The National Transportation Safety Board plans to convene later this month in Washington, D.C. to determine the probable cause of the September 2018 gas-related fire disaster that killed a Lawrence teen and left 22 others, including three firefighters, injured.
The public is invited to attend the session overseen by the Board’s five members. It will also be live-streamed online starting at 9:30 a.m.
Two months ago, Columbia Gas settled with the family of 18-year-old Leonel Rondon, the teen killed when an over-pressurized gas line resulted in what some city officials called an “Armageddon-like” scenario in the Merrimack Valley. Rondon was sitting inside a car when a chimney fell onto the car after a house explosion.
Terms of the settlement were not released, though Columbia Gas also vowed to establish a scholarship fund in Rondon’s memory.
In May, Columbia Gas and parent company NiSource said it would pay Lawrence, Andover and North Andover an $80 million settlement, with $57 million earmarked for road repairs, $10 million for expense reimbursement and $12.8 million for claims and losses incurred by the municipalities affected by the disaster.