A Future WithOut Gas

Dangerous and wasteful whack-a-mole pipe segment replacements don’t make us safer nor reduce emissions.

Non Pipeline Alternatives and Neighborhood Electrification Do.

(To dpu.efiling@mass.gov, elyssa.klein@mass.gov, patrick.houghton@nationalgrid.com, jralston@keeganwerlin.com Adapted from comments to the Newton Public Facilities Committee, 12/4/24)

Imagine repeatedly buying lemonade in a dribble cup. That is like National Grid repeatedly charging ratepayers for lost and unaccounted for gas, including hundreds of high volume methane leaks that they ignored for years, and, adding insult to injury, profiting when they add the cost of replacing the pipes.

They are using millions of current and future ratepayer dollars to maintain a dangerous and perpetually polluting obsolete pipeline system instead of contributing to the transition to electrification and efficiency.

Also, while they extend customer dependence on gas, the recent report on the Future of Gas in MA, using the utilities’ own data, projects that the price of gas will double in the next decade, and then continue to rise, whereas the price of electricity is forecast to remain relatively stable. (See ZeroCarbonMA’s press release and the report.)

While Newton councilors and residents are worried about the cost of Newton’s Building Emissions Reduction and Disclosure Plan (BERDO), our Councilors repeatedly ignore evidence of Ratepayer Ripoff and vote to approve National Grid’s applications for Grants of Location (GOL). These GOLs divert $M of dollars for dangerous and wasteful whack-a-mole pipe segment replacements that don’t make us safer nor reduce emissions.

Imagine the multiple benefits if National Grid shifted resources to expedite pipeline retirement and to transitioning our buildings to clean thermal sources of energy, energy efficiency and climate resilience upgrades as called for in the new climate law that the Governor just signed.

In Senator Creem’s recent newsletter, she wrote, “By preventing gas investments that are both imprudent and contrary to our climate mandates, the bill will keep costs down and prevent wasteful spending of ratepayers’ hard-earned money.”

And our community will also save when gas leaks no longer kill trees and streets are no longer degraded by repeatedly cutting them open and patching them, especially newly paved streets like Applegarth Street to accommodate a new construction project, or where leaks have been paved over.

In fact, on April 6 2023, there was a manhole explosion at the recently paved intersection of Walnut Street and Lakewood Road because of a “failed electric cable.” National Grid’s Q4 report shows there was an unrepaired high-volume gas leak, first reported in May 2013 and reclassified as a high-volume leak in July 2021. The explosion resulted in the loss of power to approximately 6,500 Newton residents and businesses, disruption to traffic, and low water pressure. For several weeks there continued to be significant gas leaks and repeated failed “repairs” at that same location, and other leaks along the same section of pipe.

“We have a system of “aging cast iron mains susceptible to breaks, cracks, and other failures such as joint leaks,” wrote National Grid’s in response to city councilors’ questions (See the December 4 Agenda, Pages 8 - 26). National Grid listed a variety of hostile conditions that cause pipe segment leaks and pipe “failures” and deterioration…“some in new and unpredictable ways that make the old, deteriorating, leaky pipeline system increasingly vulnerable and dangerous.”

So, for safety’s sake, I suggest that every threat to pipeline integrity that National Grid cites makes a strong case for retiring the pipelines, not for replacing them. And priority needs to be given to retire pipelines in high-risk high-consequence locations where current and increasingly hostile conditions threaten pipeline integrity.

The risk is not just a factor of the number or size of leaks. Given that pipeline integrity is increasingly threatened by hostile conditions, we need to acknowledge the increasing vulnerability and dangerousness of the entire pipeline infrastructure.

National Grid writes that replacement does not prevent leaks on other gas pipes located in the same area. “Until each segment of leak prone pipe is replaced, new leaks can occur on the segments of leak prone pipe still in service. Indeed, leaks on the existing cast iron pipe would be expected to occur at an increasing rate year over year. ; [and] other factors such as nearby construction contributed to new gas leaks…Small diameter cast iron is most susceptible to bending stress and impact.” They mention the removal of pavement over shallow cast iron mains during road reconstruction.

In a 2022 article, GEOHAZARDS, I detail the many threats to pipeline integrity, all of which are likely to get worse and are beyond anyone’s capacity to control or mitigate. Any one of these threats would be reason to retire the pipes, but taken together, they call for the most effective solution, a plan to turn off the gas.

These geohazards include: saturated soil, rapid flooding, ice, frost heaves, frost jacking, rock indentation, erosion, corrosion, mudflows, debris flows, … subsidence, decompression cooling, lack of integrity of right-of-way, and hydro-technical issues upstream and downstream.

In addition to the geohazards, National Grid notes that pipe replacement does not prevent third-party damage or nearby construction on the new pipe — such as when a water, sewer or telecom company damages the main by not adhering to DigSafe requirements.

It reminds me of an incident on Eliot Street in 2017 when the DPW worker did not call DigSafe, used equipment too big for the curb project, lifted up pavement that included a gas turn off valve that was near the street surface and broke a 12” cast iron gas line.

National Grid’s list of pipeline threats include “Weather induced loads such as depth of winter frost penetration and frost action. They also cite, among other threats “Traffic loads”and “Construction impacts” (Yes! Cars are heavier than they used to be and there is more traffic than streets were designed to carry and there is heightened risk of construction damage such as the high pressure pipe break at the demolition site of the old Chestnut Hill theater.)

National Grid also writes that “Main breaks are a major concern due to the large amount of gas that may be released in such instances. This is made worse when the driving force behind the cast iron main leak is the operating pressure. Medium or high-pressure cast iron aggravates the safety threat posed by cast iron mains.”

“Cast iron breaks are often more severe than the typical corrosion leak. A cracked main may leak at a high rate, quickly saturating the area around the break with natural gas, migrating and entering conduits and following the path of other utilities to homes or other confined spaces such as utility vaults and sewers.”

“Cast iron main breaks are of particular concern during periods of cold temperatures when frost actions may cause additional stresses on these mains and when frost caps create an impermeable barrier of the earth’s surface, preventing leaking gas from safely venting to the atmosphere.”

“Such leaks may be difficult to pinpoint as they can cause high gas readings at appreciable distances from the actual leak site. The difficulty of leak investigation is aggravated under frost conditions and with depth of frost penetration. The inability of the gas to safely escape increases the risk to nearby residents, as gas follows the path of least resistance, often to nearby habitable structures.”

This means that gas migrates through the soil to accumulate in cellars, crawl spaces, and basements, even in homes like mine without gas.

We do not have to continue to tolerate the risks to life and property and the waste of extending the life of deteriorating pipelines. In February 2023 City Councilors voted for the RESOLUTION FOR A FUTURE WITHOUT GAS AND FOR CLEAN HEAT. They acknowledged the urgency of reducing the enormous cost and risk of our gas infrastructure. It proposed criteria for creating a city-wide plan based on risk and cost analysis of the city’s gas pipelines so we can prioritize public safety and economic security and commit our resources to align with Newton’s and Massachusetts’ climate goals.

Please require National Grid to stop sinking resources into gas infrastructure and enable the Commonwealth to prioritize action based on a true standard of safety, reliability, and equity that gas pipelines can never achieve.

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