At Least 60 buildings hit with fires and gas explosions in massacchusetts, 1 Dead, 25 Injured

[WriterMom]

Just a little side note. We have black hawks flying like mad around here. I wonder if they are worried about terrorism?

Interesting....I am nowhere near MA, but I saw a Blackhawk fly over Pgh (east of the city) around 2:00 this afternoon. Probably not related, but it's interesting that you mentioned that.

[homecanner1]

"...Failed contract negotiations with union led to lockout of 1,100 gas workers since late June 2018..."

https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/n...1-000-gas.html

all of Lawrence is on evac till all clear.

https://www.wcvb.com/article/lawrenc...ation/23120524

"Residents in the affected towns of Lawrence/North Andover/Andover who have gas service from Columbia Gas should evacuate their homes immediately if they have not already done so," state police tweeted. "Gas lines are currently being depressurized by the company it will take some time. National Grid also turned off power to all customers in Lawrence, North Andover and Andover.

[hiwall]

This was no accident.....why would anyone lose their job?

Either this was terrorism or someone screwed up. If it was a screw-up then at minimum someone should be fired. But no one is ever fired anymore. They just get "more training".

[West]

Just gives one more reason to not put all faith in public services. And in fact more reason to suspect not having it, and it perhaps going to be dangerous.

[homecanner1]

driving up and down the street telling them evac all buildings immediately. absolute utter chaos

https://twitter.com/EagleTribJill/st...50493770428416

JΞSŦΞR ✪ ΔCŦUΔL³³º¹
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Anyone else wondering if these dozens of gas explosions in MA might be some kinda of cyber attack targeting SCADA systems? >>

3:01 PM - 13 Sep 2018

[Texican]

If it is a typical gas distribution system, the gas meter reduces the gas line pressure to ounces going into the home or business. Over pressure in the distribution line could over ride the pressure reducer in the gas meter resulting in over pressure in the struture's gas lines.

Will have to wait to see what the authorities say.

Texican....

[homecanner1]

the looting began almost immediately once people fled homes. will be a grim night on the scanner there.

Jill Harmacinski
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#Lawrence sense of calm from an hour or two ago seems to be breaking. Officer directing traffic at an intersection getting impatient with drivers. Just told one “get your F** out of here.” Officer on scanner now; “we got to start thinking about when lights go down.” @EagleTrib

3:52 PM - 13 Sep 2018

[Turret Buster]

Tin foil on-
Remember what happened the last time the government wanted people to un-ass the area?
Tin foil off.

[homecanner1]

Daily Star
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'This is not over' fire chief warns of chaos for another WEEK after gas explosions #Massachusetts #Lawrence
#Andover #NorthAndover https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/wor...re-latest-news …

[homecanner1]

read elsewhere 100 structures now on fire


Breaking911
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Columbia Gas of Massachusetts has 313,000 customers in the state and is owned by Indiana-based NiSource - ReutersBreaking911 added,
Breaking911
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@Breaking911
Residents In The Area Who Are Serviced By 'Columbia Gas' Company Should EVACUATE THE TOWN NOW - Police https://twitter.com/Breaking911/stat...67472266944512 …
5:01 PM - 13 Sep 2018

[night driver]

Yeah, about a week, NOT COUNTING TOMORROW!!

Took slightly less than a week in Fairport, IIRC, and they actually walked every street and every meter in the area.

WATTAMESS!


Prayers for all in the area (also remember that Andover has a partially residential school, Phillips Academy)

[Vegas321]

1 fatality is now reported on Chickering road.


https://boston.cbslocal.com/video/channel/314-live/

On my way north. I seen Kingston,NH and East Kingston,NH pumpers fly by me on Route 125. New something was up. Not to this extent.

[ShadowMan]

Thanks Matt, just wondered.

Oh and what's all the panic? Walk out of your house. Around the side and TURN OFF YOUR GAS METER!! Then walk back in, open all the windows to vent the house and then go about your business.

