This is scary stuff. I’m surprised at how much it has taken a back seat in the news today. I am so sorry for the families and businesspeople who have been impacted by this.
24
I comment on this as someone who started his career as an engineer in an oil refinery, and later moved on to the regulation of utilities at the state level, including regulation of gas companies.
Uncontaminated natural gas does not catch fire or explode without the presence of oxygen/air. The widespread incidence of scores of fires and explosions in an area causes me to believe that, when the gas lines were being worked on, air got into the gas distribution system. It is normal, when such work takes place, to displace/purge the lines of air by introducing a non combustion supporting gas, such as nitrogen, through the lines before natural gas is allowed back into the system.
A combination of natural gas and air in the lines can create an explosive mixture. Allow that explosive mixture to get into a home with a flaming pilot light in a furnace or hot water heater, it is possible for the combustion to actually back up into the gas line and cause it to rupture. At which point, a natural gas fueled fire is underway until the gas line is totally shut off.
I think it likely that the gas utility had a Royal screw up and did not purge its gas system of air after working on the lines.
241
@RM Am an engineer in the industry. Have studied similar systems. I think this was an overpressurization incident on a low pressure (0.25 psig) gas system. It would account for the dispersed nature of the fires (dependent on the age of gas equipment installed in each home) as well as the widespread reports of the smell of gas, as leaks started forming. Someone likely opened a bypass or messed up maintaining a system. This is what happens with high pressure or even transmission pressure in a system without regulators on the meter set.
20
@John -- which brings up an interesting point. I don't think I have ever lived somewhere without a regulator attached to my gas line, near the meter. You are saying that is not a universal standard?
6
@FJP It is not a universal standard. Old systems, a design dating back a hundred years or so ago, used a centralized distribution model, where a main station provided pressure at a 0.25 psig to all the homes, which had no regulators. Modern systems, or systems re-built to modern standards, use a higher pressure in the street (up to 60 psig) and cut the gas to 0.25 psig at the house. Not all of the lower pressure systems have been replaced, as many require replacing hundreds of miles of pipe to do so.
1
In 2010 something very similar happened here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Bruno_pipeline_explosion .
In the coming weeks, (1) a low to mid-level field worker will be blamed (2) Steve Bryant, Columbia Gas's president will be forced out with a hefty departure package (3) Columbia Gas will file for bankruptcy and never be heard from again.
My hope, probably misplaced, is that the people whose homes and businesses were destroyed have insurance to cover their losses. Maybe FEMA can help?
America's "Infrastructure Score" is D+ from the American Society of Civil Engineers.
https://www.infrastructurereportcard.org/state-by-state-infrastructure/
Meanwhile, Trump & Friends have given a $1.5 Trillion tax break to companies like Columbia Gas and they want to spend billions on a wall.
5
My brother lives there. He went to check on his neighbors and a nearby local business -- some were informed, some not, but all were soon helping one another. Some people stayed at his house, which was not affected. When I said “what a pending lawsuit”, he cut me off and said there were more critical things just then. Clearly, the trash talking about the gas company would be for another day. People acted quickly to help one another, and that was the message.
6
Did the man actually use the word "inconvenience" in relation to this loss of life & homes? That word is ubiquitous today, avoiding the use of "responsibility."
4
Dear Senator Elizabeth Warren, My suggestions based on the inference from NYT article on the incident /accident.
1.Replacing the existing pipeline with new one costs $1.9million per mile Review on allocation of budget and estimation is required.
Worth spending by diverting the aid by US on unproductive task. 2. People allowed to return home but not permitted to turn the natural gas back on.-Incomplete job and the gas lines at home have not been made free off gas before taken for maintenance?. Lack of procedure?.
3. In 2010, Electrical failure sent high pressure gas into low pr.lines- Quite surprising.When Power failures in continuous
critical process plants could easily sorted out without any interruption by an alternator, the highlighted root cause !.
4.1998-2018 In two decades 221deaths & 646 serious episodes in the gas distribution network.- 11 deaths per year
- Is it acceptable for the American Safety Standard?.
5.In 2005, an energy worker unwittingly connected high pr.line to a low pr.line - Appreciate the honest investigation but lessons never learned. It shows that there is absence of Pressure Reducing Stations enroute, Pressure Reducing Valves near the main entry points and pressure regulators at consumer ends.- It is wake up call.
About leadership to execute the job- True. Now NY metro has brought a British to revamp the system. Please think of the same line. I could see a president hopeful of the US in future and happy indeed by your visit at site in NYT.
1
Dead people, houses burned completely or partially down, hundreds evacuated, hundreds without power and the head of the gas company is sorry for the "inconvenience"!
5
I’m sure that the utility will appreciate our many armchair theorists speculating that evil hackers are responsible. Gives them yet another out, and another ploy for their lawyers. I might as well contribute: space aliens introducing plasmatic consciousnesses into the gas lines of Massachusetts, prepatory to the invasion.
I recently upgraded all my gas appliances to electric and put solar panels on my roof. I then turned off my natural gas. I will not support the lying and dangerous fossil fuel industry.
2
Columbia Gas reminds me of PG&E (Pray, Gamble, and Explode), our local gas company. Which was later indicted because money that was supposed to go towards gas pipeline maintenance instead was redirected into executive compensation and executive bonuses. It'll be interesting to see whether this was true of Columbia Gas too.
3
According to a Professor from Boston University a third of gas pipelines in Massachusetts are leak prone. According to the Governor of that State the Gas Company is not adequately prepared to meet the aftermath of the explosion.
In April this year the Gas Company sought permission to raise gas charges for renovation of the pipeline. Is it not the responsibility of the Company to renovate on its own ? Why did it seek permission to raise gas charges ?
All of this sums up to only one thing. Something is definitely wrong with the company. How come Company Authorities have not taken affected people into confidence and assure them at least when things will be normalised and when the people, whose houses have been burnt can return ?
