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Thousands of Natural Gas Leaks Found In Boston
poofmeisterp writes "Due to old cast iron underground pipelines, natural gas leaks run amok in Boston, MA. '"While our study was not intended to assess explosion risks, we came across six locations in Boston where gas concentrations exceeded the threshold above which explosions can occur," Nathan Phillips, associate professor at BU, said in a statement.' With 'a device to measure methane' in a vehicle equipped with GPS, Duke and Boston University researchers created a nice little map showing the methane levels in parts per million at different points in the city. 'Repairing these leaks will improve air quality, increase consumer health and safety, and save money,' study researcher Robert B. Jackson, of Duke, said in a statement. 'We just have to put the right financial incentives into place.' It looks like money is an issue. Imagine that."
Or go driving around boston with an open flame...
I'm sorry, but money is always an issue for literally everything. We live in a world of finite workers and resources, and thus the abstraction of that, which we call money, is an important limiting factor on any task, no matter what the risk or rewards. The amusing irony is that treating money like its not a factor makes money more of a factor, by causing the limitations to appear at unexpected times.
I'm not sure how things work in Boston, but in areas where gas is provided by a regulated public utility, there is little cost to the company for infrastructure improvements. They identify infrastructure that needs to be replaced/upgraded, go to the PUC with the list of improvements and petition for a rate increase to pay for them. Then, in theory, the company is supposed to make the improvements, but that doesn't always happen, PG&E in California has been known to ask for money for specific improvements, then spending the money on other things.
Are they sure it isn't just the beans?
I'm thinking he can expect a visit from Homeland Security on this one -- now the terrorists know how to blow up Boston. :-P
Lost at C:>. Found at C.
Well, now that the Charles River is, I believe, the cleanest water way in an urban city in the world, then other smells start to get noticed more.
What? Is that not enough of an incentive? If it goes into the air, you cannot sell it or make money off it.
For those who seek perfection there can be no rest on this side of the grave.
You mean other than your property not exploding? I think your property not exploding qualifies as a financial incentive, doesn't it? Like if I told you "You need to fix this gas leak or your property will explode," I'm pretty sure you'll want to fix it.
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
Big Dig 2: The Explosioning!
Do the magic gas fairies provide the money? Because otherwise, it's an issue. Just where do you think the PUC or the Commonwealth of Mass. analog is going to get that money they give to the gas company? Have you noticed how broke and dysfunctional your state and its budget are?
Who knew that global warming/climate change was caused by Boston? That fossil fuel argument was just a smokescreen for what really causes climate change: Boston Baked Beans!
That's like saying you're the smartest retard on the shortbus
Old Media saves the day.
http://bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/11/20/boston-riddled-with-mostly-small-natural-gas-leaks-boston-university-study-finds/m1LvyBqHhdVhCQEZM60mwJ/igraphic.html
Someone should attach a circuit board along with some wires and blinking lights to the gas pipelines. That should get the government right on top of the problem.
Some of our infrastructure is OLD. A lot of it.
Recently, we were dealing with my grandmother on the first floor. She would call saying she smelled gas, so she would open the windows then call us upstairs, of course, we couldn't smell it.... after a few times we called. They came and said our pipes were old, put some wax sealant on and suggested we fix them soon.
I didn't doubt their diagnosis, the house has had gas longer than electricity....
Then a few days later she smelled it again... this time we ended up with a whole crew down,....not in our house... but going up and down the street. Apparently it wasn't our pipes...there was a leak under the road across the street!
"I opened my eyes, and everything went dark again"
"leaks" you fucking moron
Learn to read for fuck's sake.
3,300 natural gas leaks
Maybe not?
Methane on its own doesn't have a smell. For safety, another gas like methanethiol is typically added, so that people can detect leaks.
Perhaps these leaks are pure methane?