Since I live in earthquake country its always been prudent to know how to turn off your gas line.

[Vegas321]

I'm going to guess, they are older meters that blew, when the over-pressure occurred.

[Millwright]

Gonna be a gob of blown out regulators to replace.

[Vegas321]

the death was a 18 yo kid who had a chimney land on his car from a house that exploded.

[bluelady]

Thanks Matt, just wondered.

Oh and what's all the panic? Walk out of your house. Around the side and TURN OFF YOUR GAS METER!! Then walk back in, open all the windows to vent the house and then go about your business.

Since I live in earthquake country its always been prudent to know how to turn off your gas line.

Except that the neighbor's houses are on fire. And gas is escaping all over. And things are exploding. Nah, I'd do the above, grab my valuables & the pets, and get out.

[homecanner1]

to complicate it further, August nat. gasline theft

Chief Roy Vasque gives update on Lawrence gas leak

Aug 16, 2018
http://www.eagletribune.com/multimedia/c...930d5.html

North Attleboro man guilty of natural gas theft and meter tampering in Attleboro and elsewhere

The investigation determined that from 2008 to 2012, Bankert, a formerly licensed electrician, tampered with 10 gas meters at six laundromats he owned in Attleboro, Brockton, Lawrence and Worcester for the purpose of stealing natural gas.
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/loca...7f82b.html

[homecanner1]

Tommy Duggan
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BREAKING… Lawrence police reporting massive amounts of water leaking from the water tower on Mount Vernon St.

7:04 PM - 13 Sep 2018

[Millwright]

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BREAKING… Lawrence police reporting massive amounts of water leaking from the water tower on Mount Vernon St.

7:04 PM - 13 Sep 2018

Overflow?

Pumps didn't shut down?

Stuck contactor?

SCADA controlled?

[night driver]

They're handling that issue by drawing off a lot of water to fight the fires...

/snark

[Echo 5]

Can't believe Drudge isn't leading with this story.

[Turret Buster]

Overflow? oh yeah...


Pumps didn't shut down? Well, uhm, no, they didn't Millwright

Stuck contactor? contactor?

SCADA controlled? not sure, a whole hell of a lot of systems, even small one's, are or have, switched to SCADA by now.

SCADA- SCADA is an acronym for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. SCADA generally refers to an industrial computer system that monitors and controls a process.

Seimans makes a system for water and wastewater, and other systems, that are almost Operator proof. That is until someone starts finger ****ing the pretty icons on the screen. It's not so bullet proof then.

edit - reading up on SCADA failures in the past, it seems some are controlled by radio signals and some with good old computer cabling. A major fire in the area could certainly be a reason for this failure. Or not. As someone earlier said, this could very well be a skilled and bored hacker. Or something even more sinister. IDK....

[intothatgoodnight]

SCADA- SCADA is an acronym for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. SCADA generally refers to an industrial computer system that monitors and controls a process.

Seimans makes a system for water and wastewater, and other systems, that are almost Operator proof. That is until someone starts finger ****ing the pretty icons on the screen. It's not so bullet proof then.

edit - reading up on SCADA failures in the past, it seems some are controlled by radio signals and some with good old computer cabling. A major fire in the area could certainly be a reason for this failure. Or not. As someone earlier said, this could very well be a skilled and bored hacker. Or something even more sinister. IDK....

I am reminded of the Stuxnet SCADA hack in 2010, against the Iranian centrifuge refinement facility in Natanz, Iran – the Stuxnet hacking tool was alleged to have been developed jointly by Israel and the U.S. (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stuxnet)


intothegoodnight

[homecanner1]

The Commonwealth Gov.has been up all night tweeting every hour or so, next presser at 9 am eastern



Charlie Baker
✔
@MassGovernor
Replying to @MassGovernor
At this time our focus is on ensuring the public’s safety. Once that is complete, we will work with the federal government to investigate how this occurred and hold people accountable for their actions.
1h


Charlie Baker
✔
@MassGovernor
Replying to @MassGovernor
I have made clear to the utility company that they must immediately bring in additional resources + develop a comprehensive safety inspection plan for these communities. The utility must communicate to residents their remedial plan + when they can expect to return to their homes.

