TO CLOSE

While investigators were working to identify the cause of a series of dramatic natural gas explosions in three cities north of Boston, Massachusetts, Governor Charlie Baker visited the neighborhood where an 18-year-old was killed by a chimney. (September 14)
AP

The flames consume the roof of a home in Lawrence, Massachusetts, as shown in a video provided by WCVB in Boston. The pressure in the pipelines before last week's explosions was 12 times higher than it should have been.(Photo: WCVB via AP)

Pipeline pressure in three Massachusetts communities reached 12 times their normal level last week, just before the explosions and fires that destroyed dozens of homes and killed an 18-year-old man, according to Ed. Markey and Elizabeth Garenne .

The Massachusetts Democrats have been informed of the explosions in and around Lawrence by the National Transportation Safety Board, which is investigating.

Markey and Warren require answers from Columbia Gas and its parent company about the public service's reaction to pressure readings.

According to the NTSB, a Columbia Gas control room in Columbus, Ohio, reported last Thursday pressures of six pounds per square inch in pipelines intended to carry only 0.5 PSI, Senators wrote in a letter to Columbia Gas President Stephen Bryant.

But we do not know what Columbia Gas did with this information. Markey and Warren want to know if the company has reported it to state and local authorities. They also want to know why the public service waited until 9 pm – more than 4 hours after the first explosions – to publicly acknowledge the disaster.

The series of fires and cascading explosions in the cities of Lawrence, Andover and North Andover, in northeastern Massachusetts, destroyed 80 homes and buildings, wounded dozens of people and killed Leonel Rondon, 18 .

Rondon was sitting in a car when the chimney of a house that exploded fell on his roof.

More than 8,600 gas consumers were evacuated from their homes for several days, while utility crews were striving to restore service.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker, irritated by what he saw as a slow response from Columbia Gas, declared a state of emergency last Friday and put another utility company in charge of the effort.

More: Explosions in Massachusetts: owner of Columbia Gas tied to three explosions of gas lines earlier

More: Natural Gas Explosions: Boston Area Gas Pipelines Among the Oldest and Leakiest in the United States

More: The Massachusetts governor declares the state of emergency after lethal natural gas explosions, orders various public services to restore service

Senators request hearings at the Senate Committee on Commerce. The NTSB hopes to have a preliminary report on the cause in a few weeks, spokesman Keith Holloway said.

"It is imperative that the people of the Commonwealth … understand what caused this disaster and how you responded to it, to ensure that we will never again face a similar tragedy," wrote the senators in their letter. .

Columbia Gas, a subsidiary of NiSource based in Indiana, has not responded to requests for comment.

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