Hearing on gas leaks to be held in Marblehead

MARBLEHEAD-A hearing will be held on gas leak legislation filed by Rep. Lori Ehrlich (D-Marblehead) Wednesday.Ehrlich said the legislation is designed to regulate thousands of natural gas leaks in the state. She said as it stands right now, utility companies can ignore or indefinitely suspend repairs of many of the leaks because of a faulty gas classification system.Ehrlich, who represents Marblehead, Swampscott and a portion of Lynn, said House Bill 4699 n An Act Relative to Natural Gas Leaks would improve that system, protect public safety and save municipalities millions of dollars.?These gas lines run underneath our homes, schools, and businesses and are leaking an extremely flammable and toxic substance,” Ehrlich said. “Recent explosions and fatalities have shown that it’s a clear public safety hazard but it also causes extensive damage to public and private property. By not fixing these leaks responsibly, utilities have done nothing more than shift the risk, responsibility and cost burden to ratepayers and taxpayers.”Ehrlich said there are approximately 25,000 known natural gas leaks in the state that are emitting more than 8 billion cubic feet of natural gas or methane each year. She said recent studies indicate that leaking gas is killing trees by depriving them of oxygen and taxpayers are spending millions of dollars to replace the trees being killed off by the leaks.Ehrlich pointed out the system that is currently in place to evaluate the leaks is strictly voluntary. She added it costs approximately $3,000 to repair a leak, which is significantly less than complete pipe replacement would cost. Ehrlich said the $1 billion National Grid is asking for $1 billion in rate increases for complete pipe replacement and the cost of repairing the leaks would be significantly less.?An Act Relative to Natural Gas Leaks will establish a new Natural Gas Leak Classification Standard grading all leaks on a uniform standard that requires utility companies to fix thousands of gas leaks that have been ignored in the past in a set time period,” she said.Ehrlich said the legislation would require National Grid to repair all Grade 3 gas leaks, which pose the lowest risk, within 36 months.?Grade 3 is the least hazardous,” she said. “The more hazardous a leak is the faster it would get repaired and there would be some penalties for non-compliance.”Ehrlich noted the legislation has bi-partisan support.?There have been number of accidents,” she said. “When a house blows up or the environment is harmed it doesn’t happen along party lines so I’m pleased colleagues on both sides of the aisle have expressed their support.”The bill will be heard in the State House by the Joint Committee on Telecommunications and Energy at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.