Boston's 4,000 Gas Leaks Put Tree Populations at Great Risk

A researcher teams up with the owner of a gas company and decides to find out how leaky Boston's gas system really is. Their findings are quite shocking. They indicate a severe problem represented by over 4,000 gas leaks distributed all across the historical city.

Biologist Nathan Phillips at Boston University wanted to consult a former gas inspector, Bob Ackley, who was using a gas sniffer to prove that Boston's underground gas pipes are far from operating risk-free and according to standards, reports NPR.

Ackley's opinion made Phillips invest in his own portable gas sniffer that he used during a 785 miles drive in the city.

Technology works in his favor, allowing the expert to correlate the usage of a mobile methane "sniffer" and a GPS to indicate in real-time the current gas levels in Google Earth. This operation made him realize that some areas display methane levels two or even three times above safety levels, like St. Paul Street, for example.

He kept investigating, working in partnership with Ackley, the owner of Gas Safety USA. Phillips found out that methane levels are high, in most of the cases.

Furthermore, he admits that even if he can't say for sure if the current situation is affecting the health of the population, he is certain that increased methane concentration has a harmful effect upon trees located in vulnerable areas.

"Natural gas is largely methane. That displaces the oxygen. It's also dry gas, so it desiccates the soils as well. And roots need to have oxygen for the metabolism of the roots, for repair of the root membranes. If they are starved of oxygen, the tree will suffer,” Phillips explains.

His findings turn out to be very useful in the right hands, as a state advocacy group opened a case in court against the utility company, asking for millions of dollars to repair the total damage suffered by the tree population in Boston.

Phillips also highlights the fact that methane is an important greenhouse gas that has a significant contribution to climate change.

Moreover, the bad condition of the pipe network located underground could have an even more dramatic impact upon the environment, if the gas companies follow the same path paved with negligence.

Phillips' close measurements inspire an entire movement, as Ackley has just mapped leaks from a few regions from Washington, D.C, while the manufacturing company behind the “sniffer” use their own device to record gas leaks all across San Francisco.