How about those people whose houses and belongings have been burnt ? How about the gentleman who got killed while sitting in the car ? How about the compensation to the affected families ? Why Governor is silent on these issues ? How about checking all the gas pipelines and immediately replacing the badly corroded ones ?
1
Can attest to the leakiness of MA natural gas pipes. Our street has been "repaired" multiple times but only some streets in our town have had complete replacement of pipes. My vague understanding (as explained to me by an Eversource person) is that where the natural gas odor is located is not necessarily where the leak is so a persistent odor in a single location (right next door to my home) does not mean the leak is there. One would think that a persistent leaking pipe would lead to replacement but no...
This could have been a much worse disaster ala San Bruno. My thoughts to Mr. Rondon's family and now time to donate to the ECCF to help people recover from this completely predictable mess.
2
I understand that people have good reason to want answers. But I am deeply troubled that those who want answers as represented by not one of 200 commenters at "Gas Explosions Erupt...Andover and Lawrence" yesterday questioned continuing the use of natural gas, a fossil fuel, that is directly dangerous and also dangerous in the long run, fueling climate change.
The 200 appear to be fully supportive not only of continuing to use natural gas but to extend the pipeline octopus throughout New England. In other words, they seem fully to support Donald Trump.
I do not want to repeat this: http://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/13/us/lawrence-massachusetts-explosion-ga...
Later I will read all comments here to see if finally at least one voice says, Time to learn our lesson, end use of natural gas.
Only-NeverInSweden.blogspot.com
Citizen US SE born in Attleboro MA
3
A native of Lowell with many family still living there, I am heartbroken for all the residents of these remarkable old mill towns in the Merrimac Valley. This disaster in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover is a harbinger for all the cities and towns in the area. Indeed, for years the pavement in front of my parents' house developed mysterious cracks -- the "authorities" claimed benign "frost heaves" -- while I would occasionally get whiffs of gas. It's a tragic tale of infrastructure way beyond its expiration date and the complicity of public officials and corporate interests to do as little as possible. Sadly, they are the property owners who will lose considerable home equity, if not the homes themselves, while everyone else passes blame and plays the fiddle as the cities and towns burn.
4
Public Service Commissions tasked with overseeing utilities, are almost without exception in every state packed with unqualified political appointees and industry lackeys more concerned with handing out favors than protecting the public. Nationwide we the public should have no illusions of any sort of safety oversight from these grifters.
This utility company most likely used inferior piping to save money. Either that or on their less skilled, un-unionized workers.
Possibly both. Bottom line is ALWAYS money. Greed over lives.
Lies over liability. It is the American corporate way.
5
HOW MUCH neglect and deregulation ,allowing corporations to poison.......Americans environment ,food ,and water......and HOW MANY disasters with incompetent responses,and cold blooded ,false, rationalizations by Don the Con ( I have the best people) .....WILL IT TAKE..........for American voters of all parties TO REALIZE that Trump is the wholesaler of American Democratic social values to the 1% elite,corporations,and foreign countries.....for financial benefit to himself and his cronies..........for whom hes made AMERICA GREAT !
1
I see an attempt at humor under the lead photo on page A8..."Open manholes on a sidewalk in Lawrence Mass. Investigators were trying to get to the BOTTOM(mycaps) of a rash of explosions across northern Massachusetts." Funny but really not funny.
All pressurized systems require pressure relief valves. These are safety valves that vent the gas to a safe location should pressure get beyond a safe level. Why did these not function, and there must have been many of them in such a complex system?
My guess - and that's all it is - is that air was somehow allowed to get in the system and mix with the natural gas. A small spark ignited the mixture, and that caused the overpressure that cascaded through three communities.
2
Thousands of houses that did not explode, but in which internal gas lines were exposed to potentially damaging pressures. Must all the lines in every structure be replaced? Do you turn on the gas and wait to see if there’s a leak? Waiting to see how this is handled.
2
As always, the dreaded word (in rightwing circles) regulation has popped up - so many people pooh-pooh the "inconvenience" and "cost" of regulation/regulatory bodies until an event such as this occurs, and then the opposite clamor is heard.
Regarding upgrade/new pipelines: The cost does sound enormous if one reads just that part of the sentence; but consider that the old lines were over a century in use...one can suppose the new lines would last at least as long. These costs, at least the part that isn't immediately passed on to consumers, which is a debatable issue in itself, are amortized out; some of the equipment, depending on its cost, may be depreciated at a set yearly rate, to give the company another tax break. So stating a specific amount makes for good press, but doesn't tell the whole story.
9
What a terrible disaster. My thoughts and prayers go to my father's family in Massachusetts. Here in Sonoma County as we prepare for the 1 year anniversary of the Tubbs firestorm, understand how devastating fire and losing your home can be. The unpredictability and suddenness of the dangers make the experience more traumatic. Stay safe Mass.
42
There are many more questions than answers at this point. Was it a simple mechanical failure, or chain of failures? Was it neglect? Human error? Hacking? Responsibility, accountability - whatever you want to call it is on the line here.
While we are living in an age when 'individual freedom" and "personal responsibility" are buzz phrases for "You're on your own", the truth is we need to accept that the society we live in is a group effort - and that includes government, oversight, and regulation. Did that fail in this case?
It's not market forces that responded when lives were in danger. It's not market forces that are cleaning up this mess. It's people. Disasters - natural or manmade - remind us that there are people behind the politics, the profits, the losses. We can come together or we can fall separately.
Whatever the cause of this disaster, here's hoping that this brings out the best in us, not the worst - because we are sorely in need of the best we can offer to each other. This disaster is a great challenge to the trust we need to hold us together as a functioning society.
Repairing that trust is a part of recovery that must not be neglected.
90
Good points. What I see is the privatization of profits and the publicization of debt.
2
This seems inexcusable. Yes, the usual "thoughts and prayers".
But two things ring out:
Infrastructure—the state of our infrastructure. There was supposedly an upgrade of natural gas lines going on. Who is accomplishing this and what is their experience and what standard industry safeguards were in place?
