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Mass. hits NiSource utility with new probe of post-explosion work after gas leak

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Mass. hits NiSource utility with new probe of post-explosion work after gas leak

Massachusetts regulators opened a formal investigation into a gas leak on Columbia Gas of Massachusetts' system, marking the second time in less than a month the state has initiated a probe into the NiSource Inc. subsidiary's restoration work following the 2018 Merrimack Valley disaster.

The enforcement branch of the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities accused Columbia Gas of violating federal pipeline safety regulations in an Oct. 1 letter. The DPU's Pipeline Safety Division alleges Columbia Gas did not follow its own procedures when it abandoned a low-pressure main during restoration work, a failure that set up the major gas leak Sept. 27 in Lawrence, Mass.

The investigation comes one week after the National Transportation Safety Board blamed weak management and systemic deficiencies at Columbia Gas for a deadly series of explosions and fires in 2018 caused by an overpressurized line in the area. It adds to emerging concerns over the integrity of the company's replacement of dozens of miles of gas mains and thousands of service lines in the year since the catastrophe.

On Sept. 11, DPU Commissioner Matthew Nelson ordered Columbia Gas to implement safety measures and threatened fines after the company said it discovered its workers improperly abandoned a pair of service lines in Andover and Lawrence, Mass., as part of the restoration work.

The DPU previously concluded the Sept 27 leak occurred after city contractors preparing for road construction inadvertently closed a gas valve and punctured an active gas main.

The Oct. 1 letter clarified that the leak occurred on a 2-inch high-pressure plastic main that Columbia Gas inserted through an abandoned 6-inch low-pressure main. Columbia Gas should have disabled the valve connected to the abandoned main, the DPU said.

The DPU alleged this constitutes a violation of federal safety regulations, which require pipeline operators to develop and follow procedures for maintenance activities. The department cited Columbia Gas procedures that instruct workers to either remove valve boxes when they abandon associated mains or fill them with concrete if they cannot be removed.

"The valve from the abandoned main, located at the intersection of S. Broadway and Salem St. could only be exercised because Columbia Gas did not abandon the main as required by the company's procedures," Justin Evans, a public utilities engineer in DPU's Pipeline Safety Division, wrote in the letter.

Evans forwarded the letter to the director of the state's Pipeline Safety Division, Richard Enright, and instructed Columbia Gas to submit a written response within 30 days if the company wishes to do so.