Neighborhood Gas Explosions Still Resonate One Year Later

Niska photo

Gas Explosion Damage to Home in North Andover (EEng, Creative Commons)

Triton Hockey Alumni Mr. TJ Regan was one of those affected by the tragedies of the Merrimack Valley Gas Explosions. Living in North Andover at the time of the gas leaks Regan kept out of his home until late November of 2018.

“

I lost my bank card so I called my dad to ask if he’s seen it and he told me that there’s a gas leak and I should to my uncle’s house because we had a fire in our basement and that there’s been houses exploding everywhere.

— TJ Regan

I lost my bank card so I called my dad to ask if he’s seen it and he told me that there’s a gas leak and I should to my uncle’s house because we had a fire in our basement and that there’s been houses exploding everywhere.[/pullquote] “I was at a car dealership with my sister in Danvers.” Said Regan, recalling how he learned of the explosions. “I lost my bank card so I called my dad to ask if he’s seen it and he told me that there’s a gas leak and I should to my uncle’s house because we had a fire in our basement and that there’s been houses exploding everywhere.” 

On September 13, 2018, over-pressurized gas mains caused fiery explosions that killed 18-year-old Leonel Rondon. These explosions affected the three towns North Andover, Andover and Lawrence with 60-100 damaged properties. 

A total of 22 people were transported to the hospital that day, another 50,000 were evacuated from their homes. After about a year since the explosions occurred, the dust has settled and the National Safety Transportation Board (NSTB), has made a decision. The cause of the damage was poor management, “The NTSB determines that the probable cause … was Columbia Gas of Massachusetts’ 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 regulator sensing lines to the new polyethylene main,” said NTSB’s Managing Director Sharon Bryson at the time. 

Columbia Gas, the company responsible for the natural gas in homes in the Merrimack Valley agreed with the NTSB’s investigation. They not only accepted the final decision of the investigation but praised it, and took full responsibility for the tragedy. 

The explosions were such a concern that Governor Charlie Baker had declared a state of emergency for the next day. Some residents living in the area were able to return to their homes within days, others were kept out and without utilities until December. 

The NTSB had also found 14 other faults in the company “… inadequate planning, documentation, and record-keeping processes, an insufficient review process, and failure to follow their own emergency response procedures,” said the National Safety Transportation Board. https://www.ntsb.gov/

The cost for the property damage, injuries, recovery, and the utilities assisting recovery is estimated to be over $1 billion.