Six months after gas disaster, problems remain in Lawrence

March 10-- Mar. 10--Six months after gas fires and explosions rocked three Merrimack Valley communities, residents and business owners say they're frustrated by unresolved claims, issues with heat and insufficient communication from Columbia Gas of Massachusetts.

The utility company responsible for the Sept. 13 gas disaster held community meetings in Andover, Lawrence and North Andover on Saturday. Executives detailed next steps in the recovery process while translators and representatives tried to address customer concerns.

Homayoun Maali, whose triple-decker on Chester Street in Lawrence caught fire in the disaster, said he's still waiting to be reimbursed for the roughly $1,800 he spent on food during the four months he was forced to live in a hotel. He also wants to know why the new boiler Columbia Gas installed doesn't keep his first-floor home "as warm as before."

"We want to restore our lives same as it was before," Maali said.

Maali bemoaned Columbia Gas' "lack of communication" directly to COO Mark Kempic, the soon-to-be president, and Kirk Cresto, vice president of Merrimack Valley operations.

"The insurance process can be very frustrating, I agree," Kempic replied, noting executives would take suggestions from Saturday's sessions "and adjust accordingly so we can put you back in the place you were before the event."

Columbia Gas will soon begin replacing furnaces, boilers and hot water heaters that were simply repaired last fall in the rush to restore heat and hot water before winter, and will fix landscaping damaged by work done at homes and businesses. Executives said they're still working with municipalities on plans to repave roads damaged by gas line repairs, fix curbs and make them Americans with Disabilities Act compliant.

As of Friday, Columbia Gas had paid out more than $95 million for 24,077 claims, and 803 claims remain active, including 228 business claims.

Emad Awad of Riverside Pizza in Lawrence said he's been bounced from adjuster to adjuster and hasn't seen a dime yet from Columbia Gas. The insurance company reimbursed him through Nov. 19 -- the original gas restoration deadline -- but Awad said he wasn't able to reopen until the end of January.

"It's been a hassle, big time," Awad said. "I don't have as much business as before. I lost at least 60 percent of my business."

Acknowledging that, "maybe we haven't done the best job," Kempic said Columbia Gas would "educate claims people about the concerns we're hearing."

"I'm not surprised people are dissatisfied, but we are trying to make it less painful for them. We want to streamline the process as much as we can," Kempic told reporters.

With a $530 gas bill in hand, his first since the disaster, Lawrence resident Thomas Barksdale said, "We just want transparency."

___

(c)2019 the Boston Herald

Visit the Boston Herald at www.bostonherald.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.