EDF, Google Join Forces to Map and Measure Dozens of Underground Leaks from Dallas Area Natural Gas System

Environmental Defense Fund and Google Earth Outreach have teamed up to create interactive online maps using Google Street View mapping cars specially equipped with sensors and software that allow researchers not only to locate but also measure dozens of natural gas leaks beneath the streets in select areas of greater Dallas served by the Mid-Tex division of Atmos Energy, which has cooperated with researchers on the project.

Utilities are required to address leaks that pose safety threats promptly. However, smaller or more remote leaks can go undetected or unrepaired for long periods. Leaks like these usually don’t pose an immediate risk, but leaking natural gas – which is mostly methane – has a powerful effect on the climate, packing 84 times the warming effect of carbon dioxide over a 20-year timeframe.

“Methane leaks are a serious environmental challenge for utilities everywhere, and a waste of resources paid for by customers. Fixing these leaks is a quick way to dramatically reduce greenhouse emissions,” said Jonathan Peress, EDF Air Policy Director for Natural Gas. “Replacing old, leak-prone pipes is a necessary but expensive job, and it’s important to be both efficient and cost-effective. The technology we’re demonstrating in Dallas can help find problem spots and prioritize those efforts.”

The Dallas maps are available at www.edf.org/climate/methanemaps. A total of 17 neighborhoods from University Park and the Convention Center district to Southwest Dallas were chosen as a representative sample of the system. A video describing the project is on YouTube at http://tinyurl.com/MethaneMaps.

“Atmos Energy continues to invest more than $1 billion a year in capital projects across the eight states we serve. More than 80% of that is directed towards improving the safety and reliability of our system while reducing methane emissions,” said John McDill, Atmos Energy Vice President of Pipeline Safety.

About half the gas mains operated by Atmos Energy are at least 50 years old, according to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The company has already adopted advanced detection technology, and is on a schedule to eliminate all of its leak-prone cast iron pipe by 2021.

“In just the past three years, we have replaced more than 300 miles of bare steel and cast iron pipe in North Texas,” said John Paris, Atmos Energy President of the Mid-Tex Division. “Thanks to local governments and the Texas Railroad Commission, who understand the importance of funding for infrastructure replacement, Atmos Energy has been able to make significant improvements to our infrastructure.”

The researchers collected 1.5 million data points driving 705 miles of roadway, and found over 400 leaks. Some, but not all, were already known to the utility. Google cars took readings from January 2015 through February 2016. The maps therefore represent a snapshot, and may not reflect current leaks due to repairs or other changes.

Texas Making Progress Tackling Leaks

Both the State of Texas and the City of Dallas have taken several important steps to address the issue, putting Texas ahead of many other states, and Atmos Energy is working to address the challenge as quickly and efficiently as possible. But there’s still opportunity to build on that progress. EDF is calling on Texas regulators to require all state utilities to use state-of-the-art leak detection technology; improve public reporting in leak abatement efforts; and to conduct more frequent leak surveys, to advance both ratepayer interests and environmental benefits.

“Texas has a strong regulatory framework for leak repair and management. But officials should also require state-of-the art technologies to find and measure leaks more often, and use that data to prioritize leak repair and pipeline replacement efforts,” Peress said. “Leaks that are a safety threat should always be fixed immediately, but after that, utilities should be tackling those with the greatest emissions, which pose the most serious threat to the environment.”

Early detection of natural gas leaks benefits both customers and the environment, and has the potential to reduce the need for costly and disruptive emergency repairs. EDF also recommends sharing leak data with the public. Utilities in New York and California are already publishing dynamic maps of their natural gas leaks. Publically sharing geographically-located leak data can help regulators and ratepayers track utility performance, and ensure cost-efficient emission reductions.

New Technology Means Better Opportunity

The mapping project was developed in collaboration with scientists at Colorado State University. EDF has been working with utilities in cities around the U.S., including Boston, Chicago, New York and Los Angeles to validate technology to detect leaks and assess leak sizes quickly and more efficiently. Data from the project is also being used by New Jersey’s largest utility, Public Service Electric and Gas, as part of a $905 million pipeline replacement program.

The technology in this pilot project is newer and more sensitive than devices typically used by utilities to detect leaks on their systems. It is designed to find and measure leaks that wouldn’t necessarily turn up or warrant repair based on safety concerns alone, but which do add up to a major environmental issue and costs to ratepayers. EDF and researchers at Colorado State University have spent four years testing and fine-tuning the technology.