PHMSA Updates Gas Leak Detection Rules for Pipelines, Storage Facilities, and LNG Facilities
“This proposed rule to require pipeline operators to find and fix more leaks will better protect communities from the serious safety risks gas pipelines pose while reducing climate-warming methane that leaks from them. Rather than relying on basic sight, sound and smell to check for gas pollution, PHMSA is now requiring gas companies to use widely available air monitoring equipment to detect for methane emissions that are accompanied by smog-causing volatile organic compounds and air toxics, like the known carcinogen benzene,” said Joseph Otis Minott, Executive Director and Chief Counsel, Clean Air Council.
“This rule will reduce air pollution from 2.7 million miles of pipelines nationwide, as well as underground gas storage fields and LNG facilities. As we saw during the major methane leak at a gas storage field in Cambria County a few months ago, communities on the frontlines of the gas industry need and deserve protection from dangerous pollution incidents. In addition to protecting communities across the country and reducing climate pollution, these rules will ensure that residents in low-income communities and communities of color will no longer be disproportionately affected by pipeline leaks.”
Press release: https://www.phmsa.dot.gov/news/usdot-announces-bipartisan-pipes-act-proposal-modernize-decades-old-pipeline-leak-detection
Image source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/113842093@N02/19153010824
