A deadly gas explosion in Massachusetts underscores a hidden danger in the nation’s gas distribution system.

We accept a lot of risks in life. In every year since 1946, at least 30,000 people have been killed in car accidents on U.S. highways. In some years, that number exceeded 50,000. Yet we continue to drive, even though more than 100 people are killed on average each day. Why? Because driving makes life easier and more convenient for us, and so it’s a risk that we accept.

The same is true in the production, transportation, and consumption of energy. There are risks involved. When 47 people were tragically killed in the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster in Quebec, we didn’t stop transporting crude oil by rail. We may change regulations, but we continue to live with these risks because of the value we place on cheap and affordable energy.

There is no free lunch with any source of energy. There are risks and trade-offs.

Disaster in Massachusetts

Last week one person was killed, over 25 were injured, and dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed following a series of natural gas explosions in Massachusetts. The incident remains under investigation, but thus far investigators are focusing on the possibility of overpressurization of a gas main owned by natural gas utility Columbia Gas of Massachusetts.

Columbia Gas of Massachusetts services more than 300,000 customers in three areas in northwestern Massachusetts. Columbia Gas is one of seven regulated natural gas subsidiaries of NiSource, whose combined utility operations serve nearly 4 million customers in seven states. NiSource operates about 60,000 miles of distribution pipelines, and saw its shares drop by nearly 12% following the incident.

This incident underscores an unappreciated risk that exists across the U.S. There are more than 300,000 miles of natural gas pipelines buried beneath every state in the Lower 48:

U.S. natural gas pipeline system.