Spring/Summer 2000 One Year Later

Spring/Summer 2000 - One Year Later

Acting Out
by Katrina Tyrrell

Student protesters, wearing bandanas over rain-soaked faces, stand united in pouring East Coast rain. Yellow and blue signs boldly read "Mobilization for Global Justice," as more than 20,000 protesters form a blockade surrounding the International Monetary Fund and World Bank buildings in Washington D.C., in April.

In Neah Bay, Wash., animal rights activist Erin Abbott is run over on her jet ski by the United States Coast Guard while protesting a Makah tribe whale hunt.

Mayor Mark Asmundson, Marlene Robinson and Frank JamesJulia "Butterfly" Hill protests the harvest of old-growth redwoods by living for more than two years in 180-ft "Luna," an ancient Redwood in Stafford, Calif.

In 1998 the cargo ship Thorseggen, carrying 8,000 tons of newsprint made from British Columbiaís ancient coastal rainforest, dodges four Greenpeace swimmers determined to block the ship from docking in the harbor. For 56 hours, others chain themselves to the shipís unloading cranes, their signs proclaiming boldly, "Stop Destroying Ancient Forests!"

And in Bellingham, pipeline activist Carl Weimer meets with a small group at the Old Town CafÈ to plan the next course of action.

Activists across the globe fight for reform, equality and basic human rights. Educating, uniting and striving for change are their goals, and recently, the issue of oil pipeline safety has stirred their anger. A new fight begins.

The devastating nature of Bellinghamís pipeline explosion, coupled with the outrageous behavior of regulators who are supposed to oversee pipelines, handed this community an opportunity to send a strong message.

"It would have been a very sad waste of three lives not to take this opportunity to try and change things for the better," Weimer said.

"This community was handed this terrible opportunity, and has done a wonderful job of trying to turn it into a positive lesson for the entire nation."

On April 15, a sunny, Saturday afternoon outside of the Environmental Studies Center at Western, Weimer gathered with a handful of students to talk about pipeline safety.

"(OPS) is still trying to categorize this as a Washington state and Bellingham problem," he said as he squinted into the mid-day sun. "This is a national problem. In 10 months it went from a Bellingham incident to a national one."

Weimer and others involved in this fight stress this kind of event is not unique to Bellingham. According to Office of Pipeline Safety data, 313 million gallons of crude oil and petroleum products spilled in the United States in the last 30 years. In the past 15 years, pipeline accidents killed 342 people in 41 states.

Shortly after the pipeline explosion last June, Weimer and other local citizens formed SAFE Bellingham, a coalition of civic, business, neighborhood and environmental organizations. It is one of many activist groups in the nation pushing for increased pipeline safety. Their mission is simply to ensure that the pipeline disaster that occurred in Bellingham will not repeat itself here or elsewhere.

Weimer, executive director of RE Sources, a local environmental business, and SAFE Bellingham, is a leader in this fight.

At a hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation in March, Weimer emphasized that pipeline companies around the nation have not put safety first.

"If safety had been the highest concern, then employees of Olympic Pipe Line Co. would not have to be taking the Fifth Amendment," Weimer said. "If safety had been the highest concern, then three families would not have to grieve the loss of their children. And if safety had been the highest concern, then members of our community, along with employees of Olympic Pipe Line Co., could sleep through the night without recurring nightmares."

Safety. That should be the bottom line.

Activist groups have been successful, but the task is not without challenges and problems. Weimer, like most activists, volunteers his time, has a family, and works a full-time job that alone drains him of energy.

"We have been far more effective than any of us ever dreamed," Weimer said. "There have certainly been problems. How does a small group with little or no money take on the multi-billion dollar oil industry? How do we get elected officials from around the country to take notice of a problem that has been pretty much out of sight, out of mind?"

The focus has to be taken off of Bellingham and be turned into a national issue, and that is the real challenge, said Greg Winter, member of SAFE Bellingham’s steering committee.

"For the last six months or so that’s what we’ve been trying to figure out how to do," Winter said. "I think it has been really successful."

