WORCESTER, Mass. - A walk in Worcester was held on Sunday to help educate local families about gas leaks. 

The “Be a gas leak detective” walk taught participants about how to spot leaks by breaking into teams and investigating for potential signs. Local climate change advocacy group Mothers Out Front Worcester, research teams from Northeastern University and Sarah Lerman-Sinkoff, a Clark University graduate student, set up the walk.

Organizers said the walk helps families notice possible gas leaks so they can take a course of action.

“People can’t do anything about what they don’t know,” vegetation spotter Harriet Gage said. “So we’re just kind of educating and unveiling some of the things that are going on in the community and in the spaces that they live, so they can take action.”

“It’s just important for us to recognize that we have a problem and that this infrastructure is failing on a lot of different levels,” Mothers Out Front’s Gaylen Moore said. “It’s killing our trees, it’s leaking in our homes, and a huge issue for climate.”

The group says gas leaks are very common in Worcester and said utilities left over 600 leaks unfixed locally in 2020.