Protective Agencies—the importance of our protective agencies, like the FDA or in this case PHMSA, cannot be overstated. They must be well funded and staffed with the most competent people, free of industry compromise.
201
@srwdm
Hopefully, the media will begin to write many articles that inform the public about how the loosening of regulations have coast people their lives and livelihoods, articles that outnumber those that write about the good economy (that we know is not shared by all) and how deregulation increases jobs. Our government has put the $ before our humanity and morality.
1
Massachusetts AG is looking into allegations of unsafe practices on the part of non-union workers who are substituting for National Grid's locked-out unionized employees.
Let's hope this helps to prevent another Massachusetts tragedy like the one in Merrimac Valley.
9
I know these neighborhoods. I am so very sorry for this absolutely unexpected shock, fear, and devastation you are faced with.
There are 2 people featured in your photo, Gov. Charlie Baker, Senator Elizabeth Warren. Two of the people you do not mess around with Columbia gas.
Figure it out, pay for Any and All damages incurred starting yesterday.
6
Is it Infrastructure Week now?
3
Next headline "Columbia Gas declares bankruptcy". Not one person will be held criminally responsible for this horrible event.
12
@steve
It will only be the single subsidiary that would be sacrificed. The "mother" company is Trans Canada and it is immense pipelines owner/operator. And I bet they are well protected.
4
This is what it's like to live in a third-world dictatorship. This is what happens with 40 years of Republican deregulation.
There is a reason we had government regulation and oversight. If you want safe utilities, drinking water, breathable air, schools, bridges, food.... you have to vote for people who represent people (Democrats) NOT people who represents corporations.
21
handing the repairs over to Eversource is a big problem. they are incompatant and are running a crimnial organization.
1
Many infrastructures in the United States are obsolete and in need of immediate repairs.
Fixing them is more important that giving tax cuts to the top 1% or investing in the military.
17
National Grid, the gas provider to the towns east of the explosions, locked out their gas company workers 9 weeks ago. Could it be that management’s efforts to increase profits by lowering employee costs is to blame? Is the state watching out for this?
11
Accidents with gas delivering systems to consumers happen all over the world. People are killed and wounded, buildings are destroyed. These systems are dangerous, lack advantages - and are outdated.
There is something in the contemporary world called electricity. If originating from hydropower or nuclear power facilities it's even contributing to less carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
Gas delivered in pipelines to consumers is a 19th century invention, long past its shelf life. Get modern, close them down!
5
Lars, other than there being no sources of natural gas in Sweden, as yours is imported from Denmark, the fact that Sweden continues operating nuclear reactors while the US continues to shut them down, and the universal fact that the cheapest energy source will be chosen regardless of any other considerations. Other than that, you’re correct. Here in the US, a great deal of that new hydro fractured, ‘fracked’ gas is now headed, via just approved new massive pipelines, to the coast in order to be liquified and shipped out in your general direction. Germany, a leader in responsible low carbon energy, just has shut its nukes and is ramping up in the dirtiest of coals. Sorry, Earth.
What this crisis and news is missing in their reporting. The crisis is felt all over this section of the state is many older people receive food made by Meals on Wheels, those meals are made in Lawrence. It also means many Councils of Aging also get those meals too.
2
@William Carlson, Reporting on hungry, elderly people is not a priority in our media.
Sabotage? Hacking? Many pipeline systems are now digitally controlled.
2
A sentence some pols need to speak:
"We are looking at potential jail time for any negligent managers..."
That should get gas companies' attention, nationwide!
6
It’s a huge huge problem. Sadly a number of people lost their homes in addition to their precious belongings. One person died while sitting in the car. It’s difficult to understand the agony of the affected people. Only those who have gone threw it know better. Hope it’s a big lesson for other States too. They should go in for periodic inspection both by the company representatives and by the Government officials even.
All loopholes should be plugged. Hope after thorough investigation the cause of gas leakage will come to light and that necessary remedial steps will be taken by the concerned authorities so that it wouldn’t recur.
2
As a 37 year construction worker I can confirm that the condition of the piping in some areas is in critical condition.When old metal pipes are uncovered the gas spews from holes coroded in the pipe.The gas is literally held in by the surrounding dirt. When you see this first hand you know this pipe should have been replaced decades ago. There is a percentage of leakage all the time. The gas company knows how much they send to an area vs how much is metered to customers, the difference is leakage. Pressure has to be kept low in these old systems which causes problems maintaining supply sometimes.
The day before this happened everything seemed fine, but it was not. There are so many things like this in our country. There must be a crisis before a condition gets addressed, banks,bridges,water systems,guns,drugs,gas piping,climate change, the list goes on.
As for sabotage by terrorists theories, this seems like denial of our own failures and resposibilities. If I drive around on worn out tires it is not someone elses fault that I have a flat tire.
To me it seems the only thing that brings safety to the front page is when the risk of getting sued out weighs the financial gains to be had by ignoring a problem. Ultimately the insurance costs will force change but some unfortunate souls wil die first.
35
Intelligent comment. If natural gas was not lighter than air, and tends to disperse, all these seeping, leaking lines would have incinerated whole cities decades ago.
1
@roy, Then even *after* a crisis, nothing is ever fixed or resolved. Band aids for hemorrhages.
1
So scary, and with so many affected houses so spread out and seemingly random. In reading the comments, it’s apparent something caused a pressure spike. But why these houses? What did they have in common? Same make appliances or valves or other variable? I hope they have the resources to fully evaluate this. And take the time needed. But gosh, regulated utility; get out and talk to the community!
1
Best to follow the example of California communities that ban natural gas and are powered only by clean electricity.
