The Health and Safety Risks of Pipelines

In the early morning hours of September 10, 2018, the residents of Ivy Lane in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, went about their business as usual—sleeping, getting ready for work, reading the news. But around 5 a.m., the neighborhood would be changed forever when a gathering pipeline for shale gas and natural gas liquids in the hillside behind their block exploded.

A photo of the fireball caused by the Revolution pipeline explosion as viewed from Ivy Lane.

Types of Pipelines Gathering Gathering lines take shale gas from the extraction site to a facility for further processing. Until 2021, only gathering lines in heavily populated areas were regulated at all. After the passage of the 2021 Gas Gathering final rule, more gathering lines were subject to regulations if they exceed size and pressure limits. Even with this increased scrutiny, gathering lines are still largely monitored only by the operator. Transmission Transmission pipelines are large, usually 6 to 48 inches in diameter. These pipelines carry shale gas long distances, often at high pressure. These pipelines are regulated by PHMSA and mapped. Compressor stations, located every 50-60 miles along gas pipelines, increase pressure to help push the gas through the pipeline to the next station. To learn more about the health risks associated with compressor stations, please refer to this EHP blog post. Distribution Distribution pipelines consist of the mains and lines that deliver shale gas to the end user, homes, and businesses. The utility company maintains these lines and gas meters. Homeowners are responsible for repairs to all lines on the “house side” of the meter, meaning any lines inside the home or connecting to any gas-powered appliances, even if outdoors.

Pipelines transport petroleum products, shale gas, and even carbon dioxide from extraction sites to processing plants and, eventually, end-users. A ubiquitous part of the American landscape, more than 2.78 million miles of gas pipeline are regulated by the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). Pipelines require wide, mowed grass rights-of-way which split forest habitats, farm fields, and residential neighborhoods. Despite industry promotion that pipelines are the safest way to transport shale gas and preferred over trucking or train car, they are not without risk. Human health and safety are put at risk at all stages and by every type of pipeline.

Safety risks during pipeline construction

Pipeline construction is a highly disruptive process. Heavy earthmoving equipment, cranes, and truckloads of large diameter pipe descend on an area, sometimes in places without appropriate access roads. Operators often construct temporary access to remote areas. Construction accidents are relatively rare, but when they occur, this type of pipeline accident causes significant property damage and risks to human health:

• In December 2022, during the Christmas holiday, a 700-foot section of 12-inch diameter pipe crashed through the Ford family home in Allegheny Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. The family was not home at the time. Frigid overnight temperatures stressed the cribbing that held a section of pipe staged for installation as a gathering line between two well pads. The pipe section broke free, then slid downhill, eventually piercing three concrete walls and causing a leak of the home’s existing gas service.

• On October 23, 2023, two workers were killed and two injured on the construction site of a gas pipeline in Grand Tower, Illinois.

• On May 1, 2024, during hydrostatic testing of the 303-mile Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), a section of pipe in Roanoke County, Virginia, ruptured releasing a high quantity of sediment-laden water into surface waters and municipal water supplies.

Safety risks living near existing pipelines

Shale gas is explosive. Any facility extracting, transporting, or processing shale gas is at risk of a catastrophic explosion. Each year, PHMSA reports dozens of serious incidents causing a fatality or a serious injury requiring inpatient hospitalization, along with hundreds of reportable incidents responsible for a release of gas or property damage:

• In April 2016, a section of transmission line exploded in Salem Township, Pennsylvania, injuring a man 500 yards away.

• In September 2018, a home was destroyed and 25 homes were evacuated when the Revolution pipeline exploded. Revolution, a 24-inch, 100-mile-long gathering line was brand new at the time.

• In August 2023, a house in Plum Borough, Pennsylvania, exploded, killing six people. A recently filed lawsuit alleges a pipeline leak filled the basement with gas, which then ignited.

