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The Massachusetts Utilities Department has ordered National Grid to impose a moratorium on all work done throughout the Company's service area, pending the results of the company's review of security of society.
The order comes after a gas incident Monday in Woburn.
"In addition, the ministry is asking National Grid to have an on-site inspector for any work that may result in abnormal pressurization until the end of this review," the release said.
The DPU said the ministry "was recruiting an independent appraiser to assess, as a precaution, the safety of pipeline infrastructure throughout Massachusetts."
It is thought that the overpressure was the cause of fires and natural gas explosions in an area about 20 km last month, killing one and injuring 25 people. This area is served by another utility, Columbia Gas.
Columbia Gas says it has replaced about a third of the pipelines that it plans to replace at Lawrence, Andover and North Andover.
Since June, more than 1,200 gas companies have been locked out in a labor dispute with National Grid. The electricity company said the cause of Monday's push would be the subject of an investigation, but that the teams involved in the works were executives.
Last week, the Ministry of Public Utilities, based on information provided by residents, opened an investigation into security breaches and potential breaches of the federal pipeline safety procedure and regulations.
The utility has recently announced its intention to call on an independent appraiser to conduct a state-wide review of the safety of the natural gas distribution system in the Commonwealth.
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