4
while we could move to clean electric faster , electric will still have fossilfuey production for some decades to come @Tom Miller
Infrastructure is a matter of national security, not vanity. This incident reminds me of the first World Trade Center attack. Flaws in security were exposed, but not enough was done, merely "band aids". We know how that ended. Our adversaries have learned how easy it is to disrupt American life. This could happen anywhere. Decaying infrastructure is a perfect target for social disruption. We are so unprepared, from beach front homes in flood zones to subways that stall. Almost nothing in the public domain is well maintained. Residents of Lawrence and adjacent towns have struggled financially while bank profits soar and the wealthy get tax breaks. Few want to pay more in taxes or utilities from what meager income remains. It is reasonable to ask if the immoral Paul Ryan tax bill will help to pay the costs of a new home or to for rebuild the natural gas grid? Or for modern solar energy? Will that tax fantasy help another wealthy person build a 30,000 square foot house on the North Shore of MA? When will the public demand change at the voting booth in numbers large enough to prevent another "close election", and allow the candidate who actually wins the popular vote to actually win the election?
6
Mr. Baker said the gas company was “inadequately prepared” for the aftermath of the explosions.
Really?
It is much simpler, the infrastructure of this gas supplier is not adequate for normal operations.
Is this a report from a first world country of a developing nation?
6
A metaphor as tho what is happening to the US. A trillion dollar welfare benefit tax cut for corporations and nothing for infrastructure.
Incompetence and carelessness poses more of a threat to our country than terrorism or Russia or even Trump the impotent.
20
@Tullymd, Internalized corporate terrorism. Human lives are never equated into their business plans.
2
Why are ANY public utilities allowed to be privatized for profit? All public utilities should be public operations (gas, electric, water, and we should also include internet) should be regulated and nonprofit.
Welcome to third world America.
13
"We are sorry and deeply concerned about the 'inconvenience'". . . Yes, it was quite an inconvenience given the death of one man and the injury to 20 more people and of course, the buildings blowing up all over "three" towns.
17
Really, so gullible the victims of the gas explosion. People are expendable, that simple. The gas company either didn't care about taking proper safeguards to keep gas pressure within tolerances, or they probably, simply put people in charge that lacked experience. Using gas has been around a long time, and what happened in Mass is nothing new. The company will be sued, many will settle out of court, insurance companies will make the payouts, and life will go on. Cruel. Yes. True. Yes.
4
Infrastructure, infrastructure. The roads and bridges we can see, the electricity grid, water and gas lines we can’t see. At some point, decades ago, Americans decided they no longer wanted to maintain the web of public infrastructure that makes our daily lives possible. One destroyed home has solar panels on its roof. There’s irony in the private domain well advanced into the 21st century the public realm lags in the last.
28
@Gerald. Indeed! It’s probably been since about the mid-sixties, but it really accelerated during the Reagan years, and just keeps going. The movement to constantly cut taxes is selfish and fundamentally unpatriotic. At heart, the Republicans within the so-called greatest generation as well as within the boomers are committing generational war. They are saddling younger generations with overwhelming debt, a destroyed environment, and decrepit public infrastructure of all sorts. They have broken the social compact and are destroying our country with their cult of cutting taxes.
11
@Audubon, Our country will never recover from Reaganism. It was the beginning of our end.
2
@Gerald Yes, and over $700 billion to our bloated military/industrial/corporate complex instead of our infrastructure.
2
That local gas mains were carrying 60 PSI is unlikely, more likely it was 65-70 PSI. Why?
Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station, over the last month, has been operating at 42% of capacity due to high water temperatures off Cape Cod. Pilgrim uses Atlantic seawater to condense steam in its turbines; when the seawater temperature exceeds 75ºF at intake, the temperature of discharged seawater rises to 100ºF or higher and is harmful to aquatic life. In those conditions, regulations require Pilgrim to shut down.
With the New England grid already stressed by an overdependence on gas due to the shutdown of Vermont Yankee (nuclear) in 2014, and Brayton Point (coal) last year, Columbia had to force gas into transmission lines at higher pressure to get enough of it to Salem Harbor (gas) Power Plant and keep the lights on in Boston.
There is a precedent - in 2015, a pipe at Sempra’s Aliso Canyon Gas Reservoir in California split, resulting in the worst gas leak in U.S. history. Finger pointing abounds, but the pipe split for the same reason Boston-area ones did yesterday - after a local nuclear plant (San Onofre) closed, gas was packed into aging, corroded lines so lights wouldn’t go out in a major city nearby (Los Angeles).
There’s an easy fix for Boston, and it has nothing to do with repairing gas mains: keep Pilgrim, Indian Point, and other local nuclear plants open. U.S. nuclear has exactly zero fatalities to its debit; after yesterday, that’s at least one less than gas.
19
@BobMeinetz Check out Capedownwinders regarding Pilgrim which is due to be decommissioned, badly run, has endless safety and management failures, is the Fukishima model plant at sea level in a hurricane prone region, and will take out much of Boston if it goes when there is a south wind. Not to mention an MA entire county and/or 1.5 million summer visitors cannot be evacuated without that south wind.
3
@BobMeinetz, Nope, nuclear is not the answer. Unless you're willing to take and bury the spent fuel into your back yard. With a fatal toxic shelf life of only around 50-100 thousand years. Even up to 250,000.
1
My guess is that if a through and unbiased investigation is done the root cause of this disaster will be shown to be that a for profit privately owned public utility put profits ahead of public safety.
38
@R. H. Clark, Ya think? Absolutely. Profits over people.
This is a terrible disaster for our State and yet another example where Governor Baker has fallen short on regulating Utility Companies. We need a change.
15
This time of year the gas companies jack the pressure a bit so as to meet the upcoming demand from gas heating units. Prolly someone just pushed the handle too far.
Oops--boom, boom, bang, etc.
3
So sad. These types of gas explosions are likely to continue in many communities, like this one and like the similar disaster in South San Francisco a few years ago. Here's a question: are there any bad apples in Iran, Russia or North Korea targeting cyber war possibilities for turning up gas pressures? Or was this really terrible maintenance for repiping.
8
Not to worry.
