By Seth Warner, Massachusetts Sierra Club Intern
Starting out at the Sierra club, gas leaks seemed like a non-issue, something small and inconsequential when compared to the other issues I hoped to help tackle. I had an idea in my head that gas leaks were most likely rare and when they did exist, they were most likely fixed as soon as they were found. It felt as though it was less of a climate and environmental issue and more of a human hazard issue, as it seemed like the main risks were explosions or possibly inhalation.
On my first day as an intern back in May, I sat in on a gas leaks meeting. I was unsure what to expect and why they were meeting here, but decided it would be a good experience to sit and listen to the issue. As I was listening in on the meeting, I felt the energy and the power of the group, which represented a wide variety of people all of which were personally affected by gas leaks. I heard about thousands of trees that were dying from gas leaks, the fact that gas leaks were popping up at a quicker rate than they were being fixed, and the fact that gas companies were being allowed to set their own guidelines for what is classified a leak. Even after all of these issues though, gas leaks still seemed like a distant issue, something that fell to the backburner with the many other issues present in the world.
This all changed for me for selfish reasons, as when I was searching through the Massachusetts Sierra Club website, I found a tool that allowed me to see gas leaks that currently existed throughout towns, and was able to search through my town and see where there was currently gas leaking. I found that there are four gas leaks within two blocks of my house, two gas leaks located right near my middle school, and three gas leaks located near my elementary school. That discovery made the issue truly hit home and made me realize I needed to get more informed on the issue. What I found was shocking, as I truly did not comprehend the depth of issues associated with gas leaks.
THE ISSUES
- Natural Gas is terrible for the environment and it is especially prevalent in Massachusetts
Natural gas has been promoted by supporters as the “clean fuel” that can act as a bridge for us as we transition away from fossil fuels. This false reputation as clean and safe has led some to push for the expansion of natural gas across the state, and you can read more about the Massachusetts Sierra Club effort to stop this expansion here. In Massachusetts, natural gas is used for 66% of the electricity generation, and all of that demand is met by one of the oldest natural gas pipelines in the US, with over ⅓ of the pipes currently in place being deemed leak prone.
This issue had been one largely ignored in the state, as gas companies for years passed the price on to consumers. Recently though due to a 2014 law, the location of over 20,000 gas leaks in Massachusetts was revealed. It is estimated that because of these leaks, between 8 to 15 billion cubic feet of natural gas is being released every year within our state. This is incredibly troubling, as methane is 34 times more potent than carbon dioxide in terms of climate change. In sum, between 60% to 100% of the methane being released in Massachusetts is due to gas leaks and that in total equals 10% of the greenhouse gases that are released by the state. 10% of our greenhouse gases are just wasted! - It is an explosive hazard
When natural gas leaks in enclosed spaces it becomes a massive hazard that can be ignited by a single spark, and although explosive leaks are fixed as soon as they are found, there was a massive explosion in 2014 in Dorchester which injured more than 14 people which was caused by a leak. - It is a human health hazard
Methane is not only a greenhouse gas; it also asphyxiates people and causes many long term health conditions. A study discovered that by reducing our methane emissions by 20% globally between 2010 and 2030, we would save over 370,000 premature deaths around the world during that time frame. On a smaller scale, having methane in the air at even low quantities has been proven to cause headaches, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue. In children and the elderly it also has been shown to lead to respiratory problems such as asthma. - It kills plants and trees
It isn’t just people that natural gas harms, as when gas leaks out of the pipelines, it displaces oxygen and dehydrates the soil, asphyxiating nearby plant roots. This leads to countless tree deaths, and exact numbers are not known due to the cost of autopsies on trees. In fact Brookline, Hingham, Milton, Nahant, and Saugus all have cases against National Grid totaling over $2,000,000 in damage to public shade trees. - It costs us money
Finally this issue also boils down to dollars and cents. Every year about 2.7-3% of natural gas that is being moved into Massachusetts is lost to these leaks. This may seem like a small amount, but if you take a look at those losses in aggregate you discover that consumers between 2000 and 2011 paid somewhere between $640 million and $1.5 billion for gas that never reached their homes and businesses. Another study found that the current rate of leakage leads to around 90 million paid by consumers for this lost gas each year. 90 Million!
WHAT CAN WE DO ABOUT IT
With all of these issues, you may be wondering what could possibly be done about an issue that seems so large and effects such a vital piece of infrastructure. Overnight of course natural gas cannot be shut off so all of the leaks are fixed, so instead incremental but influential changes must occur to make huge progress on the issue. Some of these changes come in the form of legislative bills currently in front of the Massachusetts state legislature These bills can change the economic framework of the issue, putting large incentives on the gas companies to fix the leaks. The first of these bills is H.2683 and S.1845, An Act Relative to Protecting Consumers of Gas and Electricity from Paying for Leaked and Unaccounted for Gas. This bill passes the cost of gas leaks back onto the gas companies, forcing them to stop charging consumers for the leaks. When a similar bill was passed in Texas, more than half the leaks were fixed in the course of three years. Similarly bill H3637, An Act relative to conservation and natural gas infrastructure, requires natural gas companies to “recapture an equivalent volume of natural gas lost from the system by repairing identified gas leaks within the same municipality” before adding any new pipelines to the municipality. Those two bills, though seemingly small, will have huge effects on the way natural gas companies do business, and thus are key to fixing this major issue.
Each person can have major impacts on this issue both locally and statewide. If you call or reach out to your state senator and representatives and let them know why this bill is important to you, it can help them realize and get informed on the issue and build the necessary support needed to pass it. Also, working within your town, you can organize into community groups and talk to your local legislators to let them know how you feel about the gas leaks, pushing them to take decisive action on this issue, such as passing a resolution to fix gas leaks.
Looking back I regret not realizing the extent and potential ramifications of this issue earlier, but the time to act is now. This issue has been one that has been neglected as a pet or closet issue in many circles, but that is now changing. Progress is being made and you can help be a part of it. You can do as I did and see where in your town this toxic gas is leaking and then hopefully you will take action as individual people can make huge changes with issues like these. The time to act is now and hopefully this post will help inspire a few others do just that.