Jay Inslee: Washington's 1st Congressional District
Issues
Pipeline Safety
Letter to OPS #2
February 11, 2000
Kelly Coyner
Administrator
Office of Pipeline Safety
US Department of Transportation
400 7th Street SW, Room 7128
Washington, DC 20590Dear Administrator Coyner:
I am writing to urge your agency to amend your Corrective Action Order (CAO) regarding Olympic Pipeline Company, and adopt a process involving local community input which will lead to a revised CAO.
As I have previously expressed to you, communities and cities along the pipeline are not satisfied with Olympic Pipeline Company’s plan to restart their 16-inch line, which runs from Ferndale to Renton, Washington. In light of Olympic Pipeline Company’s record, these communities want and deserve a stronger Corrective Action Order, which currently does not include a requirement to hydrostatically test the entire line.
Due to a right of way agreement between the City of Bellingham and Olympic Pipeline Company, the city was successful in requiring additional safety measures of the pipeline following the tragic incident on June 10 1999. Although other cities along the pipeline have no such right of way agreements to leverage Olympic Pipeline Company, these cities still deserve the same level of safety as the people of Bellingham.
I would like to invite you to a forum in a city along Olympic Pipeline Company’s 16-inch line, at which local governments are allowed to work with your agency to amend the Corrective Action Order. I believe that the life and death decisions determining the safety of our communities must be made with local involvement to ensure a high level of public confidence in this pipeline.
Although it is clear to me that your agency’s Corrective Action Order is inadequate, it is also becoming increasingly clear to me that your agency does not intend to take the initiative to amend the order to ensure the safety of the communities living along the Olympic Pipeline Company’s 16-inch pipeline. I have on several occasions urged the Office of Pipeline Safety to further test this line prior to restart, including a letter which I sent your office three weeks ago and have not yet received a response.
Tuesday, the King County Council voted unanimously to allow states to enact tougher pipeline safety laws than required by the federal government, and today, the Washington State Senate passed a non-binding resolution urging Congress to give states stronger oversight of underground pipelines. Several members of Congress, myself included, are supporting legislation which will give states this authority.
While I, Congressman Metcalf, Senator Murray, and others pursue this national legislation to give states more authority over pipeline regulation, I strongly urge you to give the people who are now living along the Olympic Pipeline Company’s problematic 16-inch line a say in their future. I am deeply concerned that Olympic Pipeline will restart this line without performing such a reasonable and prudent step as hydrostatic testing.
Your timely response to these requests is very much appreciated.
Sincerely,
Jay Inslee
Member of Congress