LAWRENCE, MASS. (WHDH) - Lawrence residents were given the green light to return home Saturday after a gas leak prompted mass evacuations but said they’re still feeling the effects of the second major gas problem to hit the city in a year.
On Friday, a city contractor was checking water valves and closed a gas valve and punctured a gas main by mistake, officials said, leading to hundreds of residents being evacuated. The gas main was mislabeled as a water valve and should’ve been replaced after the Merrimack Valley gas explosions last year.
Columbia Gas handles the city’s gas and company president Mark Kempic said crews were inspecting pipe throughout the city.
“We are walking 8 miles of pipe under the daylight and we are inspecting every last foot, I don’t care if it’s painted blue for water or purple, I don’t care we are looking at every single valve… and we are going to make sure those valves don’t cause any problems like this.”
In a statement, Columbia Gas spokesman Scott Ferson said gas had been restored to all but 15 homes as of 9 p.m. Saturday evening.
But residents and business owners said Columbia’s issues were affecting their lives.
“We’re happy to be home but I still slept with my bags packed by the door,” said resident Amanda Hemenway. “My oldest, she’s like begging me, ‘Don’t unpack them, I still don’t feel safe.'”
Sen. Ed Markey and Rep. Joseph Kennedy III, who were both in the area for another event, said more action needs to be taken.
“The fact that something like this could happen, a misstep by a worker and cause another panic that we’ve seen is just inexcusable,” Kennedy said.
“We need answers, that’s why I held a hearing in Lawrence last year on the gas explosion,” Markey said.
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