Lawrence, Massachusetts: Evacuations under way for gas leak in a city where gas explosions occurred a year ago

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The food was cut in 1,900 homes in the city, about 30 km north of Boston, due to the gas leak, CNL spokesman John Lamontagne told CNN. About 80,000 people live in Lawrence.

The gas service was also cut to homes. The gas leak was attributed to a pipe installed last year, although the cause of the leak is not immediately known, said Friday morning the president of Columbia Gas, Massachusetts, Mark Kempic.

No injuries, fires or explosions have been reported, said Lawrence Fire Chief Brian Moriarty.

About 146 meters are affected, said Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera. A hundred people have taken refuge in a school, he said, adding that no one had been affected by the natural gas explosions of last year.

Friday's incident began around 3 am, Lawrence police told CNN. National Grid received a power cut request at 4:30 am Eastern Time, Lamontagne said.

"We have on-site teams working with the Lawrence Fire Department to evacuate residents and secure the area," Columbia Gas spokeswoman Tracy Stefanowicz said Friday.

Bad control caused explosions in 2018, according to the NTSB

At least one person was killed last September when a series of gas explosions hit Lawrence and two other cities north of Boston. Nearly 40 homes and businesses were affected by explosions and fires, and at least 22 people were taken to hospitals.

The "probable cause" of these explosions was the inadequate management of a construction project by Columbia Gas, announced this week the National Council of Transportation and Security. The agency also concluded that insufficient protection of a low-pressure natural gas distribution network was also a factor.

According to the NTSB, gas explosions in the Merrimack Valley were caused by poor management and inadequate monitoring

"The poor technical management of Columbia Gas, in Massachusetts … has not adequately planned, revised, ordered and supervised the construction project that led to the abandonment of a conduct cast iron without first repositioning the regulator's detection lines on the new polyethylene pipe ", NTSB Managing Director Sharon Bryson said Tuesday.

"The low-pressure natural gas distribution system, designed and operated without adequate overpressure protection, contributed to the accident," she said.

Columbia Gas's findings are consistent with those of the NTSB, the utility said in a statement.

"We welcome the actions taken today by the NTSB as they will help us, as well as our industry partners, the public and others, learn from this tragedy. We said since that tragic day, we take responsibility for what happened, "the statement said.

Chuck Johnston and Laura Ly of CNN contributed to this report.

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