The wife of a man who died after a natural gas explosion in Maynard is suing Eversource Energy for $450 million, claiming the energy giant improperly addressed leaks and pipe corrosion near the home.

“Eversource’s choices and operations caused Greg Sharrigan to lose his life, caused his wife to lose her husband, caused two sons to lose their father and caused the community to lose a hero,” said the complaint filed in Middlesex Superior Court on Tuesday .

Sharrigan, 67, was killed in 2021 when a natural gas explosion caused a fire with two alarms at his home on Park Street. Investigators at the time found that a leaking underground gas line “ignited in a basement crawl space.” Boston Globe reported.

Sharrigan, a licensed union electrician, according to the complaint, had noticed a “musty” odor in the home, which grew stronger overnight. Sharrigan had called the Maynard Fire Department to report the smell before going into the basement to investigate where he died from the explosion.

Sharrigan’s wife Carol, who represents his estate, is suing for $450 million in punitive and punitive damages, according to court documents.

“What Eversource did is very difficult for me to talk about because the pain they caused is truly unspeakable. Nothing can ever fix this kind of damage,” Carol said in a statement. “I am raising my voice to prevent this from ever happening again . The public needs to know that Eversource has cut corners and put lives on the line.”

Lawyers representing the family point to one Department of Public Utilities incident report from last fall that says Eversource violated several federal pipeline safety codes, in part related to their “inadequate processes to identify active corrosion.”

The DPU incident report also alleges that Eversource had “unclear and inconsistent practices” for dealing with gas leaks and that at least six employees conducted leak investigations that were not properly qualified.

“As shocking as this case already was, it is even more astonishing that Eversource’s alleged security system is full of cost-cutting measures,” attorney Sweeney Merrigan said in a statement. “Eversource’s failure to properly track and repair leaking natural gas pipelines because it prioritizes cost over danger represents a classic corporate failure of profits over people.”

However, a DPU spokesperson said the investigation is still ongoing and the report is not final.

“The Department of Public Utilities is currently conducting an investigation into the gas-related incident that occurred in Maynard,” the spokesperson said. “The investigation, led by the department’s pipeline safety division, includes a comprehensive review of the incident’s root cause, the company’s response and the company’s compliance with state and federal pipeline safety regulations and public safety laws.”

The suit alleges that Eversource knew about the underground leak at least three years before the explosion, and alleged that the danger of the leak near Sharrigan’s home was not addressed due to Eversource’s “repeated misidentification and misclassification.”

“Eversource’s records showed that the leak history was inconsistent and unclear, and many of the documents provided were illegible in part or in whole,” the complaint said. “Because Eversource failed to maintain meaningful and clear records, it failed to conduct reasonable and safe maintenance of critical gas pipeline infrastructure.”

Eversource disputes all claims that the company knew about the leak that caused Sharrigan’s death. Eversource spokesman William Hinkle said the fire was “an isolated, tragic accident” and offered his “sincere sympathies” to those affected by Sharrigan’s death. He said Eversource takes the maintenance of its natural gas distribution system “very seriously.”

“We are also disappointed that we have not been able to resolve this matter with the family and remain hopeful that we can bring this matter to a just resolution,” Hinkle wrote in an email. “While we strongly dispute the allegations in the complaint, we will continue to work through the appropriate legal processes to reach a resolution based on the facts of this tragic accident.”