daniel Rivera and four state lawmakers say the proposal needs to be revisited in light of a major gas leak that forced evacuations in Lawrence recently. They proposed a new p...

Roughly 175,000 residents and business owners would benefit from a $143 million class action settlement from last September’s natural gas explosions in Massachusetts, according to a legal brief. The proposal to distribute proceeds from the settlement against utility company Columbia Gas of Massachusetts calls for six categories of lump sum pa...

Federal officials are recommending stronger nationwide requirements for natural gas systems following last September’s natural gas explosions and fires in Massachusetts. The National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that gas utilities should be required to install gas additional safeguards to pipeline systems similar to the one involv...

The family of an 18-year-old who was killed during the Merrimack Valley gas explosions last September dedicated a square in Lawrence.

One year after the Merrimack Valley gas explosions, the city of Lawrence is still dealing with numerous challenges. But Mayor Daniel Rivera is hopeful — looking forward to next spring, when “what you’ll see here is basically a brand new field with the close to $80 million we got in the settlement with Columbia Gas.”

Communities in the Merrimack Valley of Massachusetts on Friday marked the first anniversary of the gas explosions that killed teenager Leonel Rondon, set more than 100 homes on fire and displaced some 8,000 people in Andover, North Andover and Lawrence. A memorial mass was held for the victims and first responders in Lawrence and an area of the cit...

Lawrence, Massachusetts Mayor Dan Rivera is calling on authorities to levy a hefty fine on Columbia Gas for failing to fully comply with a restoration plan following last year’s Merrimack Valley gas explosions.

One year ago Friday, Ismael Rivera’s wife heard a clicking sound coming from their stove. She called him, and he called 911. “I screamed at them to get out of the house,” he remembered. Minutes later, they watched from across the street as their home on Salem Street burned.

Legislation aimed at improving national pipeline safety following last September’s natural gas explosions in Massachusetts has advanced in Congress. Democratic Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts says most of his Leonel Rondon Pipeline Safety Act was incorporated into legislation reauthorizing the Department of Transportation’s pipeline saf...