Rep. Rick Larsen explained, “This hearing has been a long time coming.  The U.S. House of Representatives has yet to have a hearing on pipeline safety since the accident in Bellingham more than two years ago.  This hearing is long overdue.”

The initial witness list for the hearing did not include any Bellingham residents.  Larsen worked with other Committee Members to include Marlene Robinson on the witness list.  Robinson’s son, Liam Wood, was killed while fly-fishing on June 10th, 1999 after a gas leak from a ruptured pipeline ignited in flames.

Larsen said, “It is important to me that victims of pipeline accidents have a voice in Congress.”

Time is of the essence.  According to the General Accounting Office, the rate of pipeline accidents is increasing by four percent each year.  Earlier this morning, a man was killed in Perry, Oklahoma after a pipeline ruptured and caused an explosion.

Larsen has pushed for a hearing on the issue since his arrival to Congress in January 2001 and has worked with Members on both sides of the aisle to introduce strong pipeline safety legislation.  Last fall, Chairman Don Young told Larsen that the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee would take up the issue of pipeline safety.  The Committee oversees the Office of Pipeline Safety.

Below is the witness list for Wednesday’s hearing:

PANEL I
The Honorable Ellen G. Engleman
Administrator
Research & Special Programs Administration
Accompanied by Stacey Gerard
OPS Associate Administrator
U.S. Department of Transportation

Mr. Robert J. Chipkevich
Director
Office of Railroad, Pipeline & 
Hazardous Materials Investigations
National Transportation Safety Board

Mr. Mark Dayton
Office of Inspector General
U.S. Department of Transportation

PANEL II

Mr. Herman Morris, Jr.
President
Memphis Light, Gas and Water
American Gas Association/
American Public Gas Association

Mr.  William J. Haener
Vice President - Natural Gas
CMS Engineer Corporation
Interstate Natural Gas Association of American

Mr. Bill Shea
President and CEO
Buckeye Pipe Line Company, L.P.
Association of Oil Pipe Lines/
American Petroleum Institute

Dr. Nirmal Chatterjee
Vice President
EHS & Corporation Engineers
Air Products and Chemicals, Inc.

Mr. Ryan P. Berg
President
General Workers Committee
PACE International Union

The Honorable Chuck Mosher
Chairman
Washington State Citizen’s Committee on Pipeline Safety

Ms. Lois N. Epstein
Senior Engineer
Cook Inlet Keeper

Mrs. Marlene Robinson
SAFE Bellingham