Aerial view of a burned-out home impacted by the Sept. 13, 2018, natural gas explosion and fire in Merrimack Valley, Massachusetts. The photo taken on Sept. 13, 2018, was captured by a drone operated by an NTSB investigator to document the damage caused by the explosions and fires. (Photo Credit: NTSB)

Pipeline accidents are unpredictable, but residents can take steps to safeguard their well-being:

1. In Pennsylvania, operators are legally required to send certified letters to municipalities announcing plans to apply to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for earthmoving permits. These notices offer an early opportunity to determine the proximity of pipeline construction to homes. The Environmental Integrity Project offers a detailed explainer on municipal notification for oil and gas projects.

2. Be sure to sign up for any emergency alerts offered in your area. Local governments and even utility providers usually offer text and phone notifications for all types of emergencies requiring awareness or evacuation.

3. Make a Family Emergency Plan. Ready.gov offers a fillable form to guide the process of determining your specific needs during an emergency.

Health risks living near pipelines

Pipelines leak. According to an analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund, shale gas pipelines across the nation are leaking as much as 2.6 million tons of methane each year. Methane itself is likely not causing health problems, but other pollutants are typically found along with methane. These can have an impact on your health.

Along with methane, shale gas development releases measurable levels of toxic compounds, such as benzene, arsenic, formaldehyde, lead, and mercury. These pollutants can raise your risk of experiencing all sorts of health issues, like skin rashes, headaches, and fatigue, to name a few. Long-term exposure to these pollutants can damage your heart, liver, kidneys, and central nervous system. EHP’s new Compounds of Concern tool details many health impacts of specific compounds that may be emitted from pipeline leaks.

Additionally, the consequences of methane that escapes into the atmosphere can wreak havoc on public health. Methane is a significant contributor to climate change. It’s up to 86 times more potent at trapping heat in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide over the first 20 years. Methane is responsible for 25 percent of the human-produced warming we are experiencing today.

Higher levels of methane exacerbate climate change and the resulting floods, fires, storms, beach erosion, and energy blackouts. Higher temperatures also make ozone (smog) worse and increase heat-related deaths. They impact food and water supplies, and lead to an increase in disease from mosquitoes and ticks. Forest fragmentation from pipelines is also believed to be contributing to an increase in tick-borne illnesses.

All of these environmental outcomes result in a public health crisis that stresses our families and communities and taxes our health care workers and emergency responders. If you live near a pipeline or other industrial activity, you can work to protect your health by keeping a health diary; talking with a trusted health care provider; monitoring air, water, and soil quality; and taking special precautions as an industry worker.

Proposed pipeline projects

Growing electricity demand caused by power-hungry data centers has led to the revival of two previously defeated pipeline projects in New York State and proposals for new pipelines and pipeline capacity enhancements:

• Williams Northeast Supply Enhancement (NESE) pipeline, proposed by Williams Transco in 2017, would run over 35 miles from New Jersey, under the NY/NJ Harbor, and connect near Rockaway Beach, transporting shale gas from Pennsylvania to downstate New York.

• Williams has also proposed the Constitution Pipeline, a 30-inch interstate transmission line, from Central Pennsylvania through the western Catskills.

• Enbridge’s Project Maple proposes to expand several compressor stations in Connecticut and New York State, replace existing pipelines and adding new secondary pipelines to increase transport capacity from New Jersey to Maine and potentially to the Canadian Maritimes.

• A listing of additional pipeline projects, including oil, hydrogen, and liquified natural gas, can be found here.

Photo credit: Mark Dixon, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0

Final thoughts

A transition to renewable energy sources is already well underway in the U.S. due to the low cost of solar and wind energy. As more states restrict gas hookups in new construction, pipelines are increasingly becoming stranded assets. We must continue to address the root causes of climate change and improve human health by reducing pollution. Even more important is working to transition away from fossil fuel sourced energy and manufacturing entirely and moving toward more renewable sources. The health of people living near any fossil fuel infrastructure is at stake, and so is the health and vitality of every person on the planet.