Department of Statistics, Colorado State University, 200 W. Lake Street, 1877 Campus Delivery, Fort Collins, Colorado 80523-1877, United States.
Commission Shift, 212 Flores Avenue, Laredo, Texas 78040, United States.
Environ Sci Technol. 2022 Jun 21;56(12):8599-8609. doi: 10.1021/acs.est.2c00097. Epub 2022 May 11.
Natural gas leaks in local distribution systems can develop as underground pipeline infrastructure degrades over time. These leaks lead to safety, economic, and climate change burdens on society. We develop an environmental justice analysis of natural gas leaks discovered using advanced leak detection in 13 U.S. metropolitan areas. We use Bayesian spatial regression models to study the relationship between the density of leak indications and sociodemographic indicators in census tracts. Across all metro areas combined, we found that leak densities increase with increasing percent people of color and with decreasing median household income. These patterns of infrastructure injustice also existed within most metro areas, even after accounting for housing age and the spatial structure of the data. Considering the injustices described here, we identify actions available to utilities, regulators, and advocacy groups that can be taken to improve the equity of local natural gas distribution systems.
当地天然气分配系统中的天然气泄漏可能会随着地下管道基础设施的老化而发展。这些泄漏给社会带来了安全、经济和气候变化方面的负担。我们对美国 13 个大都市区使用先进泄漏检测发现的天然气泄漏进行了环境正义分析。我们使用贝叶斯空间回归模型来研究泄漏指示密度与普查区社会人口指标之间的关系。在所有合并的大都市区中，我们发现泄漏密度随着有色人种比例的增加和中等家庭收入的减少而增加。即使考虑到住房年龄和数据的空间结构，这些基础设施不公正的模式在大多数大都市区仍然存在。考虑到这里描述的不公正现象，我们确定了公用事业公司、监管机构和倡导团体可以采取的行动，以改善当地天然气分配系统的公平性。
