Utility to pay $53 million, plead guilty over Massachusetts gas explosions
(Reuters U.S.)

A utility operator blamed for catastrophic gas explosions in Massachusetts in 2018 will pay a $53 million fine and plead guilty to violating a federal pipeline safety law as part of a deal in which its parent NiSource Inc has agreed to sell the company and exit the state. Federal prosecutors in Boston on Wednesday said Columbia Gas of Massachusetts will plead guilty to violating the Pipeline Safety Act to resolve a probe into to the disaster, which killed one person, injure