Five gas utility executives faced sharp questions from Massachusetts lawmakers Tuesday as a House-Senate committee begins to investigate the safety of the state's natural gas distribution infrastructure.
The investigation comes in the wake of September's deadly gas explosions and fires in the Merrimack Valley.
State Sen. Michael Barrett, the co-chair of the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy, said the hearing would not dwell on the gas disaster in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover, but would instead examine the safety of the broader gas system.
"The topic today is the larger question of the safety of natural gas systems in the commonwealth of Massachusetts and we don't pretend that we're going to exhaust this topic in one sitting but we're going to make a start of it," Barrett said.
Barrett began the questioning of gas company executives, focusing on how the companies train employees and subcontractors, what degree of oversight is given to work on gas mains or near gas line regulators, and whether a certified professional engineer signs off on work plans.
The first panel of the hearing included Columbia Gas of Massachusetts President and CEO Stephen Bryant, Eversource Energy's gas business unit president William Ackley, Berkshire Gas Company Senior Director of Operations Richard Nasman, National Grid Senior Vice President Ross Turrini, and Unitil gas operations Vice President Christopher LeBlanc.
Officials from the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and the Department of Public Utilities are expected to testify before the joint committee Tuesday afternoon.
A preliminary National Transportation Safety Board report into the September 13 explosions and fires that left one man dead and damaged 131 structures in the Merrimack Valley said the incidents occurred "after high-pressure natural gas was released into a low-pressure gas distribution system."
The agency said that the work being done on September 13 was designed and approved by Columbia Gas and that it was carried out in accordance with the steps laid out in the approved work package. But the NTSB found that the work package "did not account for the location of the sensing lines or require their relocation to ensure the regulators were sensing actual system pressure."
This report was originally published by State House News Service.
