Will Columbia Gas make Dec. 16 restoration deadline for Merrimack Valley customers?

LAWRENCE, Mass. — With less than a week to go before the deadline to restore gas service to customers in the Merrimack Valley and a day after a State House hearing on the safety of gas pipeline work, officials are set to give the latest update on the restoration project.

Columbia Gas originally set a Nov. 19 deadline to restore all service to Columbia Gas customers, which was soon pushed to Dec. 16, after thousands lost their gas service on Sept. 13 when overpressurized gas lines caused fires and explosions, forcing the shutoff.

As of Dec. 10, the company says it has restored service to 96 percent of customers. Columbia officials say most of those who don't have service are working independently from the company. About 190 families were still in temporary housing while waiting for the restoration to be complete.

Governor Charlie Baker, the mayor of Lawrence, and the town managers of Andover and North Andover are all expected at a 1:15 news conference in Lawrence with the head of the recovery effort, Joe Albanese.

On Tuesday, state lawmakers grilled Columbia Gas executives, along with representatives from other gas utility companies, about safety concerns.

Lawmakers grill natural gas execs after September explosions Lawmakers grill natural gas execs after September explosions

State lawmakers said natural gas companies in Massachusetts are compromising safety by increasingly turning to outside contractors for pipeline work while cutting back on staff that would oversee these projects.

"There are fewer full-time employees in many of your operations than was the case five to ten years ago at a time when you're undertaking accelerated construction activity," state Sen. Michael Barrett, a Lexington Democrat, said to utility company executives testifying at Tuesday's State House hearing.

"I really don't understand how you can square fewer employees overseeing more (subcontractors) and still solemnly claim to be concerned about safety," said Barrett, who co-chairs the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy that held the hearing.

Executives from five local utility companies pushed back, saying their staffing levels have either remained stagnant or increased in recent years.

Federal investigators have said that Columbia Gas, the utility company responsible for the Sept. 13 disaster, did not have staff on site as contractors conducted routine pipeline replacement work in Lawrence that triggered the explosions.

The National Transportation Safety Board says the company also did not have a professional engineer review the project plan before work started, a requirement that Republican Gov. Charlie Baker is now proposing to make state law.

The news conference on the update starts at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related:

One week remains in second deadline for Merrimack Valley gas restoration

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