Thousands of area gas leaks poison environment, kill trees

[unhappycamper]

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/article/20150801/NEWS/150809580



Boston University Professor of Earth and Environment Nathan Phillips uses a CGI indicator on a tree in front of 84 North Main St. to check for damage from gas leaks, Wednesday afternoon in Natick.

Thousands of area gas leaks poison environment, kill trees
By Bill Shaner/Daily News Staff
Posted Aug. 1, 2015 at 10:37 PM

Nathan Phillips crouched next to a manhole. He stuck his nose in a venting grate to sniff.

“Yup, that’s a leak,” he said. A strong smell of natural gas rose from the sewer line.

Around him, the physical evidence of gas line repair work – road patches, yellow spray paint, “bang bar” holes in the pavement covered by little, plastic NStar badges – littered Natick's Grove Street by the North Main Street intersection. Dead trees, struggling trees and browning grass bordered the road.

Phillips is a Boston University professor who, for years, has championed the issue of unrepaired and unreported leaks.