And there is an open flame on H st...............at a local restaurant........and no one does anything.......but watch............

As the use of natural gas booms in the United States, scientists are testing for pipeline leaks. They found more than 5,800 leaks under the streets of Washington, D.C., some potentially explosive.

(Photo: Tim Dillon, USA TODAY)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Researchers find 5,800 methane leaks in nation's capital from natural gas pipelines
• They say a dozen were potentially explosive and nine leaked for at least four months
• D.C. officials and Washington Gas say they're making repairs to ensure safety

 534CONNECT 136TWEET 14LINKEDIN 29COMMENTEMAILMORE

New research today says the nation's capital, notorious for leaking state secrets, has thousands of leaks of another sort: methane from natural gas pipelines.

More than 5,800 leaks from aging pipelines were found under Washington, D.C.'s streets by scientists from Duke University and Boston University, who dispatched a car equipped with measuring instruments across the city last January and February. Their findings appear in this week's peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology.

The researchers found 19 of the leaks had high concentrations of methane, a potent heat-trapping greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming as well as smog-forming ozone. So they got out of the car and put probes into manholes. They found 12 could have caused explosions because of their levels — up to 10 times the threshold at which explosions can occur.