About Edward Segal

Edward Segal has lived in Georgetown on and off for more than 30 years. He became involved with local natural gas leak problems after his own frustrating experiences with Washington Gas.

For example, in March 2017 he called the company to ask when it would complete the latest round of repairs they had started on a recurring gas leak in front of his house. Washington Gas told him that they had no record of starting the work in the first place. The repairs were finished weeks later only after a passing Washington Gas worker knocked on Segal’s door and asked about the pile of debris and hole in the street; employee apologized for the delay and promised to have the repair project completed.

There have been at least 140 gas leaks or repairs within blocks of Segal’s house since April 2016; seven of the incidents have occurred in front of or on the same street as his house.

Since 2016, Edward Segal’s work on Washington’s natural gas leaks has included the following:

Proposed Improvements and Reforms

  • Prepared a 10-point plan to help ensure accountability, transparency, and communication by Washington Gas. Go to the 10-Point Plan for Reforms page to see the proposed improvements and reforms.

Filing Complaints and Statements

  • Filed complaints with the D.C. Public Service Commission (July 14, 2017) and the D.C. People’s Counsel Office (June 18, 2017). The Public Service Commission took no action and WGL’s behavior has not changed.

Statements and Testimony

  • Submitted a statement to the D.C. Public Service Commission opposing the merger of WGL with AltaGas because of unresolved issues related to lack of communication, accountability, and transparency by WGL
  • Testified at community hearings held by the DC Public Service Commission on February 6, 2019 and May 15, 2019 about gas leak reporting requirements.

Meetings

  • Met with three members of the 2E Advisory Neighborhood Commission on July 18, 2017 to discuss his concerns

Communications

  • Provided updated information and reports to the People’s Counsel Office and the Public Service Commission.

Communicated with officials of WGL about his proposed reforms and, when needed, reported to them the smell of gas on his street or in front of his house.

Sent a series of emails to the 2E Advisory Neighborhood Commission members.

  • Posted updates on the Next Door community blog.

Safety Survey

  • Arranged for gas safety expert Bob Ackley of Gas Safety USA to conduct a follow-up gas leak survey of Georgetown in August 2017; two members of the ANC and a member of Trees for Georgetown accompanied Ackley on the survey.

Statement from Scientists

  • Working with Bob Ackley, Segal helped arrange on September 20, 2017 for three scientists with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center and Boston University to release a statement saying it was their shared opinion that there is strong scientific evidence of the link between leaking natural gas pipelines and the deterioration or death of trees that are adjacent to those leaks.

Publicity

  • Generated TV and newspaper coverage about the continuing saga of natural gas leaks in Georgetown and has also written op-eds and opinion pieces. To read the opinion piece he wrote for The Washington Post in November 2018, Click here .

Website

  • Launched this website to help inform the community about news, information, and updates about local natural gas leaks and repairs.

Professional Background

Segal previously lived in Northern California where for 10 years he was the CEO, government affairs director, and communications director of the Marin Association of REALTORS.

In those roles he was active in local utility-related issues including efforts by Pacific Gas & Electric to install so-called “smart meters” on homes and challenges related to the maintenance, inspection, and repair of sewer laterals and sewer systems in Marin County.  An online tool he helped develop and launch that shows the futility of linking retrofit mandates to the sale of homes in Marin County received a Game Changer Award from the National Association of REALTORS.

In 2013 Segal was named CEO of the Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Association of REALTORS.  He moved back to Georgetown in 2016 where he is now a public relations and crisis management consultant, public speaker, and author.

To learn more, go to his website at PublicRelations.com.