Arlington Trying To Plug Hundreds Of Gas Leaks

ARLINGTON, MA — The town’s Gas Leaks Task Force is still working to repair hundreds of leaks that were discovered in 2025.

National Grid reported 757 total gas leaks in Arlington throughout 2025 throughout six acres of land, with 388 of those still in need of fixing as of May. released enough methane in 2025 to rank gas leaks as the town’s third-largest source of greenhouse emissions, according to Town Manager Jim Feeney. The town tracks greenhouse gas emissions as part of the Net Zero Action Plan efforts, and the data shows that gas leaks account for approximately 6 percent of total emissions behind only vehicles and buildings. The state’s Department of Public Utilities, a leak must be repaired within eight years of first being discovered. Arlington has 16 leaks that are currently classified as overdue. 92 others existed before the eight-year rule was established in 2019.

“Leaked utility gas poses multiple hazards: it can cause explosions, kill trees, harm human health, and worsen climate change,” Feeney said. “The natural gas distribution infrastructure in Massachusetts is one of the oldest and most leak prone in the country, and Arlington averages multiple leaks per mile of road. The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) published a study of methane leaks in the Boston region that found leaks are significantly under-counted.”

According to Feeney, it is possible that the town has as much as three times as many leaks that are reported.The town is currently working to transition from gas-powered infrastructure to electric with the goal of having net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by the year 2050.

The Gas Leak Task Force conducted a random sampling of leaks National Grid reported as repaired in 2023 and found that 80 percent remain active. According to the town, the reason is that joints where multiple pipes connect continue to leak despite National Grid fully replacing the pipeline. Nonetheless, the town did not place blame on the gas utility company for the issue.

“The Task Force and the Town of Arlington appreciate the significant effort and attention National Grid devotes to the effort to transition to a clean-energy future, and stand ready to proactively partner with the company to identify non-pipeline alternatives in the Arlington community to support the Commonwealth’s climate goals,” Feeney said.

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