It was a series of mistakes and failures that led to the 1999 pipeline explosion in Bellingham that killed two 10-year-old boys and an 18-year-old man. And it will take a series of corrections and measures of accountability to prevent another tragedy.
Finally, nearly 3 1/2 years after the Bellingham disaster, Congress has developed a plan to start addressing those issues.
Just a month after the National Transportation Safety Board ruled on the cause of the pipeline explosion, the House cleared the last hurdle to passing a bill that begins to tackle prevention and response to such accidents.
Increasing fines and allotting a large chunk of money to train emergency workers who are the first to respond to these catastrophes were wise inclusions in the bill. But the meat of the legislation is found in its prevention measures, which include improving operator qualifications, providing whistle blower protection, improving pipeline testing and giving states greater oversight.
The bill is not perfect, as was pointed out recently by Frank King, father of Wade King, who died in the Bellingham blast. Pipeline inspections might not start until five years after the bill becomes law. That’s an eerie number considering that the explosion was caused in part by an excavation project that took place five years earlier. The failure of the pipeline company to inspect the pipe was the other part of the fatal equation.
While the bill’s timeline for inspections seems like a long time to wait, it is encouraging to see the Office of Pipeline Safety is already making changes, including sending federal inspectors to examine companies’ plans on how to prevent problems and disasters. Those changes were hailed by Carol Carmody, acting chairwoman of the NTSB, who soundly criticized the events that led to the explosion.
"It’s regrettable that tragedy has to occur before changes are made," Carmody said following the NTSB’s release of it findings in October.
Sen. Patty Murray and Reps. Rick Larsen and Jennifer Dunn deserve credit and praise for not giving up on the legislation despite a particularly rough time getting a proposal through the House.
Pipelines are a practical, economical way to transport fuel. That cannot, however, override the need to uphold the highest safety standards and protect people who live, work or play near these pipes.
Accidents are unintentional, but they’re also preventable. Finally, we have some solid procedures in place to make sure no one has to endure this again. This time we must make sure the rules are followed.
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