Gas leaks can cause health impacts and climate-warming methane emissions.
Yesterday (1st April 2025), a large blaze erupted along Sector 2 of the Peninsular Gas Utilisation Pipeline, operated by PETRONAS Gas Berhad. The blaze broke out at approximately 8.10AM and was fully extinguished at 3.45PM. According to latest reports, 364 victims were affected by the blaze [1]. At least 78 houses, 10 shophouses and 225 vehicles were burned, and heat from the blaze was reported to have melted CCTVs and water tanks [2]. We, the undersigned, express our deep concern and sympathy for the victims and families affected by the Incident.
We applaud the swift action by the Fire Department, healthcare providers, and local communities in managing the situation, given the location of Peninsular Malaysia’s most significant gas pipeline in a densely populated urban area. However, we are concerned by the potential for short and long-term health impacts from harmful chemicals and air pollutants dispersed by the Incident, and by the possibility that the Incident could result in significant atmospheric methane emissions.
Health risks from gas pipeline incidents
According to PETRONAS, the 2,623km Peninsular Gas Utilisation Pipeline, which was built between 1984 and 1993, transports fossil gas for key power stations, petrochemical plants, and various other industries across Peninsular Malaysia [3].
Fossil gas, or “natural” gas as it is referred to by the fossil fuel industry, is a gaseous hydrocarbon fossil fuel primarily composed of methane, which is a potent greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to climate change, with a far higher global warming potential (GWP) than carbon dioxide.
Fossil gas pipeline leakages can cause a wide range of short and long-term health impacts. For example, Methane, which is the main component of fossil gas, can reduce the amount of oxygen in the environment and induce human and animal health issues such as slurred speech, vision and memory loss, nausea, vomiting, and headaches [4].
Beyond methane, an independent health impact study conducted in the United States found that leakages from pipeline infrastructure can result in a wider range of atmospheric chemical emissions with significant immediate health impacts, including PM2.5 and PM10 which can cause respiratory irritation, asthma and cardiovascular diseases; volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which produce ground-level smog that cause negative impacts on neurological and cardiovascular systems; ozone (O3) which can cause respiratory irritations and decreased lung functions; and Nitrogen oxides (NOx), including nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) which can also cause ground-level smog.
These hazardous chemicals are known to cause longer-term impacts as well, including worsening respiratory disease and increased respiratory, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular mortality [5].
Potential Planet-Warming Emissions
Fossil gas pipeline leaks and explosions are documented to be significant drivers of greenhouse gas emissions. A 2023 analysis by the Environmental Defense Fund found that leakages from fossil gas pipelines in the United States emit between 1.2 and 2.6 million tons of methane per year [6].
Further, a 2025 study found that the rupture of the Nord Stream subsea pipeline in 2022 resulted in the single largest release of methane in that year [7]. This is particularly concerning, as the capacities of the Nord Stream pipeline and the Peninsular Gas Utilisation Pipeline are similar, standing at 1.9 trillion and 1.3 trillion cubic feet of gas annually, respectively.
Therefore, an explosion on the Peninsular Gas Utilisation Pipeline could result in similar amounts of methane emissions, depending on a variety of factors.
Conclusions
The 2025 PETRONAS Gas Pipeline Explosion Incident represents a deeply concerning and existential problem for Malaysia, where fossil gas is a significant, and growing, component of our energy supply. Apart from the highly concerning impact on air quality, such incidents pose a direct threat to energy security, making it crucial to determine and make the exact causes to be informed to the public.
If gas remains as the primary resource and its expansion involves building new pipelines or intensifying the use of the existing ones, transparency in monitoring, maintenance, and pipeline management is crucial to be publicly accessible. A safer and sustainable alternative is to prioritize energy efficiency and renewable energies such as solar as primary resources for a just energy transition. Unlike gas, these solutions must reduce environmental and security risk and ensure long term energy stability when supported by the right infrastructure.
Further, we are concerned that, despite the risk of local health impacts, Malaysian environmental regulations and policies have significant gaps and insufficient provisions. For example, the Malaysia Ambient Air Quality Standard has far lower standards than World Health Organisation guidelines for key pollutants, including for those mentioned above in paragraph three [8].
Further, while the Environmental Quality Act 1974 does require operators of facilities to conduct additional monitoring after an instance of hazardous emissions, there is no obligation under the Act to make the findings of this monitoring public [9].
