In Memory of Lawrence Teen Gas Safety Bill Expected To Pass

More than 2 years ago, in September of 2018, I remember watching the Boston News stations covering the house explosions in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover wondering what went wrong.  How are these houses exploding?  It was like watching something out of a movie.

As it turned out, the swell of over-pressured gas lines underground caused the explosions that lead to the destruction of 5 homes and damaged 131 others, according to Newburyportnews.com.  The explosions also injured three firefighters and 19 other people.  50,000 people were forced to evacuate.

The most tragic story of that day, was the death of Leonel Rondon, an 18 year old who had just received his drivers license when a house chimney crushed his car with him in it.  How heartbreaking!

A legislative bill was drafted soon after the explosions and it's main sponsor, Sen. Ed Markey of Malden has been trying to get the "Leonel Rondon Pipeline Safety Act" passed and now, it is expected to.

Sen. Markey said, according to the report,

The natural gas explosions that struck Lawrence, Andover and North Andover more than two years ago were yet another example of corporations cutting corners to turn a profit.  The passage of this legislation is a critical step in ensuring that we prioritize public safety over corporate profit and never allow a tragic disaster like this to happen again.

The bill insures that monitors will be placed on the pipes themselves so if they are at dangerous levels, the gas lines can be shut down, avoiding the tragedies of September, 2018.

Why didn't they have these monitors before?  Well, according to the report, the disaster found years of mistakes by Columbia Gas of Massachusetts.  They are held responsible at an estimated cost of $1.6 billion dollars.