Mothers Out Front Prompts Gas Leak Repairs In Somerville

SOMERVILLE, MA — In a victory for Mothers Out Front, a grassroots group working to ensure a livable climate for all children, repairs of gas leaks along Somerville Avenue will soon be completed.

The gas leaks contributed to the death of many newly planted trees on Somerville Ave. between Porter and Wilson Squares, causing the busy route to become a dangerous heat island with no shade and poor air quality.

ULC Robotics, contracted by Eversource, is using cutting-edge, robot technology to repair multiple leaks along the stretch of pipe without having to dig up the street and replace the pipe.

Mothers Out Front-Somerville raised the issue with the City Council’s Public Utilities and Public Works Committee in December 2020, noting that trees in the area were being killed by the leaks but trees across the street were able to survive. Once the repairs are completed, the city will replant the trees.

Residents’ concerns centered on the following things:

• The street is adjacent to a commuter rail line, which contributes to diesel exhaust in the area
• Fugitive methane contributes to climate change
• The area is a heat sink because of lack of shade and is on a major corridor for commuters, pedestrians, and cyclists
• Somerville ratepayers and taxpayers bear the costs of the leaks and dead trees.

”As Arbor Day approaches, it feels great to see the CisBot crew out there on Somerville Ave patching the gas leaks and righting the harm that was caused by Eversource's aging infrastructure,” said Cate Mingoya, who first raised the issue. “It took about two years to get Eversource to acknowledge and fix the leaks, but with the hard work of Mothers Out Front, City Council Public Utilities Committee Chair Jesse Clingan, leaders of the Somerville Urban Forestry Committee, our other local and state elected officials, and hundreds of Somerville residents, this stretch of Somerville is going to be a whole lot healthier.”

According to Mothers Out Front, gas leaks are linked to many serious health problems, such as asthma and even premature deaths, and methane leaks are a major contributor to climate change. Methane is a greenhouse gas more than 85 times more potent than carbon dioxide over the first 20 years in the atmosphere. Mothers Out Front has worked for years to draw attention to the pervasiveness and dangers of gas leaks in Somerville.

“We are thankful that Eversource fixed the gas leaks with advanced repair technologies instead of spending millions of ratepayer dollars on a new gas pipeline that we will not need in 20 years,” Randi Soltysiak of Mothers Out Front said in a statement. "This is an important step in the transition off of gas, that is necessary to meet our 2050 climate goals. Gas companies need to stop building new gas infrastructure, repair the leaks, and invest in heating alternatives that are safe, affordable, and non-emitting, such as electrification and GeoGrids.”

For more information on Mothers Out Front, click here.