1h


Charlie Baker
✔
@MassGovernor
Replying to @MassGovernor
I can’t reiterate this enough: residents must heed instructions from local officials, law enforcement and first responders regarding public safety announcements, including about evacuations and gas usage.

tweets from Lawrence amd Andover Police, Fire, Mayors, Gov, and Media collated at Boston.com special emergency twitterfeed

[Rabbit]

SCADA- SCADA is an acronym for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. SCADA generally refers to an industrial computer system that monitors and controls a process.

Seimans makes a system for water and wastewater, and other systems, that are almost Operator proof. That is until someone starts finger ****ing the pretty icons on the screen. It's not so bullet proof then.

edit - reading up on SCADA failures in the past, it seems some are controlled by radio signals and some with good old computer cabling. A major fire in the area could certainly be a reason for this failure. Or not. As someone earlier said, this could very well be a skilled and bored hacker. Or something even more sinister. IDK....

Do you mean there could be a jerk sitting at a computer that could blow your house up?

[zeker]

many yrs ago I was working and we turned onto a sidestreet.

the traffic was crawling and firetrucks everywhere

I looked to my left and saw a fireman running from house to house banging on the doors

as he left each place, the previous house started smoking

and then exploded

several houses went up that day

the only life that was lost, was a st Bernard who was a tv celebrity in our town.

his owners were out at the time

[Countrymouse]

Interesting.


VERY interesting.


Charlie Baker
✔
@MassGovernor
Replying to @MassGovernor
At this time our focus is on ensuring the public’s safety. Once that is complete, we will work with the federal government to investigate how this occurred and hold people accountable for their actions.
1h


Sounds like they DO know this was more than just an "accident" and that deliberate "actions" led to its happening.

[20Gauge]

Thanks Matt, just wondered.

Oh and what's all the panic? Walk out of your house. Around the side and TURN OFF YOUR GAS METER!! Then walk back in, open all the windows to vent the house and then go about your business.

Since I live in earthquake country its always been prudent to know how to turn off your gas line.

and have the wrench to do so handy!

[Millwright]

Interesting.

Sounds like they DO know this was more than just an "accident" and that deliberate "actions" led to its happening.

That's what I'm reading into it.

Doesn't sound like he was discussing an equipment failure.

Unless there was a known operational deficiency and someone chose to ignore it.

Hard to say.

[Red Baron]

What a mess,

Fair Use Cited
-----------------
Merrimack Valley Gas Explosions: What We Know

September 14, 2018 at 11:03 am

LAWRENCE (CBS) – Large sections of Lawrence, Andover and North Andover were evacuated Thursday afternoon after a series of gas explosions and fires. Here is the latest:

