Pipeline records should not be kept from public

The Olympian • Published October 15, 2007

Two years ago, the state Utilities and Transportation Commission slapped Puget Sound Energy with a $500,000 penalty and an order to replace 200 miles of aging pipes. The fine, the largest ever levied by the UTC’s pipeline safety office, was part of a negotiated settlement stemming from a commission complaint alleging 67 violations of federal and state pipeline safety laws.

Horrible reputation

Face it. The pipeline industry in this state has a horrible reputation. They’ve killed three people and jeopardized public safety yet are now saying that terrorists might somehow use their records to endanger the public. It’s the boogeyman argument — public records might be misused by someone, sometime, somewhere. How many other records will be concealed from the public under the threat of possible misuse by unknown, unnamed terrorists?

Open records are a cornerstone of a free society and open, transparent government. It undermines democracy if the courts move toward the creation of two classes of citizens — those with access to public records and those who are denied.

The Pipeline Safety Act of 2000 was passed in the wake of the Bellingham explosion to hold the industry accountable. And part of that accountability was requiring companies to open their records for public inspection. The state created the Pipeline Safety Act in order that the regulators and the public could be better informed about the acitivities of the pipeline companies and therefore exercise regulation and oversight.

There was no mention at the time that these records should be closed to public disclosure. Had they made that argument they would have been laughed out of the discussion at the notion that the public should have no knowledge of something this potentially dangerous running — literally in some cases — through their back yards.

Where are Gov. Chris Gregoire, Attorney General Rob McKenna and the Utilities and Transportation Commission? Why aren’t they standing up for the Pipeline Safety Act and protecting the public? The credit or blame on the ultimate outcome of this case rests with Gregoire, McKenna and the UTC. Whose side are they on, the public’s or the discredited pipeline industry?