President Trump and the Republicans have promised to repair our infrastructure.
36
Horrible. I feel so sorry for everyone who lost their home and those who are stuck in shelters. This could happen in other places, too, it seems. Frightening to say the least.
6
They are using century-old coal gas lines?
This is a chilling revelation.
51
@Blair Read this about NY gas lines: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/24/nyregion/beneath-cities-a-decaying-ta...
1
Will this investigation please include a section on how the pay of top executives at the utility have increased, and chart it against likely decreases in outlays for routine maintenance?
54
I thought the GOP said industries could regulate themselves?
42
If I had a similar spontaneous gas fire at my house where everything possible, even the HVAC for one storey, runs on gas, last thing I would want to deal with would be some grandstanding gladhanding politician. Of either party. Crass opportunism.
13
Hate to sound a bit paranoid but first thing that came to my mind was the warning from some of our top intell officials that we are at a major risk of cyber crime. This is just the kind of “small” trial event that would preview a major hit. As Woodward would say, “Fear”
16
This is not paranoia, but legitimate concern expressed by Ellen Lewis.
U.S. Government agencies earlier this year reported Russian hacking into U.S. utilities:
https://www.us-cert.gov/ncas/alerts/TA18-074A
Hopefully, our intelligence and Homeland Security agencies are already investigating these explosions in Massachusetts to see if excessive pressures in the gas lines causing the leaks and explosions may have resulted from Russian hacking into utility control systems.
If so, this is the equivalent of Pearl Harbor, and war.
The Town of Andover directed us to a "special" help number for Columbia Gas. We called at 10:30 a.m. in order to get our gas service restored and were on hold for 90 minutes before a rep. answered. The Town had assured us that Columbia would provide a "window" of time for us to be home for the restoration. The rep. said he could provide no timetable, would put us on a "list" and had no idea when/if a crew would be in our area. My neighbor went ahead and turned his gas back on and attempted to reset his hot water boiler and furnace. His house is still standing as I write and he has offered to restore our service despited the Town's and Columbia's warning not to do it ourselves. It is no wonder that Gov. Baker instituted emergency conditions and replaced Columbia with Eversource. Communication and responsibility for this fiasco is nil. The only saving grace is that it isn't the winter. We can live without hot water for awhile.
46
@marty I am closely watching this situation to assist a friend. My understanding is for some streets, people are allowed back home only with confirmed gas off. Turning it back on is the second step and will be done by officials/experts later. So do not let your neighbor turn your gas on. Also, this is more evidence of how poorly the protocol for how to proceed has been communicated.
I don't get it... The pressure in the gas mains is much higher than in the home and homes are equipped with pressure regulators to lower the pressure.
So, how did high pressure in the mains cause fires in the homes?
12
Up to 5-10 years ago, my gas meter and pressure control valve was located inside the house, in the basement, but when the local gas utioityinstalled new gas linesm they moved the meter. and what looks like a pressure control valve (it appears to be a diaphragm pressure control device) on the incoming side. In Massachusetts, were the meters and pressure control diaphragms located inside or outside the houses?
There's a lot we don't presently know but it seems to me that a definitive diagnosis as to what went wrong should not be too difficult if it's rendered by competent and impartial experts.
14
The thing that concerns me almost as much as the problem itself is the people demanding a solution and explanation a day after it happened. That demonstrates a fundamental lack of understanding of the complexity of the issues involved - and when people are upset, they make decisions accordingly, even if they don't know what's going on. There are no easy answers to a problem of this magnitude, and expecting them immediately is not rational.
37
@Stephen
I would not expect a comprehensive explanation.
But I would expect company officials to be front and center, in the town, talking to the public about what had happened and how they will be involved in handling investigation, repairs and safety issues. I am of course, presuming that they would logically have been required to have safety protocol and response protocols in place.
20
@cheryl
Your comment was spot on, I was just bout say something very similar.
1
Frightening your home should be a place you feel safe.
15
To Mike in CA who writes
This is what deregulation brings us. Decayed infrastructure and lost lives.
It appears that the gas explosion was caused by upgrading the infrastructure. That is UPGRADING
From the Chicago Times
"In April this year, NiSource's Columbia Gas of Massachusetts filed a petition with the state's Department of Public Utilities ...to replace aging infrastructure.
Lawrence, Andover and North Andover -- the three towns impacted by Thursday's blasts -- were listed as areas where neighborhood lines would be replaced
CreditSights Inc. analysts said Friday in a note that the Massachusetts incident "appears to have been caused by the utility working on the gas lines immediately before the explosions occurred."
I.e it seems to be just to opposite what you claim as the cause.
18
@Gerhard - From the article: "The authorities were looking at the possibility that gas may have been placed under a level of pressure that was too high for the pipelines it was moving through, creating cascading crises in more than 8,500 homes and businesses across the three towns."
That wouldn't appear to have much to do with either upgrading or not upgrading. Thus it is pretty irresponsible to say that upgrading caused these explosions.
18
Just because it was in the process of being upgraded doesn't mean that the infrastructure was necessarily fit to support the methods being used to make changes. For instance, the I35W bridge in Minneapolis collapsed in 2008 due to the weight of the equipment and material brought onto it for repairs. It was a faulty original design, they say, but changes made over the course of its life and failure to calculate the effect of additional strain are also to blame.
https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/washington/15bridge.html
17
Carelessness and incompetence will be found. It is pervasive throughout our society.
8
Most likely cause appears doubling the gas pressure past maximum , not infrastructure. Either by human error, or by cyber sabotage.
If the latter, it might be a trial run.
There's a lot that terrorists can do with gas and water.
.
29
@Talesofgenji
Your point about cyber sabotage is well taken. Even if the root cause of this event was NOT due to cyber hacking, I'm sure would-be terrorists are taking note of the effects that future hacking could cause.
Gas companies should take note also, and make sure pressure controls are analog rather than digital.