Anyone who believes exponential growth can go on forever in a finite world is either a madman or an economist
Are you kidding? Watching someone holding the Olympic torch, running through the streets, leaving a trail of explosions in their wake would make for the most EPIC Olympic opening ceremony EVER!
They have a pretty picture showing huge peaks of up to 28.6ppm methane.
Methane is only flammable in air between 50,000ppm and 150,000ppm
Don't forget to factor in the cost of lawsuits when entire neighborhoods get vaporized!
Unless that was part of the $200m.
You can tell you're not a sleazy CEO. You raise rates to cover the cost of the leak, fix the leak anyway, and then leave the higher rates in place to profit even after you've made up your loss.
No, they are not pure methane. The DOT requires gas companies to put methyl mercaptan (mentioned above) in the gas stream specifically so we can smell leaks. As far as I know, all natural gas that is distributed in the US has mercaptans. If you've smelled "natural gas", propane, or butane, you are smelling the mercaptans as those gases are odorless.
Natty gas with H2S in it (aka: sour gas) smells like rotten eggs. However, at around 100ppm, you quit smelling it and you start dying instead. At 1000 ppm, one inhalation and you are dead.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/14/us-boston-fire-idUSBRE82D0DS20120314
Fugue for Aaron Swartz
Be amazed. I can find an underground natural gas leak so small you can't even smell it by driving by. And we're still using the old flame-ionization method of doing mobile leak surveys, so I have to drive at about walking speed. You service line and meter set are checked by someone walking using the same method. We don't need for the gas to be odorized at all. I've checked gas mains straight from the well to compressors to distribution gate stations that were not odorized. Your local gas company adds the odor.
The newest technology for detecting leaks uses a laser tuned to the absorption wavelength of methane. You can detect a small gas leak while driving 15 or 20 mph, and very large leaks while driving a bit faster. Checking service lines and meters can be done much faster, too. The laser has a usable range of about 100 feet.
That's what I've been doing for a living for the last 36 years. I've found tens of thousands of underground leaks and hundreds of thousands of above ground leaks. Saved no telling how many lives and houses.
I live in a dense residential neighborhood in a metro-suburb right next to Boston and have an active gas leak outside my house. You can smell it two houses in both directions.
The gas company has been here twice. The fire department once. The town fire chief actually called an emergency number at the gas company to ask them to fix it.
Guess what? No fix... 4 months and counting.
The party line the gas company has been giving me is (paraphrased)... "There are too many leaks in the area, so we are triaging. Unless the gas is actively leaking INTO the house (as opposed to outside of the house), we won't fix it for now. Given the Hurricane Sandy response in the mid-atlantic region, things are pushed back even further. We'll keep monitoring the leak. Trust us."
Uh, huh... yeah, my house is going to blow up. Or at the least, one of my trash cans on the curb is turning into a bottle rocket.
In the 1980s, Dublin gas network had 100s km of cast iron pipes, some 100 years old. The cast iron pipes were connected together by waxed joints, these joints were stable when moist Town Gas (coal gas) flowed through the pipes but when the city changed over to natural gas, which is dry, the wax dried out and the gas leaked. Town Gas was generated by passing superheated steam over coal, creating a gas containing hydrogen, methane and notoriously, carbon monoxide.
In the late 1980s I could not walk more than 100 feet along suburban street before coming across an overpowering stench of leaking gas. One of the temporary fixes was to drill holes into side-walks to reduce the concentration of gas underground. I don't remember any gas explosions or accidents caused by leaking cast iron pipes then the leaks happened, given the number of leaks we were very lucky.
By the way, almost half of the water supply in Dublin in lost through leaks (worst in Europe).
In rural areas, customers are often served by farm taps on well gathering lines or transmission lines. The gathering lines are usually odorized but transmission lines can be a real problem. Transmission companies are not required to add odorant to their lines. The local distribution company has nothing but a regulator and meter sitting on the transmission line. Many of these taps are simply out of compliance and have no smell.