On September 13, 2018, excessive pressure in natural gas lines owned by Columbia Gas caused a series of explosions and fires to occur in as many as 40 homes, with over 80 individual fires reported throughout the Merrimack Valley towns of Lawrence, Andover, and North Andover. Since that day Columbia Gas has made slow progress with repairs, displacing many residential and commercial customers. 

Join the CREW Boston Housing and Community Development Committee for a brown bag lunch as we welcome Evelyn Friedman, the Executive Director of the Greater Lawrence Community Action Council, Inc., and others from the Merrimack Valley. They will provide an overview and update of the 2018 Merrimack Valley “Gas Incident.” We’ll discuss how Columbia Gas customers were displaced and/or serviced, how the National Guard, State Legislature, and others stepped in, and how we might learn from this event.

Given our aging infrastructure, could this type of natural gas disaster happen elsewhere in the Commonwealth?