4
@Talesofgenji It's VERY unlikely the software runs off the internet. I wouldn't be surprised if it boots off 8" floppy disks.
7
Why would you over pressurize the lines with natural
gas, I would of thought you could accomplish the test
with nitrogen.
I would be sick worrying about my pets if I couldn’t get to my house:-(
34
@MikeLT The MSPCA at Nevins Farm in nearby Methuen, is open to all animals needing temporary shelter or veterinary care. The local police and fire departments can help with bringing pets out of unsafe areas.
Many other towns' and cities' fire and police departments have sent people to the affected areas in mutual aid.
I think as people become aware of what resources are available to them, that recovering left behind pets will quickly be addressed.
26
@MikeLT How can we forget about the aminals?
@MikeLT How can we forget about the aminals?
Upgrading gas lines sounds like a perfect shovel ready project.
13
if ever a situation supported the need for regulation this is it. Here too, is evidence that privatization is not the boon that some would have us believe. Our natural gas infrastructure should never be in a condition that this kind of disaster could occur.
Columbia Gas should be ashamed of their response to the people of Massachusetts.
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@Elizabeth..
The system IS regulated - but grossly under-inspected, unenforced and full of graft and corruption..... and of course there's the 'customer's responsibility to use explosive gas carefully' which I bet was not observed!
Yeah - incompetency and protectionism of people who know how to take a test for the job - but have no practical factors in the service - they are responsible and so are their managers and cubicle officers.
Let's not write any new laws and feel good at having at least corralled this problem - there are laws existent that are not being enforced at all.
Make people responsible for their actions and keep the pressure on them to retrain and re-certify every year or so.
It would also work wonders using and enforcing the laws that are on the books right now.
6
@Elizabeth That Steve Bryant, its president, actually deemed this an "inconvenience" is beyond disgusting. I expect to hear an outsourced customer service rep reading from a script referring to my cable going out as an "inconvenience" - but not for a crisis where there's been actual loss of life as well as property.
8
I immediately thought of the San Bruno, California gas pipeline explosion in 2010. Death toll in that one -- 8 people.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Bruno_pipeline_explosion
13
https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2018/06/26/national-grid-locks-o...
Seems to me, that this might help explain why this happened.
2
@Antonia Sousa Interesting, but is there a connection between National Grid and Columbia?
1
Gov. Charlie Baker has declared a state of emergency and called in Eversource - a rival utility, to do the gas line recovery work due to his dissatisfaction with the Columbia Gas Response.
http://www.wbur.org/news/2018/09/14/andover-north-andover-lawrence-gas-f...
15
Profits over People, every time. And who will get the blame: low level peons. Period. Get yourselves some VERY good civil lawyers, folks. Make those responsible really hurt, the only way the average person can.
Seriously.
98
This is exactly the sort of irresponsible comment that generates more heat than light: no reference to Columbia/NiSource's low net margins (net income as a percentage of revenues) or their spending a billion dollars a year above depreciation to upgrade their system or that as a fully-regulated system their pricing and return on investment is set by the state regulators in which they operate. As a Times reader (with absolutely no connection to the holding company or any of its subsidiaries), I expect more informed commentary. Was there a problem here? Obviously. Was it the result of systemic shortcomings or corporate malfeasance? Not a shred of evidence. Please skip the ready, fire, aim in the future.
2
Last night, MA Governor Baker was available to do PR mop up for Columbia. NO word(s) from them at all. Not one.
10
Infrastructure is critical!
My condolences to the victims of this preventable tragedy.
19
Our very compliant Gov. Baker was carrying water last night doing PR damage control mop up for Columbia. Where were they? Not a word, not one.
3
The Gas Company's upgrade it seems
Is the stuff of nightmarish dreams
What disaster's been wrought
By the clearly untaught
That staff with incompetence teems.
42
You know what never explodes? Solar panels. And there are whole-house batteries now for night time use! Install an energy-efficient heat pump and minisplits and heat and cool your house year round. Clean! No fossil fuel emissions helping to power monster hurricanes! Cheap too! Mothball the pipelines -- we have better tech now.
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@Portia
I would be the last person to say we don't need new technology, but solar panels aren't going to provide enough power to run a heat pump all the time, in winter months especially the solar panels won't provide enough power to run electric heating via a heat pump, same in summer in cloudy weather, and I suspect they won't have enough juice to even charge the batteries from what I have been told by neighbors that have them.
18
@bill d. I have solar panels, and a sizable house warm in winter, cool in summer with minisplits. And power for everything else too. Tied into grid so no problem with fluctuations -- build credit in summer, draw on it in winter. Cost me about 20K. Will last 20 yrs.
1
Grid connected solar won't explode. We don't need to be off grid, or for solar to provide 100% of our power. But natural gas has outlived its usefulness and should be phased out.
8
Sounds like a sticking pressure control valve on the main distribution line. That's a thing that should never happen with an adequate maintenance regime. That in turn should have been caught by the meters' pressure control valve, but maybe the overpressure was so high it blew them out, or maybe the gas company was not switching out old meters as it should.
Dispersed explosions like this will mean that the entire distribution system will need to be examined - joint by joint. And good luck with getting that done before winter.
I imagine the 80 homes that burned had gas water heaters or similar that called for gas and got a whole lot more than they expected when their solenoid valves opened.
23
@David that was the story in the Ohio case discussed here: http://dis.puc.state.oh.us/TiffToPDf/A1001001A12A24A82142H17642.pdf
the pressure is regulated down before the gas is fed to consumers, but if the regulator fails then high pressure gas goes through to the end user.
12
It's sad that, in the midst of this, it's a worry that Mayor Rivera told the media that undocumented residents are in town shelters. I don't trust Trump's racist opportunism in this time of tragedy, do you?
60
@common sense advocate Cambridge and Somerville are sanctuary cities and have significant Latinx populations, FYI.
4
When all is said and done, it will pretty likely that this was the result of negligence brought on by the corporate need to cut corners and save money. These types of incidents are never just "accidents" or "acts of God". They are ultimately the result of human error.
