State to Columbia Gas: Address abandoned lines or face up to $1 million per violation

After a gas leak in Lawrence last week forced hundreds to evacuate their homes in the middle of the night, state officials ordered Columbia Gas to get all of its lines up to safety standards or face fines.

Following the 2018 Merrimack Valley gas explosions, Columbia Gas worked to repair its systems, abandoning many gas lines in the process. A letter from Matthew Nelson, chairman of the Department of Public Utilities, alleged the company abandoned nearly 5,000 service lines in last year’s cleanup.

Nelson said many of the abandoned lines do not comply with state or federal law and could pose safety concerns to the community.

The more recent gas leak was reportedly caused by a mistake by city contractors, according to a preliminary investigation, but the affected valve should have been disabled last year.

Nelson’s letter outlined steps Columbia Gas is required to take at risk of facing fines of up to $1 million “per violation.”

He wrote that the actions were being ordered to “restore full public confidence in the safety of the gas system in Merrimack Valley.”

The first deadline listed in the letter is Monday, by which Columbia Gas is expected to submit a plan detailing how and by when it will address the abandoned work.