Why did BP's detection system fail to identify the pipeline leak promptly?
WASHINGTON STATE — Two weeks after an oil pipeline leak was first discovered, neither its operators nor regulators say they’re any closer to figuring out what caused it or how big the spill may be.
The State Department of Ecology announced it is fining BP almost four million dollars for another pipeline spill and asking the company to pay for the cleanup.
The spill, near Conway, sent 21,000 gallons of gasoline into the soil and down a channel that flows into the Skagit River. The DOE said the state eventually had to remove several trees and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to clean up the contaminated soil. That incident was blamed on a corroded nut on the pipeline.
Yet, that incident, when combined with a 2020 incident in Woodinville, when taken into context with the latest case, raises some to question BP’s monitoring of the pipeline.
“The system is not sensitive enough to detect it. It appears, from the amount of excavation they’re doing, that this has been going on for a while. If it were a single large release, it would have been detected relatively quickly. From what I’m hearing, this was detected by seeing oil at the surface, and that’s not exactly a prompt way to have to muster a response,” said Fred Felleman, a longtime environmental consultant, who said he was not speaking in his capacity as a Port of Seattle Commissioner.
“The initial concern is that the detection had to be from a farmer, rather than from the leak detection system in the program itself,” he added, “The fact that it turned on and off again seems to suggest to me that they did not know the location of the leak.”
The Pipeline Safety Trust, formed after the deadly 1999 Olympic Pipeline Failure in Bellingham, said BP needs to be more forthcoming. In a statement, they wrote in part, “The recent spill from BP’s Olympic Pipeline adds to a growing list of incidents accumulated since the 1999 tragedy in Bellingham that killed 10-year-olds Wade King and Stephen Tsiorvas, and 18-year-old Liam Wood.
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“BP and Olympic Pipeline owe the people of Washington both a safe pipeline and immediate, transparent communication about every incident. Each new failure is a reminder that Olympic Pipeline runs through our communities, and every release demands accountability. These kinds of incidents cannot become routine,” read the statement.
Washington Sen. Maria Cantwell had demanded that BP answer several questions by Monday about the detection system and the size of the leak. It’s unclear if those questions were answered. BP is suggesting publicly that it is working around the clock at the site.
Washington Congresswoman Suzan Delbene wrote in a statement, “My office and I continue to monitor the Olympic Pipeline leak in Snohomish County. I am receiving regular updates from BP while they search for the source of the leak. I am also working with the Port of Seattle, elected leaders, and other stakeholders to determine what federal relief can be leveraged to bring more fuel into SEA and minimize flight disruptions during the upcoming holiday travel season.”