People Affected By Natural Gas Explosion Get $143M

People Affected By Natural Gas Explosion Get $143M

Introduction

A Massachusetts judge awarded a settlement of $143 million to the residents and business owners who were affected by natural gas explosions in the state in 2018.

The settlement came as Columbia Gas of Massachusetts pleaded guilt for causing the explosions that resulted in destroying 100 buildings, injuring dozen of people, and killing one. The lawyers said that the settlement would be a relief to the people of Merrimack Valley affected by the explosion.

A fine of $53million is imposed on Columbia Gas by the authorities for breaking a federal safety pipeline law. Its parent company will also sell off the Massachusetts operations.

The National Transportation Safety Board informed that the explosion on Sept. 13, 2018, was a result of poorly planned pipeline projects causing natural gas overpressurization leading to fires.

Attorneys said that an estimated 175,000 people are eligible for payments, but only 11,000 claims were submitted. The average settlement amount for a family of four is expected to be about $8,000.

Earlier, the family of a laborer who died in a plumbing explosion at an Illinois wastewater treatment plant will receive $5.5 million from three construction companies and a pipe testing manufacturer to settle a wrongful death lawsuit.

The victim was a union laborer employed by Henderson Bros. Company, which was a subcontractor to Tobin Brothers, a plumbing subcontractor to Williams Brothers Company, the general contractor. On October 20, 2015, he was seriously injured while working inside a 54-inch diameter pipe when a piece of test equipment, known as a joint tester, exploded. The explosion caused the equipment and/or blast wave to violently strike him, leading to his death at the hospital, several days later.

The lawsuit was filed by the victim's estate in January 2016, alleging that Williams Brothers Construction Co., failed to provide proper safety and supervise its contractor, Tobin Brothers. The lawsuit further alleged that Tobin Brothers negligently assigned the victim to operate a joint tester without training, wherein the joint tester itself, manufactured and leased by Plug-It Products Corp., was dangerous.

In July 2019, a jury awarded a $47 million settlement over a boiler explosion lawsuit filed by injured plaintiffs. Kickham Boiler and Engineering, Chicago Boiler Company, Aquacomp Water Treatment Services, Loy‐Lange, Clayton Industries, and Arise Incorporated were the defendants who paid the penalty for not including corrosion allowance on the pressure vessel and failing to do proper water chemistry treatment, sediment removal, and inspections. The incident took place on April 3, 2017, at the Loy-Lange Box Company facility on Russell Avenue where a 3000-pound pressurized steam container exploded and flew 500 feet high before landing into the Faultless Linen Facility. The mishap killed one person and injured two at Loy-Lange, while three or more were killed at Faultless Linen.