Visit The Boston Globe Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Comment on this Scroll to top of page Travis Andersen Globe Staff October 12, 2018 The state Department of Public Utilities has ordered Columbia Gas of Massachusetts to “impose a moratorium on all work” except for restoration efforts in the Merrimack Valley, following the release of a preliminary NTSB report on the Sept. 13 explosions and gas fires. The order will remain in effect at least through Dec. 1, officials said. “Following the National Transportation Safety Board’s preliminary report and as a result of ongoing inspections of Columbia Gas’s gas system, the Department of Public Utilities … has ordered Columbia Gas to impose a moratorium on all work, except for emergency and compliance work, across the company’s entire service territory until at least December 1, 2018,” said Peter Lorenz, a spokesman for the state Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, which oversees the DPU, in a statement. Advertisement Lorenz said the “order will not impede the emergency restoration services in the Merrimack Valley and allows the DPU to approve additional work upon request by the company. Separately, the Department is in the process of hiring an Independent Evaluator to assess, out of an abundance of caution, the safety of pipeline infrastructure throughout Massachusetts.” Get Fast Forward in your inbox: Forget yesterday’s news. Get what you need today in this early-morning email. Thank you for signing up! Sign up for more newsletters here Angela M. O’Connor, chair of the DPU, elaborated… [Read full story]
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