• An 18-year-old man died. At least 25 people injured
• 60-80 fires and 3 explosions, according to MEMA
• The issue is related to a high pressure gas main, possibly over-pressurized
• MEMA has no further information on the cause yet
• An estimated 8,500 gas meters in that region, served by Columbia Gas, were affected; multi-unit homes have multiple gas meters
• 3,500 meters were checked overnight, according to MEMA
• Emergency crews going door-to-door to turn off gas at each home (Read: List of Stay Away Streets)
• If your street appears on the safe list, (Andover | North Andover) please do not turn on the gas yourself
• The restoration process is expected to take several days or longer
• Affected Columbia Gas customers can call 1-866-388-3239 with questions
• Nearly 18,000 National Grid customers are without power in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover
• Andover Police say the power will be out until at least 9 a.m. Saturday
• Lawrence, Andover and North Andover leaders say there is no timeline on when residents can return
• All roads into Lawrence are closed until further notice
• All residents of South Lawrence, regardless of utility provider, were asked to evacuate
• Power shut off to South Lawrence, parts of Andover and North Andover. This includes traffic lights
• 38 fires extinguished in Andover alone, with 17 additional gas leaks
• 29 homes impacted in North Andover
• “It looked like Armageddon,” said Andover Fire Chief Michael Mansfield
• 10-alarm fire response in all 3 communities
• Firefighters and police from across eastern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire responded
• Red Cross reception centers: Andover Senior Center and Youth Center, North Andover High School, Parthum and Arlington Schools in Lawrence, Central Catholic and St. Mary’s Church in Lawrence
• Residents in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover can call 211 for information
• Commuter Rail service on the Haverhill line suspended beyond North Wilmington
• All off ramps from I-495 between Exits 42-45 were closed; on ramps remained open
• No school in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover on Friday, including Catholic schools
• State offices in Lawrence, Andover, and North Andover are closed Friday
• Merrimack College without power, but students are in dorms
• Lawrence courts closed Friday
• Department of Pipeline Safety and NTSB involved in investigation from federal level
• NTSB says it’s involved because pipelines are a mode of transportation

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2018/09/...north-andover/

[marymonde]

My husband’s cousin lives in Andover. They were evacuated at 4:51 yesterday. She called it horrific. This is what she just texted me:


Gas Explosions all over ANDOVER, Lawtence, North Andover
70 fires
3 explosions
Many injuries
No school everything shut down and Massachusetts government investigating and FBI
Only in the Merrimack Valley where we live

[Red Baron]

Updated Thread Title

[Ragnarok]

My husband’s cousin lives in Andover. They were evacuated at 4:51 yesterday. She called it horrific. This is what she just texted me:


Gas Explosions all over ANDOVER, Lawtence, North Andover
70 fires
3 explosions
Many injuries
No school everything shut down and Massachusetts government investigating and FBI
Only in the Merrimack Valley where we live

That is very telling...

[OldArcher]

Terrorism, corruption, or simple incompetence? Whoever is responsible, needs a tall tree, and a short rope... Call it, "Massachusetts Windchimes..."

OldARcher

[Dreamer]

Can you imagine how bad the stench of rotting food will be once everyone is back in their homes? Fresh food, refrigerated, and frozen all rotten. At least the temperatures are moderate. And thank goodness this isn’t in winter which would mean lots and lots of frozen pipes...

[BornFree]

Can you imagine how bad the stench of rotting food will be once everyone is back in their homes? Fresh food, refrigerated, and frozen all rotten. At least the temperatures are moderate. And thank goodness this isn’t in winter which would mean lots and lots of frozen pipes...

Yup- Very sad to see so much food wasted. The Gas company will be liable to replace all that among other things. Of course who knows how long that will take. It is hard to believe that they could not get the Gas line bled off and the power back on within say 6 hours. Then most of the food would have survived. Were any Hospitals effected by this?

[Old Gray Mare]

In some areas of the country gas lines date back to the early 1900's or even before. I'm not suggesting these explosions are solely due to a failing century old infrastructure but I am wondering how old are the effected lines, joints and their valves? How well or if they have been maintained, replaced or updated? Nothing lasts forever.

Older homes may have secrets hiding in their walls. Before the advent of cheep, readily available electric power some homes and business used gas for lighting. Gas lines directly fed gas lamps attached to the walls. Years ago I heard of a home owner doing some renovations and getting a nasty surprise. Luckily no one was hurt.

fair use.

Natural gas explosions: Boston-area gas pipes among oldest and leakiest in US
John Kelly, USA TODAY Published 11:08 a.m. ET Sept. 14, 2018 | Updated 2:50 p.m. ET Sept. 14, 2018

Video and chart of amount of iron gas pipeline per US company at link.

