Whatcom Creek Tested For Gas

The pumps that have been filtering Whatcom Creek for the past 14 years are currently off in order to test for any remnants of the 1999 pipeline rupture, which caused gasoline to enter Whatcom Creek.

On Oct. 16, 2013 pumps that had been extracting water from the creek and treating water were shutdown, allowing crews to monitor groundwater to see if any residual gas can be detected, according to the Department of Ecology Site Manager for the project, Eugene Freeman.

“Groundwater samples are collected from ten groundwater monitoring wells between the rupture location and the creek. Samples are also collected at seep locations near the creek,” Freeman said. Seeps are locations near the stream where groundwater flows out, she explained. Water samples are sent to a state certified laboratory for testing water quality.

If the samples show petroleum concentrations above safe drinking water levels, the pump system can be turned back on. “Further investigation of where gasoline contamination is located and additional cleanup options will be evaluated,” Freeman said, explaining the next step if the pumps need to be turned back on.

Since the gasoline concentration has been below the regulatory limits that are considered safe for drinking water for the last five years, the current plan is to leave the pump system in place, but turned off, for two years, according to Freeman. During this time, groundwater will be monitored and sampled. After the two years, if the groundwater has remained clean, Freeman said the pump system could likely be removed.

On June 10, 1999 an Olympic Pipe Line Co.’s 16-inch interstate fuel pipeline adjacent to the City of Bellingham Water Treatment Plant ruptured. Approximately 237,000 gallons of gasoline were released, said Freeman. Gasoline flowed into Hannah Creek, and then into Whatcom Creek, later catching fire. As a result, two 10-year-old boys and one 18-year-old man died, and portions of the gasoline became trapped in the soil, bedrock, and stream sediments, according to Freeman.

The fire damaged about 1.5 miles along Hannah and Whatcom creeks, which affected wildlife, trees, and habitats, according to a news release by the State of Washington Department of Ecology.

Cleanup from the accident included drilling 115 groundwater monitoring wells, creating a trench between the release site and creek to capture gasoline in the groundwater, installing a pump-and-treat system, and injecting solution to help get rid of the remaining gasoline, said Freeman. Cleanup and restoration of the site also involved excavating 7,200 cubic yards of soil contaminated with gasoline, and installing an aeration and soil vapor extraction system, according to Freeman.

Olympic Pipe Line paid for the environmental work, which also included planting more than 36,000 trees, and purchasing and additional 13.5 acres of land for Whatcom Falls Park.

The largest civil penalties ever imposed by the state of Washington were $5 million to Shell and $2.5 million to Olympic Pipe Line, as stated by the Department of Ecology.

As a result of the accident, improvements were made to pipeline safety which include: the establishment of the Citizens Committee on Pipeline Safety (CCOPS) which meets to discuss pipeline safety issues, development of pipeline maps, updating state planning rules for pipeline operations to be more strict, performing drills for spills in order to improve plans, and deployment of oil spill response equipment caches in certain locations, according to the Department of Ecology.

The Department of Ecology says further improvements can be made, which include: awareness and enforcement of the “Call Before You Dig” law, reexamining accuracy of pipeline locations, keeping an eye on and inspecting pipeline integrity, and checking up on operations to make sure they meet standards.