Families file class-action lawsuit days after gas explosions, fires shocked Massachusetts towns

Attorneys claim negligence forced 8,600 people out of their homes

Vivian Marquez, left, comforts her neighbor, Lisa Rodriguez, as they wait in line for food, water, and other supplies at a senior center in Lawrence, Mass., two days after a natural gas line caused dozens of explosions and fires.

LAWRENCE, Mass. – Days after an unusual natural gas mishap led to dozens of explosions and fires across three towns north of Boston, lawyers have filed a classaction lawsuit against Columbia Gas of Massachusetts, claiming that the company’s negligence forced residents out of more 8,600 homes, leaving them without shelter for days while officials worked to ensure their safety upon return.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday on behalf of one woman who was forced out of her home from Thursday evening through Sunday morning, while authorities warned that entire neighborhoods were unsafe due to potential gas leaks and the possibility of more explosions.

The initial set of blasts appear to have occurred after the natural gas system was overpressurized, sending gas into homes and, in some cases, igniting. There were more than 80 gas explosions reported here and in the towns of Andover and North Andover, some of which caused fires and building collapses. One Lawrence teen, 18-year-old Leonel Rondon, was killed when the force of an explosion blew a chimney off a house and onto the car in which Rondon was sitting.

In a conference call, lawyers who filed the suit, including Robert F. “Bobby” Kennedy Jr., son of the former attorney general and presidential candidate, accused Columbia Gas and its parent company Nisource of Indiana, of gross negligence.

“I’ve been involved in litigation against Columbia all over the country,” said Kennedy, an environmental attorney. “As they build new miles of pipe, the same company is ignoring its existing infrastructure, which we now know is eroding and is dilapidated.”

Columbia Gas also was involved in a gas explosion in Springfield, Mass., in 2012, in which a strip club was leveled, injuring 28 people, and another in West Virginia this summer in which no one was injured.

Kennedy said that the gas pressure in the pipeline just before the blast last week was 12 times higher than it should have been. He said his firm will be conducting an independent investigation; the National Transportation Safety Board also is investigating the disaster.

Columbia Gas has not made any public statements since Friday, when Republican Gov. Charlie Baker removed them from heading up the repair operations. At the time, CEO Steve Bryant offered condolences to those affected by the disaster and promised the company would do its best to help. The utility Tuesday pledged to donate $10 million to an emergency relief fund for people affected by the explosions and fires. Bryant has said he could not make any other statements until after the NTSB concludes its investigation, which could take as long as two years.

Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera criticized the lawsuit as being premature.

“I think it’s shameful,” Rivera said at a news conference. “They are preying on these people’s desire for information. That needs to stop.”

The gas disaster was another tough turn for Lawrence, which was founded as a mill town about 25 miles north of Boston, taking advantage of water power from the Merrimack River, which it straddles. The city of 80,000 has been largely left behind, its industry collapsing and good jobs leaving. Lawrence remains the poorest city in Massachusetts, with household income at just about half the state’s $75,000 average. Its streets have seen the rise of the opioid epidemic, gang activity and crime.

But last week’s tragedy also revealed another side to this hardscrabble town: teenagers like Rondon, described as a math and science whiz, and a community with caring neighbors willing to share what little they have with others.