Crews work to contain gas pipeline spill in Washington state
CONWAY, Wash. — Emergency workers staged a containment effort after a gasoline spill caused by the failure of part of a pipeline in northwestern Washington state, but federal regulators reported no signs of fuel reaching the Skagit River on Tuesday.
About 25,660 gallons (97,100 liters) of gasoline leaked Sunday after a small tube leading from the main Olympic pipeline to a pressure check valve failed, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said in a news release.
The EPA said responders have installed an absorbent tree downstream of the spill in Hill Ditch and Bulson Creek, which supports salmon and other wildlife and flows into the Skagit River.
There was no sign the fuel had reached the Skagit, the EPA said, and no injuries to wildlife were observed. The leak led to the precautionary closure of a primary school on Monday, but it reopened on Tuesday.
Air quality monitoring showed there was no risk to public health, according to the EPA.
Operated by the energy company BP, the Olympic Pipeline runs along a corridor from Blaine, Washington, to Portland, Oregon, transporting gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from four refineries in northwestern Washington state. In 1999, the pipeline leaked more than 236,000 gallons (893,360 liters) of gasoline in Bellingham and erupted into a fireball that killed three people.
Sunday's spill was one of the largest in Washington state since 2000, but nationwide spills of that size occur with unfortunate frequency, said Kenneth Clarkson, spokesman for the Pipeline Safety Trust, which was founded after the 1999 explosion. was an 88,000 gallon (333,100 liter) oil spill in Oklahoma City in September, and a 51,420 gallon (195,000 liter) oil spill in Cushing, Oklahoma, in October, he noted.
“It is beyond extremely disheartening to see another spill of this magnitude from this pipeline,” Clarkson said in an emailed statement. “This time we are fortunate that no one was injured or killed; Any spill, especially one of this magnitude, that occurs near our schools and in our precious waterways and salmon habitat is completely unacceptable.”
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This story has been corrected to show that this was one of the largest spills in Washington since 2000, not the largest.