Gas crews from all over the northeast are in the Merrimack Valley, going door-to-door to make sure residents are safe.
Residents haven't had gas since explosions rocked the area on Thursday. So far, crews have restored service to hundreds of homes in Andover and North Andover, but still have a ways to go. Town officials in Andover told Boston 25 News reporter Jessica Reyes crews are trying to reach as many homes as they can and they will be hard at work until midnight.
Four days after the explosions, utility crews started the process of getting things back to normal and restoring gas service to Columbia Gas customers.
More than 500 crews hit the streets on Monday.
More than 600 technicians are out right now turning on gas service for customers who were evacuated from the area but whose gas service was not directly impacted by the incident. The process involves visiting each customer to perform a safety inspection and relight appliances. pic.twitter.com/POikawF9ho
— Columbia Gas MA (@ColumbiaGasMA) September 17, 2018
"I think they really care and the proper procedures will follow in the future. Maybe somebody made a mistake, it was an accident, who knows," said North Andover resident Walter Carney.
Carney was one of the residents whose service was restored Monday. His neighbor turned his gas line off shortly after learning there was an issue Thursday.
"Our neighbor ran up the street asked if we wanted our gas shut off, we said sure. He may have saved us from permanent damage," said Carney.
Service was shut off to everyone in Andover and North Andover Thursday night, even to those who were not impacted by the incident.
Right now, crews are only restoring service to those who were not impacted. Once gas is completely restored to those customers, crews will then begin the process of turning it back on for those who live in the areas that were affected.
Today we are focused on restoring service to the people in the non-impacted areas. Please be patient – it is a lengthy process because we must visit each customer (inside the home) to perform a safety inspection and relight appliances.
— Columbia Gas MA (@ColumbiaGasMA) September 17, 2018
Columbia Gas says everyone in the unaffected areas should expect to have gas service restored by midnight.
NiSource, parent company for Columbia Gas, announced Monday they are planning a major overhaul for their lines used in the Merrimack Valley:
"The company is developing a plan to replace the entire affected 48-mile cast iron and bare steel pipeline system in the towns of Andover, Lawrence, and North Andover with state-of-the-art plastic distribution mains and service lines, and modern safety features."
Cox Media Group