‘Sick and tired’ uprooted victims ready for their say
Residents of the Merrimack Valley gas disaster, some “sick and tired” of the long recovery, want answers from Columbia gas and action from state and federal authorities.
Yohanny Cespedes of Lawrence is among the remaining 20 percent of families who still do not have gas in their home. She hopes today’s Senate Commerce Committee field hearing shows Columbia Gas executives that “there’s a lot of families suffering.”
“I hope everyone can be home soon, sooner than what they said. That’s my hope for everybody,” said Cespedes. She is living in a hotel in New Hampshire and said she expects service to be restored to her home this week.
“I’m not in a hotel on vacation, I’m sick and tired,” said Cespedes.
The field hearing will cover response efforts by federal, state and local authorities. U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Edward J. Markey will participate along with Columbia Gas executives.
Sara Hidalgo of Andover is unable to make the hearing but plans to write a letter to Markey about her concerns.
“I want the answer of what happened, and they are not saying what happened,” said Hidalgo.
Hidalgo, who has two adult sons, chose to stay in her home for two months while she waited out the restoration efforts and was finally relit just over a week ago. She had gotten used to taking bucket showers, cooking on a hot plate and running space heaters all day to stay warm. Now, she is just waiting for Columbia Gas to install a new stove and things will settle back into normal.
“Columbia Gas has been very disorganized in the way they approached things — it definitely shows they were not prepared for a situation like that,” said Hidalgo.
“Maybe that was a good thing, so now they can be a little more organized and try to avoid a situation like this in the future,” she said.
Hidalgo also said she hopes to see some new emergency response initiatives emerge from the field hearing. She said Columbia Gas should be “penalized in some way,” but that should be left up to the senators.
Cespedes said she wants Mayor Dan Rivera to take some responsibility at the hearing, as well. “I don’t feel that he has done anything,” said Cespedes.
Like Hidalgo, she would also like to see a new emergency response plan crafted for the city.
“It’s not enough for what we deserve,” said Cespedes.