Final hearing in $143M lawsuit against Columbia Gas brings victims closer to receiving settlement

SALEM, Mass. — On Thursday, an Essex County Superior Court judge heard the last arguments in a final hearing in the $143 million class-action lawsuit brought against Columbia Gas for the September 2018 Merrimack Valley explosions in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover.

Judge James Lang presided over the hearing in the packed courtroom as residents and even Lawrence’s mayor Dan Rivera made a case for those affected by the explosions and fires.

“I’m told the settlement is about four times larger than the next largest private class-action lawsuit in the Commonwealth," said Lang.

There have been 35,000 residential claims filed since the disaster, where over half of those came from residents in Lawrence.

Rivera, who was forced to evacuate his own home with his wife and two young children testified on Thursday against the proposed settlement.

“My biggest issue the attorney’s fees represent an undue proportion of the fund," said Rivera.

According to Rivera, attorneys involved in the legal proceedings would be getting $23 million, the equivalent of $44,000 per day.

“A days worth of work for the attorneys would be half a years pay for a police officer and half a years pay for a firefighter," said Rivera.

The proposed settlement would work based on a points system for money awarded to victims of the disaster. Basically, the closer someone lived or worked to the impact zone, the more money they will receive under the system.

“Points are assigned in intervals depending on the number of days that a class household was either evacuated or displaced from their home or without loss of natural gas services and that includes appliances," said Adam Gomez, the attorney for the plaintiffs.

The average amount a resident affected would receive would be about $87,000.

“I feel the terms of this settlement have the potential to provide closure to most of us in a timely manner after everything we’ve been through," said Mary Mlodzianowski, a Lawrence resident.

If approved, residents will receive their money no later than June 30th.

The proposed settlement is a completely different legal debate from yesterday’s announcement that Columbia Gas will pay a record $53 million fine for violating federal safety standards.

Also on Wednesday, Eversource announced it would be acquiring Columbia Gas’ Massachusetts assets for $1.1 billion from their parent company, NiSource.

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