If the investigation does show willful negligence on the part of Columbia Gas, the heads of the company need to face criminal charges. Lives have been destroyed because of this.
65
I don't see how excess pressure can cause the fires unless it blew out pilot lights then filled the spaces with gas and got triggered by a spark to some electrical appliance.
2
@magicisnotreal For an extreme example, you might imagine what would happen if you funneled a 4" water main directly into your garden hose.
6
@Yvonne
What you describe would cause a burst pipe not fire.
I wonder that we don't hear about called in complaints about the smell of gas.
Negligence or a cyber attack ? The conspiracy theories will abound.
2
@Mark Dobias
It's reagan's America, of course its negligence, that is one of the triumvirate of GOP policies, free trade, deregulation and negligence.
69
Well that didn’t take long, now did it?
8
@magicisnotreal Add to your list of reason the republican burning desire to privatize everything they can. PROFITS for the rich corporate owners.
3
I think I read that it was over pressure gas line. Probably gas company since they were upgrading the gas line the same day. Pretty crazy disaster...
5
According to the Columbia Gas of Massachusetts webpage, they were replacing older gas pipes in neighborhoods as part of a scheduled infrastructure upgrade. Gas line contractors sometimes perform a “gas blow” after a line is installed causing natural gas to be pushed through the pipes at high pressure to clear debris out. If such a gas blow occurred on the newly installed pipelines in Massachusetts and the downstream lines to customer locations were not properly isolated, then this might be the source of high gas pressure.
29
@JR You can't "push debris" out of a closed system!
5
@JR
That is a ridiculous assertion and if true extraordinarily dangerous.
Debris in a gas line would be caught in filters along the line. If there were debris from a repair operation that is how it would be caught not as described.
@Gunmudder To remove debris, temporary vents would be installed at the end of the newly installed pipeline and the "old" distribution line would be isolated from the new line prior to performing a high-pressure gas blow on the new line. Debris is ejected through the vents during the blow.
2
If a gas pipe can handle 100 pounds of pressure, it usually has 5 or 6 pounds, max, pumped through it. For this pipe to burst there was a major problem and error somewhere. Could an enemy have hacked into a computer system and caused this disaster ?
6
Sorry, but over 70 simultaneous fires and explosions, in three separate areas that are fed by multiple gas lines, is not due to human error, or decaying infrastructure.
The most logical explanation is also the most unpalatable and frightening, but not unexpected: we've been warned for over a year, including by NYT journalists, that foreign actors have been probing our cyber infrastructure for weaknesses and openings, and even more explicitly, including the pressurization of gaslines.
14
@Julie
How about we let experts draw conclusions that we can all evaluate. I'm willing to bet that you know nothing about the design, maintenance, and management of energy delivery to consumers. I'm not, and I will wait to hear what they have to say. Except if a report comes from a guy named Trump or Putin! :)
34
@Julie I understand that the system in question was built at the turn of the last century in order to provide gas lighting and low, constant pressure maintained from a central distribution plant, which is much different than how a modern gas system operates. Massachusetts is one of the oldest industrialized states in the country. I feel like it is unlikely that it was heavily computerized, and think it was just likely lacking the basic safety standards and best practices found in systems built since.
22
@Julie while these are legitimate concerns, they aren’t likely in this case. Columbia Gas had stated on its website earlier Thursday that they were working on pipeline improvements in these exact communities (a statement that was later deleted). Given the timing, it seems likely this tragedy was caused by human error.
2
CIA malware get loose?
2
Reminds me of the San Bruno, CA, gas line explosion almost exactly 8 years ago.
19
@William Fang
That was an explosion of a 30 inch gas main.
This appears to be failure at the service end of the delivery. I'd say probably failure of the pressure regulating valves in the homes that let the high pressure gas past to an appliance that used a continuous pilot light blowing that pilot light out and filling the home with gas and triggered when the appliance came on automatically.
1
People, stop speculating, stop theorizing, and donate to the American Red Cross, on the scene with relief efforts.
31
@Spucky50 Or do both/all these things : )
NB It struck me as odd that the reporters phrased it thus: "...but it didn’t really matter since only a few cars ventured out." Self-driving cars? It's humans who drive cars.
4
@Present Occupant
This is a common error and you're right. It makes no sense.
It's like, "We're parked down the street."
No, 'we' aren't parked down the street. We're right here. Our car is parked down the street.
Or in Harvard Yard, which is nearly impossible.
2
@Spucky50 I lived in San Francisco when the Loma Prieta earthquake struck, and the Red Cross received huge donations that they didn't give to the city. I never donate to them anymore. They've also been criticized for the handling of the Oklahoma City bombing and Katrina donations.
4
This incident will probably be consistent with the other incidents. The manuals for maintaining the pipelines were never transferred to a digital form. The engineers who knew how to main the pipes where downsized two decades ago. The new engineers just winged the pressures and reported everything fine as long no ruptures occurred. Finally, for the sake of maximizing gas to customers for profit, the pressures were set to more than double the maximum safe settings and on problem blew it all up.
The gas company is going to stall the investigation until they can find a copy of the operation manuals
96
@Brian Davis
Seems like to actually blow out closed valves you would need way more than double pressure. Like 50 times? I'm no expert, but I just don't get how the pressure could get to the point where it was actually breaching closed metal vales, even in a gas range or dryer.
3
@Brian Davis
Frightening . In 1968 ,when i was 13yrs old and away
at summer camp my parents both died when our home
blew up from gas .large home in the Westchester country club gof course area.
This incident brings it all back for me .
46
@Brian Davis While this is a serious and sad situation, YOU have no way of making the judgements in your comment.
5
Is the gas company going to eat the cost, or charge customers? Raise rates? What kind of alternatives to fossil fuel are available in Massachusetts, and how are those offshore wind farms coming along?
14
@Vanessa Hall
Fearmongering is not the answer.
