Owner of Columbia Gas linked to 3 other explosions

Records show accidents as officials probe blasts

The corporate parent of the Massachusetts natural gas utility that’s the focus of an investigation into explosions and fires that killed one person and injured about 25 others had links to three previous gas line blasts, a review of federal and state records and court filings shows. The links emerged as Columbia Gas of Massachusetts scrambled to provide assistance and information to residents of Lawrence, North Andover and other Merrimack Valley communities after Thursday’s tragedy. The history of other accidents also came as the National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation that showed Columbia Gas pipes in the area of the explosions had been over-pressurized. Normally, gas would flow into residences at a rate of a 1⁄2-pound per square inch, NTSB Chairman Robert Sumwalt said Sunday in Massachusetts. Columbia Gas of Massachusetts is the business name of Bay State Gas Company, according to a written summary of testimony Stephen Bryant, the utility’s president and chief operating officer, provided in April for a rate hike request submitted to the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. Incorporated in 1974, the company is one of seven natural gas distribution companies that are subsidiaries of NiSource, a publicly traded holding company based in Merrillville, Indiana. Columbia Gas distributes natural gas to roughly 321,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in three Massachusetts areas centered in Lawrence, Springfield and Brockton, according to Bryant. NiSource’s combined utility operations serve approximately 3.9 million customers in seven states and operate roughly 60,000 miles of distribution pipelines. The Massachusetts tragedy has renewed public focus on the safety of natural gas pipelines and the companies that own and maintain them. Through its subsidiaries, NiSource had links to at least three gas line explosions during the last six years.

❚ Springfield, Massachusetts, explosion: In November 2012, a Columbia Gas of Massachusetts service line explosion injured 21 and destroyed a building that housed the Scores strip club in Springfield, west of Boston.

❚ West Virginia pipeline blast: In December 2012, an interstate natural gas pipeline operated by Columbia Gas Transmission, another NiSource subsidiary at that time, exploded in Sissonville, West Virginia. Escaping highpressure gas from the 20-inch pipeline sparked a fire that destroyed three homes in the sparsely populated area, according to a NTSB report.

❚ Ohio pipeline explosion: A natural gas release from an “improperly abandoned” service line was responsible for a March 2015 explosion and fire, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio concluded in a report on the Upper Arlington disaster that caused $9 million in structural damage.

JESSICA RINALDI/AP Crews work to knock down a fire Thursday in Lawrence, Mass. Officials are blaming over-pressurized gas lines for the multiple explosions and fire.