Trust Targets Gas Leaks That Kill Trees

This photo, provided by the Massachusetts Public Shade Tree Trust, shows a gingko tree on a residential street in Brookline, Mass., in a photo from Oct. 4, 2006. Bob Ackley, who has spent 25 years testing natural gas lines for leaks, said the tree is dying from a leaky underground natural gas pipe. He claims it's happening to thousands of trees around the state and gas companies are slow to fix the problems. (AP Photo/Massachusetts Public Shade Tree Trust, Bob Ackley) (Bob Ackley - AP)

"The companies are ignoring these leaks, ignoring the destruction to these urban forests, and it's the communities that are left in ignorance to pick up the damages," he said.

Carmen Fields, a spokeswoman for KeySpan, which has about 900,000 gas customers, most in eastern Massachusetts, said while non-hazardous leaks are sometimes not immediately repaired, Keyspan "goes to great lengths" to maintain the system's safety and reliability.

"Trees die, I'm not disputing that. Whether gas is always the cause, that remains to be determined," Field said. "We would take any claim seriously and make every effort to make a fair determination and reimbursement, if appropriate."

Ackley estimated the number of low level leaks statewide at more than 15,000, and said they often occur because the cast iron gas pipes used in the older systems were made for a wetter product than natural gas, so the pipe joints have dried out and become leaky.

Ackley, who also runs a company that tests for gas leaks in homes, said it's easy to spot trees that could be suffering from gas leaks: they dry out from the extremities and offer little shade, even in summer.

Schlichtmann and Ackley are now trying to build the trust's membership, and Ackley said he has up to 10 workers ready to investigate possible gas damage, which Cathcart would then have to verify. The trees' values will be determined using a standard system that considers factors such as size, age, species and location.

The scope of the problem will be obvious to gas companies once the trust investigates and lays it out, Ackley said.

"I think, by and large, the gas companies are going to be behind this because it's going to be the right thing to do," he said.