SAN DIEGO -- A new plan will make moving compressed methane gas through Point Loma safer for residents, the 10News I-Team reported.

In September, city leaders thought they had a clean solution for getting rid of methane gas from the Point Loma Waste Water Treatment Plant, but several Point Loma residents told the I-Team the city was considering hauling the dangerous gas through neighborhoods. Residents said they feared an accident would mean a catastrophe.

"Channel 10 and your investigative reporting ... you guys got the word out to everybody," said a Point Loma resident.

"All you need is a single accident to develop into a catastrophe itself," one resident said.

"I saw that we're taking on all the risk and somebody else is getting all the reward," resident John Pedersen told the I-Team.

On Tuesday, Point Loma City Councilman Kevin Faulconer and San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders will announce the new plan to send the methane gas through underground San Diego Gas & Electric pipes, instead of on the road.

"The people of the whole community got together and said this is not going to happen," said Point Loma resident Randy West.

"Inserting the methane into the SDG&E pipeline was really the right way to go," said Pedersen.

When looking at the dangers of trucking the gas through Point Loma, the I-Team learned an accident could result in the equivalent of 4,000 pounds of TNT exploding.

The initial plan was in place so BioFuels Energy could repackage the city's excess methane generated at the Point Loma plant and sell it as a power source. The city did not take responsibility for an accident, and that was not good enough for concerned residents.

"Those of us that lived in the transit zone were going to be subjected to the safety issues, the noise issues, totally a life degradation," said Pedersen.

The company said it would still repackage the gas, except it will get them via pipe instead of truck.

"It's the best thing for our community," said Faulconer.

The idea started when Faulconer took his constituents' concerns seriously. He proposed the piping alternative after first voting to the truck the gas.

"We're so very fortunate to have a lot of neighbors who have said we've got to find a better way to do this; can't we find a better way? And we did," said Faulconer.

"We have a city that responds to the constituents. I'm happy with what I saw happen here," said West.

The methane piping project is expected to eliminate more than one million cubic feet of global warming gases every day.