It's absolutely incredible and unacceptable.
We appreciate the opportunity to testify today on behalf of Columbia Gas of Massachusetts and NiSource.
It has to discourage Columbia or any other company from ever turning a blind eye to the safety problems.
What happened on September 13 was not inevitable. It was preventable.
That is like saying it is the responsibility of the fox to make sure that the hen house is safe.
This is the beginning of accountability, the beginning of a process to ensure that our promise to the American people......
And what grade would you give them on the first day?
I worry that something like this just wipes them out or puts them on such a downward path that they can't recover.
This $2 million fine just seems absolutely pathetic as a discouragement so that real safety standards are adopted.
To have a safety decision made by an unqualified engineer is unacceptable.
the same thing should be true for PHMSA and it is not today.