Volunteers with a coalition of D.C. environmental and religious groups found almost 400 methane leaks throughout the city, including more than a dozen that were “potentially explosive,” according to a report released Wednesday.
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The report from Beyond Gas DC — a coalition run by the Sierra Club that includes environmental and religious organizations in the region — came as some D.C. residents testified Wednesday before the D.C. Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development, urging the city to switch to clean energy sources to protect the planet and public health.
Over the past year, the report said, volunteers measured methane emissions across all eight D.C. wards using an “industry-grade” detector. The volunteers found 389 leaks, according to the report, including 14 leaks at or exceeding 50,000 parts per million — a level the report said was “potentially explosive.”
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Many leaks were found near utility access caps, the report said, and the actual number of leaks is likely “many times higher” than what the groups found.
The report concluded that a “gas distribution system across DC with zero leaks is impossible,” and recommended that the city switch from gas to renewable electricity sources. Washington Gas methane accounts for 23 percent of D.C.'s total greenhouse gas emissions, according to the report, which cited a D.C. Department of Energy and Environment estimate that upgrading current pipeline infrastructure will cost up to $4.5 billion.
“Fixing the leaks we know of is a whack-a-mole approach that will not stop new leaks from forming and eventually being discovered,” the report said. “Instead of spending billions of dollars on fracked gas infrastructure, another approach would be to electrify buildings with highly efficient heating systems using clean energy.”
In a statement, Washington Gas spokesman Bernie Tylor said the company is investing in satellite emissions detection technology, among other diagnostic tools, and a pipeline replacement plan.
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“We remain focused on modernizing our infrastructure, increasing energy efficiency in homes and offices, and introducing carbon free fuels as energy options,” Tylor said in the statement. “We take reports and concerns from the community seriously and will continue doing our part to build a clean, low carbon future.”
At the hearing Wednesday, Lara Levison, chair of the Sierra Club’s clean energy committee, said she was a Ward 6 resident who participated in the methane metering.
“Methane gas was leaking from almost every manhole and meter cover that we checked,” she said. “Most of the amounts we found that day were small, but small leaks add up.”
A Black community in Northeast D.C. is surrounded by industrial pollution. The city plans to add more.
Rosa Lee, a 74-year-old retired social worker, said in an interview with The Washington Post that she has owned her home in Northeast Washington’s River Terrace since 1986. She found out about the leak-monitoring program through her church and became an eager participant, helping find some leaks that were severe enough to smell.
“I grew up as a child with a gas stove and never considered there was anything wrong with it or unhealthy,” she said. “Once you learn more, you do more with what you know.”