An extensive investigation by NBC News and USA Today into the condition of America's pipelines revealed some troubling facts. According to their report, gas leaks cause personal or property damage every other day somewhere in the United States. The most recent serious incident killed eight people in the Manhattan neighborhood of East Harlem last March, and a total of 135 people have died over the past decade as a result of pipeline explosions and other failures.

Reporters say that many of those incidents are a result of America's aging pipeline network — beneath our cities are thousands of miles of cast-iron pipes, often more than a century old. While the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) have both pushed to replace those pipelines with other materials like PVC, the cost can surpass $1 million per mile of pipe.

On the process by which pipelines are replaced, a spokesman for energy company Consolidated Edison explained, "We replace main sections by priority based on a number of factors including pipe diameter, pressure, prior leak history and proximity to buildings, material, soil conditions, age and other conditions. Old does not mean bad — some newer iron pipes may merit replacement because of their location in corrosive soil."

Certified Operator Qualification (OQ) consultants can administer OQ pipeline training and evaluations to ensure compliance with the Department of Transportation's regulations. Preventative pipe replacement is an expensive enterprise and is often not a plausible option, but pipeline safety training can go a long way toward avoiding situations that can be very dangerous to the public.