Massachusetts State Senate President Karen Spilka says the Senate will be holding hearings, potentially in conjunction with the Mass. House of Representatives, to look more closely at a series of gas explosions earlier this month in the Merrimack Valley and the response from Columbia Gas, the company responsible for the local network.
“We need to do something,” Spilka said in an interview with Boston Public Radio Wednesday. “...we will be holding hearings.”
According to Spilka, the Senate was “waiting a little bit” for the federal investigation to get underway, while The National Transportation Safety Board looks into the incident that resulted in the death of one 18 year-old man, dozens of injuries, and hundreds of displaced residents in Andover, North Andover and Lawrence.
“Right now it’s in an investigatory phase, the federal government is doing an investigation, clearly safety is paramount here,” Spilka said. “My heart goes out to the family of the young man who passed away in a tragic accident... I mean the whole thing is just a horrible, horrible tragedy.”
Columbia Gas promised to repair the damage — but has offered no public explanation into a possible cause.
The hearings will examine three elements, according to Spilka: firstly, looking at what happened, why it happened, and how it will be prevented in the future. Secondly, what role the state agencies can play to regulate and prevent such incidents, including how many inspectors are hired per area.
“You’ve heard a lot about inspectors, do we have enough inspectors?” Spilka said. “It seems to me with the hundreds of thousands of miles of pipeline, we should have a lot of inspectors, especially [with] the age of our pipes. That’s just one aspect, the inspectors, but there’s lots of other roles the state agencies play.”
Finally, Spilka says the hearings will look at what resources are still needed after the fact, at emergency organizations and shelters. Columbia Gas has provided space heaters, saying some residents will not have heat in their homes until Nov. 19.
“I am concerned about their heat not kicking on until November 19,” Spilka said. “It’s great that they’re getting space heaters, but how many fires start from space heaters as well? We don’t want to continue the tragedy, so there will be hearings.”
Spilka says she thinks Gov. Charlie Baker handled the incident “well, overall” but “there is more to be done.”
“I think that we need to really look at state agencies with a critical eye, what is their role?” she said. “And what more can we do?”
To hear Sen. President Karen Spilka’s full interview with Boston Public Radio, click on the audio player above.
