Study: NYC spends $70 million annually on uncombusted gas leak response

FDNY responds to a commercial business fire in Port Morris, the South Bronx on July 1, 2024.
FDNY responds to a commercial business fire in Port Morris, the South Bronx on July 1, 2024.
Photo Emily Swanson

A new study released July 22 shows that New York City is paying a steep price to respond to methane gas leaks. 

In 2018 alone, New Yorker taxpayers paid a “hidden cost” of $70 million in responding to 22,090 uncombusted gas leaks throughout the city, according to study author Sebastian Rowland, PhD., of the nonprofit research institution PSE Healthy Energy

With over 2 million miles of aging natural gas pipes fueling the nation, “we’re going to have to pay a cost,” said Rowland — and the study, co-authored by PSE Healthy Energy Senior Scientist Drew Michanowicz, is believed to be the first to put a dollar amount on it. 

FDNY responded to more gas leaks than the next top 25 cities combined, the research found. The department did not respond to the Bronx Times’ request for comment.

While the study did not disaggregate city data by borough, Rowland provided to the Bronx Times a conservative estimate of 2,400 gas leaks responded to in the borough throughout 2018. The actual number is probably significantly higher because not all reported leaks had addresses assigned to them, he said. 

New York City was the site of a significant proportion of the 200,000 uncombusted gas leaks nationwide that year, said Rowland — and even that figure is likely an undercount since the study counted only responses, not leaks themselves, and some leaks are handled by utility companies or are too small to require emergency response, he said. 

In 2014, the fire department became the default responder for all suspected gas leaks reported to 311, according to Rowland — and his research also found big money spent responding to leaks that did not result in fires.

The amount spent on uncombusted leaks — $564 million nationwide in 2018 — was at least ten times greater than the amount spent on leaks that did cause fires, according to the study. 

Rowland and Michanowicz found that emergency departments bear a “cumulative burden” of responding to more frequent incidents, leaving them with less time and fewer resources to spend on immediate emergencies such as car accidents, fires and medical distress, said Rowland. 

More funding for FDNY was hard to come by in the recent budget cycle. Mayor Adams recently reversed proposed FDNY budget cuts, which allowed staffing levels to be restored at 20 engine companies throughout the city — including in the Bronx neighborhoods of Morrisania, Gun Hill, Mount Hope and Fordham — which had been operating for months with fewer staff. 

Cutting staff was a major risk to public safety, according to FDNY union president Andrew Ansbro, who had warned there “couldn’t possibly be a worse time” for cuts. 

While the city has committed to reducing its gas dependency over time, one important takeaway from the study is the importance of having gas detectors in buildings and homes — and relying on the human nose is not the best bet, said Rowland. 

“Not everyone can smell the same size leaks,” he said.


Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes