DOE issues recommendations to reduce incidents of natural gas leaks
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Interagency Task Force on Natural Gas Storage Safety recently issued a report on the department’s efforts to stop natural gas leaks in the wake of last year’s largest-ever natural gas leak at California’s Aliso Canyon facility.
The report provided 44 different recommendations to industry, federal, state and local regulators and governments to reduce the incidents of natural gas leaks and how to minimize their environmental impacts when they do occur.
While incidents of underground natural gas leaks were rare, the consequences of those leaks produce significant consequences and required additional action to ensure safe and reliable operation over the long term, the report said.
“Natural gas plays an important role in our nation’s energy landscape, and we need to make sure the associated infrastructure is strong enough to maintain energy reliability, protect public health, and preserve our environment,” Franklin Orr, co-chair of the task force and under secretary for science and energy at the DOE, said. “No community should have to go through something like Aliso Canyon again. Companies operating natural gas storage facilities should adopt the recommendations as quickly as possible to reduce the risk of future leaks.”
Among the report’s recommendations were frequent risk assessments conducted by facility operators, the development and implementation of transition plans to address high-risk infrastructure, and the application of robust procedures to maintain safety and reliability while the transition to modern well design standards is occurring.
