Column: Gas explosions heroes and victims deserve better

By: U.S. Rep. Lori Trahan

Shortly after the excessive pressure in gas lines led to multiple explosions in the greater Lawrence area nearly two years ago, Lawrence police Officer Ivan Soto arrived at his home to see it ablaze. Rather than abandon his duties to focus on the tragedy striking his family in real time, he chose to continue heroically assisting in the mass evacuation of vulnerable community members – letting his own house burn in the process.

Officer Soto wasn’t the only hero that day. However, his story is emblematic of the courage our first responders exhibited nearly 700 days ago – and each day since.

Our nation should honor their sacrifice by steering settlement funding from the disaster, as permitted by federal law, to cover the salaries of those who answered the call and continue to provide assistance to victims.

As this newspaper reported in February, the U.S. attorney for the District of Massachusetts successfully secured a $53 million criminal penalty settlement for Columbia Gas’s violations of federal law pertaining to natural gas pipelines. The bulk of that funding was destined for the Crime Victims Fund, an account administered by the U.S. Department of Justice for the benefit of those who have suffered the consequences of another party’s violation of federal law.

The Crime Victims Fund routinely receives its funds from criminal fines, such as violations of the Natural Gas Pipeline Safety Act, not tax dollars. Notably, the statute governing the fund permits its receipts to be used, among other things, for the “salaries of personnel who provide services to victims of crime.”

In consultation with Lawrence Mayor Dan Rivera and members of the Merrimack Valley’s state delegation following the settlement’s announcement, I determined that the gas explosion funds could and should be made available by the Justice Department, on an ongoing basis, for the salaries of the area’s first responders.

That’s why, shortly after the U.S. attorney announced the criminal settlement, I organized a letter with my colleagues in the Massachusetts congressional delegation to urge Attorney General William Barr to use the discretion provided to the Justice Department under the law “to direct penalties from [the] criminal settlement to support the first responders, counselors and others who provided services to disaster victims in the Merrimack Valley” – folks like Officer Soto and his family.

That letter was sent five months ago. We have yet to get a substantive response.

While the Justice Department’s inaction is disappointing, it’s hardly surprising. The Trump administration has routinely chosen to ignore the needs of our cities and instead proposed to gut programs that primarily benefit lower income urban households, such as the Community Development Block Grant and Community Services Block Grant programs.

The heroes and victims of this tragedy deserve better. So too do the countless people in Lawrence, Andover and North Andover who are still working with them through their recovery.

It’s for that reason that I worked to include a special provision regarding the Crime Victims Fund in the legislative report accompanying the Department of Justice’s budget bill. The provision presses the department to use its authority to direct the federal settlement funds to the victims of the explosions.

I’m proud to say that this budget bill passed the House of Representatives a week ago Friday.

While we still have a lot of work to do to get the Justice Department to adhere to our demands, this provision is a substantial step toward ensuring the settlement funds are reinvested in the local heroes, like Officer Soto, who continue to guard our communities.