Business & Tech

Columbia Gas To Pay $143M To Victims Of Deadly Explosions

One person was killed, homes were leveled and $1 billion in damage was incurred in Columbia Gas line explosions across the Merrimack Valley.

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Leonel Rondon, 18, was killed by a falling chimney when a natural gas line exploded at his family's Lawrence home Sept. 13.
Leonel Rondon, 18, was killed by a falling chimney when a natural gas line exploded at his family's Lawrence home Sept. 13. (Dave Copeland/Patch)

MERRIMACK VALLEY, MA — Columbia Gas will pay $143 million to victims of a series of explosions in September that killed a teenager and forced more than 30,000 from their homes. The company on Monday agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit filed in the wake of the explosions, which officials blamed on over-pressurized lines. In May, the company agreed to an $80 million settlement with Lawrence, Andover and North Andover, the communities where the explosions happened.

Columbia Gas in July agreed to a settlement with the family of Leonel Rondon, 18, of Lawrence. He was killed when a chimney collapsed and crushed his sport utility vehicle as he was sitting in it while parked in his driveway.

Rondon's death led Massachusetts Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey to file the Leonel Rondon Pipeline Safety Act, which calls for stricter safety standards for pipelines across the country.

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A Lawrence man captured the hellish aftermath of the explosions on video:

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