The Merrimack Valley, the area north of Boston that was shaken by dozens of natural gas explosions Thursday, is served by some of the nation's oldest and most leak-prone pipes.

Investigators have yet to determine what caused the gas explosions that burned at least 39 homes in the towns of Lawrence, Andover and North Andover. But the gas utility that serves the area has more miles of old, cast-iron gas mains than all but 15 utilities in the nation, according to a USA TODAY analysis of federal safety data.

In its most recent filing with federal pipeline safety regulators, Columbia Gas reported 471 miles of cast-iron and wrought-iron gas distribution lines (imagine the effect of contact with 100+ years of ground water could have on them? - OGM)– the kind of old gas pipe that the government and safety experts have been pushing utilities to replace for more than a decade.

Fire investigators and state emergency management officials said Thursday night that the devastating chain of fires might have been caused by over-pressurization in the gas lines. Federal, state and local investigations continue today. Columbia Gas, which serves 300,000 customers in the Merrimack Valley, has not commented on the potential cause.

One man was killed and at least 10 other people were injured in the fires.

Whatever the cause, the area's bare-metal gas mains have been a well-documented safety concern for government regulators and the gas company itself for years, federal and state records show.

USA TODAY Investigation: Danger lurks underground from aging gas pipes

More: Nearly 40 homes catch fire after natural gas tragedy north of Boston; 1 dead

The old cast-iron pipes prevalent in the Boston-area systems – some installed well more than 50 years ago – are susceptible to rust and corrosion, which can lead to leaks and explosions.

The old pipes have been blamed by fire investigators and the National Transportation Safety Board in many deadly gas explosion disasters in recent years.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has been pushing gas utilities for more than a decade to replace aging pipes with more resilient materials such as plastic, but it's not required by law.

The gas industry has replaced thousands of miles of pipe, but a daunting amount of work remains. It can cost $1 million per mile or more to replace aging pipe. The costs are typically passed on to customers.

The vast majority of the nation's 1,000-plus gas utilities use very little or none of the most vulnerable cast-iron mains. An investigation by USA TODAY in 2014 found that the largest share of the old pipe is concentrated in heavily populated areas, where the risk of catastrophic consequences in greater.

More than 80 percent of the cast-iron mains are concentrated in 10 states, mostly in the Northeast, according to a USA TODAY review of the most recent federal safety data, from 2017. About a third of the old mains are buried in and around just three metro areas: New York, Boston and Detroit.


Perilous pipes

Tens of thousands of miles of the same kind of old, unprotected metal gas pipes hide beneath city streets across the U.S. Some of the pipe is 50 to 100 years old.

In the Boston area, Boston Gas in the metro area and Columbia Gas in the Merrimack Valley combine to use more than 2,200 miles of old iron mains. That's more iron gas pipe than is still in use in 45 other states combined.

In its latest update to its gas line improvement plan with Massachusetts regulators, Columbia Gas reported this spring that its cast iron and bare-steel gas distribution pipes make up about 15 percent of its distribution network. That’s more than twice the average that USA TODAY calculated for natural gas utilities nationwide.

In that Gas System Enhancement Plan petition, the gas company said it had replaced about 50 miles of “leak prone” gas lines in 2017. The company said it had plans to replace another 500 miles of the aging, leak-prone gas mains – but the work would take until 2033.

In April, Columbia Gas of Massachusetts applied to the state’s Department of Utilities for a rate hike it said would increase monthly bills for a typical residential customer by 2.3 percent during winter and 11 percent during summer.

The company said it needed the hike to fund “a multi-year effort to continuously improve the company’s organizational and operational processes consistent with the evolving regulatory landscape focused on more stringent enforcement of pipeline-safety regulations to assure the integrity of the distribution system.”

The application is winding through the regulatory review process.

Columbia Gas of Massachusetts reported at least 700 known leaks in its system in 2017, including hundreds it deemed hazardous. More than 200 of those were attributed to corrosion, failed welds and other problems with the pipes.

