The Court-imposed,
extended, Claim Filing deadline of March 27, 2020 has passed. At this time, there is no guarantee that
any late claims will be reviewed and paid under the Settlement. If you
have extreme, extenuating circumstances that support the reason why you did not
timely submit a claim and why you want to submit a late claim, you may download
a Claim Form from the documents section of this website and submit the claim to
the Settlement Administrator via mail for consideration. Along with your
claim, you must include a separate cover sheet briefly describing the extreme,
extenuating circumstances that prevented you from filing a claim by the
deadline.
Initial Lump-Sum claim payments in the Court-approved settlement in re Columbia Gas, Civil Action Number No. 1877CV01343G, in the Superior Court of Massachusetts have been mailed. The payments does not reflect payment for Itemized/Extraordinary claims or Business/Commercial claims as these payments will be mailed separately at a future date.
For your convenience, we have listed some Santander Banks that can accommodate you with the processing of your check. For the best service appointments are strongly recommended.
Primary Branch Locations -
Each branch has the following hours of operation:
9:00am to 4:00pm Monday to Friday
9:00am to 1:00pm Saturday
Sundays – Closed
Lobby and teller line locations:
1)Andover Center – 71 Main Street, Andover MA 01810, Phone 978 247 8100
2)Andover Shawsheen – 211 North Main, Street Andover MA 01810, Phone 978 475 2796
3)North Andover – 555 Chickering Road, North Andover MA 01845, Phone 978 975 2673
4)Lawrence Essex Street – 296 Essex Street, Lawrence MA 01840, Phone 978 659 4100
5)Lawrence Park Street – 555 Broadway, Lawrence MA 01841, Phone 978 691 4402
6)Lawrence South Union – 460 South Union Street, Lawrence MA 01843, Phone 978 691 4401
8)Methuen Loop – 90 Pleasant Valley Street, Methuen MA 01844, Phone 978 686 4192
Single lane drive-up teller only location:
1)North Andover Main – 149 Main Street, North Andover MA 01845, Phone 978 686 5761
If you lived, owned property or owned a business in Lawrence, Andover or North Andover on September 13, 2018, you could receive payment from a Class Action Settlement.
A number of residents, property owners and businesses – the “Plaintiffs” – in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover (the “Class Area”) sued, among others, NiSource, Inc. and Bay State Gas Co. d/b/a Columbia Gas of Massachusetts (collectively “Columbia Gas”) for losses they suffered from the natural gas over-pressurization event of September 13, 2018 (the “Incident”). Plaintiffs and Columbia Gas have reached a Class Action Settlement (the “Settlement”).
The Settlement creates a $143 million Settlement Fund. After Court-approved costs and fees, including attorneys’ fees, the remainder of the Settlement Fund will be used to compensate people and businesses covered by the Settlement, called “Class Members.”
You are a Class Member if you lived, owned property or owned a business in the Class Area on September 13, 2018. As a Class Member, you may be entitled to compensation from the Settlement Fund. The terms of the Settlement are described more fully on this website.
Your legal rights are affected whether you act or not. Please read this website carefully.
Your Legal Rights and Options in this Settlement
File a Claim for Payment by January 31, 2020
Filing the Claim Form available on this website will allow you to receive money under the Settlement if it is approved by the Court.
Object to the Settlement by December 10, 2019
If you do not think the Settlement is fair you may write to the Settlement Administrator to Object.
Do Nothing
Get no payment, give up rights. If you do nothing, you will be bound by the terms of the Settlement, but will not receive any payment from the Settlement.
These rights and options—and the deadlines to exercise them—are explained on this website.
The Court in charge of this case still has to decide whether to approve the Settlement. Payments will be made if the Court approves the Settlement and after appeals are resolved. Please be patient.
This website is authorized by the Court, supervised by counsel and controlled by the Settlement Administrator approved by the Court. This is the only authorized website for this case.
Click here to safely and securely submit a Business Claim Form.
Important Dates
Claim Form Deadline
Friday, March 27, 2020
You must submit your Claim Form by mail postmarked no later than the extended filing deadline of Friday, March 27, 2020.
Objection Deadline
Tuesday, December 10, 2019
You must mail your objection(s) and/or notice of intent to appear at the Final Approval Hearing so that it/they are postmarked no later than Tuesday, December 10, 2019.
Final Approval Hearing Date
Thursday, February 27, 2020
The Final Approval Hearing is scheduled for Thursday, February 27, 2020 at 10:00 a.m. Please check this website for updates.