@magicisnotreal
I didn't see any fear mongering in @ Vanessa's questions. They are simply good solid questions.
3
@magicisnotreal ? Since when is asking valid questions "fear mongering?"
3
The pressure increase problem will have had to have broken pipes or forced leaks in pipe fittings that went undetected long enough to build up enough gas to cause an explosion or fire when sparked.
Another aspect may be the pressure regulator valves which is supposed to give the same outlet pressure regardless of what is going into it from the supply. Short explain here with diagram http://www.beswick.com/basics-pressure-regulators
Whatever happened enough gas built up to cause fires in a lot of homes in close proximity in time and geography. It occurs to me to wonder if the gas had the proper amount or any Mercaptan added to it.
4
Columbia Gas is a terrible operation. In the past three years, I've had by gas go out because of "excessive pressure," lost it again because they were doing work on a nearby street and shut mine off by mistake, and had it shut off again to deal with a leak on the street.
They were working in the area when this happened to "update" supply lines, and I suspect we will find that someone made the wrong connection.
76
In my city the privatized water company over-pressurizes the pipes intentionally, because that is what brings them the most money. The higher the water pressure the higher the use. Privatized utilities have a financial incentive to put the pressure as high as legally possible.
For example, the water law in the Czech republic says the max pressure is 6 bars with 7 bars in exceptional circumstances. I live at the top of a hill and have 6.5 bars.
The chance that this is caused by human error, as one commenter suggests is not likely, indeed it is not really possible. Competent gas companies constantly measure the pressure in the pipes. Not because they are good guys, but because it is in their incentive to discover if someone is stealing gas. They pay loads of money to software firms which preform statistical analysis of expected use vs current use based off of previous seasons. In the end, residential utility monitoring is a large, well funded, industry. It would take more than one person to make such an error. It would take an entire team (or a bad barometer) to do so.
77
Thank you for a really good, informative post. It's nice to know that someone actually knows something in the world we're living in now..
7
@Timothy Hobbs
That makes little sense.
Where I live, the plumbing under the street's so old that they send out over 3 million gallons a day - but only 2 million gallons ever makes it to the meters.
That's a loss of a million gallons into the dirt, under the streets and generally not making it to the other end: the customer's homes.
If they were to turn up the pressure (ridiculous!) - then the total loss would be escalated and that's not the way to make money - by losing even more water than before.
If they had such a weak pipe/supply system - lowering the pressure would mean less leakage and more profit as they'd get more of the water (or gas) to the customer instead of sending it right back to nature!
The number of incidents reported seems astronomically large. Gas leaks are very, very common. I believe that in NYC 50,000 gas leaks are responded to every year by the FDNY. There are, however, very, very few fires and explosions from gas leaks. 40 incidents in such a small area within a time period of less than 24 hours seems to be an impossibly large number for leaking gas to be the sole cause.
20
@Speculator
Slow leaks are usually not a problem. Gas has to reach a concentration in the air where the smell is nauseating before an explosion can happen. This has to be a massive over-pressure situation, where the gas blew out valves and such, and the concentration rose quickly. Hard to imagine how the pressure could get that high, though...
12
The most likely cause is human error. Whether this was negligence or just "one of those things" has yet to be determined. Negligence in design or operation of the gas system is most likely; a properly engineered system would have fail-safe mechanisms, and not allow this to happen.
Hacking or mechanical failure are possible, but less likely.
It should not be hard for investigators to figure out what went wrong; in fact, it's likely they already have a pretty good idea. We should just be patient, and await release of the findings.
To those affected should go our strong sympathy.
29
@Alex
“Human error” - on that scale? In different locations? At approximately the same time?
2
@Maureen Yup, it could be. That particular gas company, Columbia, was known to be working on the gas line infrastructure at the time.
Gas that travels across country travels at very high pressure. But before it gets to a neighborhood the pressure is cut by a regulator. It's cut further when it gets into your home, down to about 14 PSI.
What probably happened is that one of regulators that stepped down the pressure either wasn't working properly or they connected a high pressure line to a low pressure line.
So people, who had older appliances that had a little pilot light, would have suddenly seen that pilot light jump a couple of feet high. Furnaces and water heaters would have been toasted. Gas would have accumulated quickly in homes and they would have exploded.
Pretty much the same thing happened in San Bruno a couple of years ago.
2
Russian hacking?
16
@Jacquie- a wee bit paranoid , no?
1
@Jacquie CIA trying to frame Russia?
3
@Jacquie Wondering too. Here's a NY Times article on Russian hacking into our electric grid: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/27/us/politics/russian-hackers-electric-...
2
One of the first thoughts that entered my mind was to wonder whether some outside agency had hacked into the gas company's control system.
68
@mancuroc It was my first thought too. The timing of the explosions and fires seemed too coincidental with Florence hitting the coast.
5
The first thought that entered my mind was that the gas company would blame their customers for the "inconvenience."
2
80 buildings have been burnt so far - what caused this? It is not “normal”for gas fires to burn so many buildings - in different areas.
48
Thinking of everyone affected by this craziness in Massachusetts.
27
@Jackie
Ditto from those of us in Michigan. Prayers for all!
2
This is what deregulation brings us. Decayed infrastructure and lost lives.
291
aw, c'mon, Mike...how can you cheat and steal if you're regulated????@Mike
12
@Mike ... yes, but, you know, we've gotta have those big corporate tax cuts and tax cuts for the mega-wealthy!! They don't need no stinkin' infrastructure! Ya know! They have to go around killing big improvement projects so that their taxes don't get raised to fund them!
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/climate/koch-brothers-public-transit....
17
@Mike
ssshhush....don't tell Trump about the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration or it will closed in the coming months. We wouldn't want safety regulations would we?
18
This is a real mess here in MA. Will donate $$ and time. I like the pic though of all the pols together looking for answers. We cooperate here in MA. Blessings and grace to the affected citizens.
116