Federal data show cast-iron mains historically have been involved in a disproportionate share of significant gas leaks. About 2 percent of gas mains are made of cast iron, but they were implicated in about 11 percent of the most severe leaks from distribution pipes from 2005 to 2017 – and 41 percent of the fatalities.

A cast-iron gas main installed in 1927 was blamed for a Brooklyn apartment building explosion in January that injured four people.

In 2016, a gas pipe installed in Shreveport, Louisiana, in 1911 leaked under pressure, killing one person.

In 2015, a cast-iron pipe installed in the Detroit area in 1923 cracked almost in two; the resulting leak killed one person.

And in one of the deadliest incidents in recent years, eight people were killed and 48 were injured when a gas explosion leveled part of a New York City block in East Harlem in 2014. The iron gas main servicing the buildings was installed in 1887.
Firefighters battle a fire in a house in Lawrence, Mass.

Firefighters battle a fire in a house in Lawrence, Mass. (Photo: CJ GUNTHER, EPA-EFE)

Twenty states have rid their gas systems of the cast-iron and wrought-iron pipes altogether, but the ancient infrastructure still dominates systems in older parts of the country, most notably in the Midwest and Northeast.

More than half of the gas pipes under Massachusetts cities was installed before 1970. One out of every 4 miles of gas mains in the state was put in the ground before 1940.

Utilities in those communities face a more difficult task in replacing their aging mains than elsewhere. Pipes in crowded cities are harder to retrofit because the cost and disruption to everyday life is greater.

The aging pipes are a high-risk example of the nation's struggle to replace its crumbling infrastructure.

The danger remains hidden beneath the ground until a pipe fails or is struck by something and a spark ignites a monstrous blast.

Natural gas is piped into 67 million homes and at least 5 million businesses and schools across the country, with gas distribution and service lines snaking beneath most American neighborhoods.

In USA TODAY's 2014 investigation, data analysis showed that nine of the 10 utilities that use the most iron pipe far exceeded the average rate for hazardous gas leaks in 2013. Three utilities, serving the New York and Philadelphia regions, reported hazardous leak rates greater than 10 times the national average.

The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has reported progress in replacing the old pipes in many states. The agency posts updated figures each year showing how much troublesome pipe remains in each utility's system, along with dire warnings about the need to remove and replace it all.

The agency enforces a federal law that requires the gas utilities to file Distribution Integrity Management Plans with state regulators, in which they outline the greatest threats to their networks and what they're doing to make sure gas leaks don't threaten people or property.

The agency doesn't have the authority to require replacement by a deadline.

Contributing: Kevin McCoy

link to source:
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/...re/1300246002/

[Turret Buster]

Do you mean there could be a jerk sitting at a computer that could blow your house up?

No, I was replying to Millwright's post about a water tower leak, not the gas explosion.

Originally Posted by Millwright

Overflow? oh yeah...

Pumps didn't shut down? Well, uhm, no, they didn't Millwright

Stuck contactor? contactor?

SCADA controlled? not sure, a whole hell of a lot of systems, even small one's, are or have, switched to SCADA by now.

SCADA- SCADA is an acronym for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition. SCADA generally refers to an industrial computer system that monitors and controls a process.

Seimans makes a system for water and wastewater, and other systems, that are almost Operator proof. That is until someone starts finger ****ing the pretty icons on the screen. It's not so bullet proof then.

edit - reading up on SCADA failures in the past, it seems some are controlled by radio signals and some with good old computer cabling. A major fire in the area could certainly be a reason for this failure. Or not. As someone earlier said, this could very well be a skilled and bored hacker. Or something even more sinister. IDK....

[mistaken1]

Tommy Duggan
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BREAKING… Lawrence police reporting massive amounts of water leaking from the water tower on Mount Vernon St.

7:04 PM - 13 Sep 2018

From a terrorist's point of view draining a water tower would make it harder to fight fires caused by gas explosions.