Similarly, we could not locate any health and safety or disaster risk management policies from PETRONAS GAS Berhad outlining their standard operating procedure, including whether information will be made public, and it is notable that during past incidents on the Sabah-Sarawak Gas Pipeline, this type of information was not made public either.
Noting that Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development states that information on hazardous materials and activities within communities must be accessible to all citizens, we call on the Government of Malaysia (GoM) and PETRONAS to collaborate on the following actions:
- For the GoM to fully investigate causes of the Incident, including transparency on what procedures were adopted by PETRONAS for pipeline monitoring in urban areas, and for the results of these investigations to be made public in full.
- For the GoM and PETRONAS to make the results of all air quality monitoring before, during and after the Incident to be made public, for this information to be available in full and at a sufficient level of granularity.
- We call on the GoM and PETRONAS to commission an independent study into the short and potential long-term health and safety impacts caused by the Incident benchmarked against WHO standards, for this study to be made public, and for PETRONAS to provide full health care coverage to both local communities and first responders.
- We call on GoM and PETRONAS to disclose the methane emissions caused by the Incident in corporate and national-level reporting frameworks.
- Given the safety risks posed by the existing energy system, we call on the GoM to spearhead a real Just Energy Transition (JET) from fossil fuels to safer and cleaner alternatives such as energy efficiency and renewable energy, which must include a phase-out of fossil gas as a primary energy source in the near future, and an expansion into renewable energy solutions suitable for Malaysia, such as solar.
This release was prepared by RimbaWatch and Greenpeace Malaysia, and is endorsed by the following organisations:
- The Alliance of River Three (ART!)
- Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM)
- Consumers Association of Penang (CAP)
- Biro Alam Sekitar, Krisis Iklim & Orang Asli (BAKO) PSM
- Glimpse of Malaysia (GOM)
- CERAH Malaysia
- Environmental Protection Society Malaysia (EPSM)
- Kuala Lumpur Residents Action for Sustainable Development Association (KLRA+SD)
- Persatuan Aktivis Sahabat Alam (KUASA)
- Pertubuhan Alam Sekitar Sejahtera Malaysia ( GRASS)
- Persatuan Tindakan Alam Sekitar Kuala Langat (PTASKL)
- Pusat KOMAS
- Martabat Untuk Semua Petaling Jaya (Martabat PJ)
- Jaringan Ekologi Dan Iklim Pulau Pinang (JEDI)
- Center to Combat Corruption and Cronyism (C4 Center)
- Sustainable Development Network Malaysia (SUSDEN Malaysia)
- Penang Transport User Association (PETUA)
- Gabungan Darurat Iklim Malaysia
- Treat Every Environment Special (TrEES)
- Free Tree Society Kuala Lumpur
- MADPET (Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture)
- Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia (SABM)
- Happy Garden And Continental Park Residents’ Association (HGCPRA)
- Monitoring Sustainability Globalisation
- PJ Sejahtera
- Persatuan Petaling Jaya Lestari
Sources:
[1] https://www.dailyexpress.com.my/news/255422/safety-inspections-begin-for-homes-hit-by-putra-heights-pipeline-fire-says-selangor-police-chief/
[2] https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2025/04/02/putra-heights-gas-pipeline-inferno-after-destruction-and-chaos-what-comes-next/171596
[3] https://www.petronas.com/pgb/our-business/gas-transportation
[4]https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S095042302300270X#:~:text=In%20severe%20cases%2C%20there%20can,deflagration%2C%20and%20thermal%20radiation%20impacts
[5] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10616731/#gh2479-sec-0080
[6]https://www.edf.org/sites/default/files/documents/Pipeline%20Methane%20Leaks%20Report.pdf
[7] https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-08396-8
[8] https://suhakam.org.my/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/SUHAKAM-Report-on-Haze-Pollution-Right-to-Clean-Air.pdf
[9] https://ewaste.doe.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/Environmental_Quality_Act_1974_-_ACT_127.pdf
About RimbaWatch
RimbaWatch is an environmental think-tank conducting research and analysis on climate-related issues in the maritime Southeast Asian region.
About Greenpeace Malaysia
Greenpeace Malaysia is an independent NGO that investigates, documents and exposes global and local environmental issues to develop solutions and bring about change.
