Are you a former employee of NiSource Inc. (NI) and own stock in the company? Robbins LLP is investigating breaches of fiduciary duty by the officers and board of directors of NI.
NiSource Inc. (NI) Subsidiary Agrees to Pay $53 Million Criminal Fine
On February 26, 2020, NiSource Inc. (NI) subsidiary Columbia Gas of Massachusetts agreed to pay a criminal fine of $53 million as part of a plea agreement for the gas explosions in Merrimack Valley. The charges against Columbia Gas of Massachusetts alleged that it “recklessly disregarded a known safety risk related to regulator control lines” and that failure to account for control lines had been ongoing since as far back as 2016. As a consequence of these failures, in September 2018, a series of gas explosions from over-pressurized gas lines killed one person, injured 22 people, and damaged or destroyed more than 130 buildings. The National Transportation Safety Board largely blamed Columbia of Massachusetts for these explosions. In addition to the criminal fine, NiSource has agreed to sell and forfeit any profits from the sale of Columbia and cease all gas pipeline operations in the state. As a result of the lawsuit settlement, NiSource has depleted its financial resources and caused further harm to its shareholders.