Mothers Out Front have been highly visible and vocal as they try to draw attention to the issues involving gas leaks in the area and force responsible parties to do something to fix them. ~Photo courtesy of Mothers Out Front

By Jennifer Grimes

On July 25, mothers of the Somerville community came together to protest National Grid’s inaction and demand that the gas leaks in East Somerville be repaired.

Methane, a greenhouse gas, is highly potent and is known to have a higher global warming effect than carbon dioxide after it has been seeping into the air for a sufficient number of years.

The gas leaks in Somerville have been a problem in the area for almost 20 years and are currently leaking methane gas into the air. Highly aware of this problem, a community of mother’s decided to step in.

Mothers Out Front is an open community run by and for mothers and grandmothers in the Somerville area who are dedicated to ensuring that the lives of their children are habitable in the age of climate change.

As stated on their Facebook page, their goal is to “pressure political, business, and economic institutions to align their priorities and actions with the reality of climate change and its impacts” and that is exactly what they came together to protest last Thursday.

Mothers, grandmothers and children who are a part of the Mothers Out Front movement were seen holding signs that read “Fix the Leaks!” and “Keep your promise National Grid and fix the big leaks!”

The gas leaks have been unattended to in Somerville for years and those who live in National Grid territory are paying the price for it. Big volume gas leaks, like the ones seen in Somerville, can be extremely detrimental to the environment and even dangerous to those living near the pipelines.

The gas that has been leaking into the air in Somerville has been deadly to multiple plants and trees in neighboring areas. Mothers who are raising their families in these gas leak zones quickly realized how bad the leaks were when plants and trees on their street started dying.

For years, National Grid has been promising to repair the gas leaks but they have been a service that has neglected to fix its leaking infrastructure so the Mother’s Out Front community called them out on it.

They rallied at two places, East Somerville Community School at corner of Pearl and Glen St. from 4:00 to 5:00 p.m. and the site of the Sullivan Square leak, at the corner of Caldwell St. and Broadway from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. with hopes that their protests would call National Grid to action.

The city is continuing to lose money while replacing dead trees from the gas leaks with new ones, unaware that the new trees will only live temporarily because of the real issue, big gas leaks.

The mothers in Somerville have been resilient in their protests, raising awareness about the environmental risks that gas leaks cause as well as the residential ones.

After their protest on July 25, they continued to hold another protest to repair big gas leaks, this time in Boston where gas leaks have also been an issue.

Mothers Out Front are steadily continuing to protest against National Grid’s inaction and hoping that their efforts will bring about vital change.