Pipeline records should not be kept from public

The Olympian • Published October 15, 2007

Pipeline industry officials who have failed to change the state law have turned to the courts to keep specific pipeline records out of the hands of the public and away from the media.

In their quest for secrecy, pipeline officials lost in Thurston County Superior Court when Judge Richard “Cork” Hicks said the Utilities and Transportation Commission had an obligation to make pipeline records available to the public. Now a three-judge appeal panel has sent the case back to Hicks saying the potential for terrorist threats means the pipeline records case should be sent to trial.

Why should the public care about this legal maneuvering? Because the final outcome could affect your personal safety.

We believe that members of the public should be able to see detailed maps of where nearly 20,000 miles of natural gas and other fuel pipelines are located in this state. Homeowners should be able to check to see whether there is a pressure valve near their residence. And people interested in a land purchase should be able to look at a map and see if a compression station is near the property they are considering.

It is clear from the gas explosion in Tacoma a week ago that the danger of gas industrial accident through failed equipment, faulty connection or mishandling is a real and present danger in all of our lives. Those who live, work, play, go to school, or pass near these lethal fuels in pipelines, trucks, trains, barges or ships have a right to know of its presence and danger.

Courtroom skirmishes

The courtroom skirmishes over documents and the right of the public to access those documents tend toward sterile, legal arguments. What the courts must not lose sight of are the human elements.

We must never forget June 10, 1999, when a section of pipe belonging to the Olympic Pipe Line Co. broke in Bellingham near Whatcom Creek. An estimated 277,000 gallons of fuel leaked, was ignited and the fiery explosion that followed took the lives of two 10-year-old boys and an 18-year-old man. A federal investigation of the pipeline rupture and Olympic’s management of its 400-mile system led to a six-count indictment. Charges ranged from violation of the federal Clean Water Act to failure in the company’s general operations. Three officials most responsible for oversight of the pipeline pleaded guilty to the counts against them.