In his office above Tony’s Coffee House in Old Fairhaven, Winter, a community development planner, speaks of his dedication to SAFE Bellingham and his choice to become active in the issue.

"On June 10, when this happened, and when I learned that this was an oil pipeline and then I heard that one of my friend’s children was killed, somebody that lives in my neighborhood, there wasn’t even a question that I would get involved," he said. "It was just how I would get involved and how I could be helpful."

Winter was part of a citizens group in Alaska as a researcher on Exxon oil spills until 1994. After hearing that ARCO, which was involved in the Alaska spill, was involved again in the Bellingham explosion, he became more intrigued. He decided to do background research about pipelines and pipeline safety, and wrote a report for SAFE Bellingham as part of his role on the steering committee.

SAFE Bellingham’s steering committee is a diverse group, each person bringing different strengths, weaknesses and availability of time, he said.

"Everybody has a role to play," he added. "We continue to sort out those roles over time. It’s a very organic organization."

SAFE Bellingham spreads its message by speaking to elected officials and other activists. Its efforts have resulted in the formation of a network of people to compare notes, share stories and strengthen the coalition of activists, Winter said.

Activists from around the nation gathered last April in Washington, D.C., to share their experiences.

"Hopefully that created a spark that will be self-sustaining," Winter said with a smile. "I think it will be. There’s never been an event like this that has pulled everyone together."

Activists met with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in D.C. to enlist his support in changing pipeline regulations, Winter added.

"Strategically that’s probably the most important thing that has happened in the last couple of months," Winter said. "McCain has jumped on board.

"We’re guardedly optimistic that we’ll be able to get some good laws and good regulations passed," he said. "We may even be able to do it this year. But if not, we’ll just dig our heels in and keep fighting until we get something that we’re happy with."

SAFE Bellingham is definitely not alone in its battle to urge local, state and federal government leaders calling for stricter pipeline safety rules. Another activist group in Seattle, Cascade Columbia Alliance, is right by its side.

CCA formed in 1996 in response to a proposal to build a 230-mile pipeline just north of Seattle, through the Cascade Mountain Range, across the Columbia River to Pasco, Wash. CCA includes environmental groups, neighborhood associations, businesses and concerned individuals.

At the D.C. conference in April, executive director for CCA, Susan Harper, spoke about CCA’s main goal.

"Our organization’s primary goal is to promote a regional fuels policy that protects our environment, safety and quality of life by improving the safety of pipeline, tanker, barge, truck and rail fuel delivery systems, encouraging fuel conservation, and promoting alternatives to hazardous, non-renewable, fossil fuels," Harper said.

Pipeline safety is its focus, she added. Both CCA and SAFE Bellingham hope to educate the public about the need for a federal fuel policy.

"We decided as a group, as SAFE Bellingham along with the Cascade Columbia Alliance, that what we really need is a regional fuels policy that looks comprehensively, not only at how we transport fuel and how to do it safely, but how we use fuel," Winter said. "With all the problems associated with using fossil fuels … we should be working towards reducing our consumption."

And communities in other states are making the effort. In May 1999, Annette Smith, who practices sustainable living on her small farm in Danby, VT, established Vermonters for a Clean Environment. This nonprofit coalition of citizens in Bennington and Rutland counties in Southwestern Vermont acknowledges that Vermont’s future lies in conserving its clean, rural, small-town environment. The coalition is working to halt a billion-dollar natural gas power plant and pipeline proposal.

"We have been educating the public about this massive problem," executive director Smith said. "(Our) first job was to raise awareness. Most people didn’t have a clue it was going on."

The organization has held public forums and sent out mailings, resulting in successful opposition to the proposal by the town government and the community.

"I have personal feelings about pipelines in Vermont," she added. "The pipeline industry is proposing expanding … into and through Vermont. My feeling is they should not be allowed to build one inch of new pipeline until the existing pipelines are made safe."

Harper, in her speech at the pipeline conference, announced her response to a proposed pipeline north of Seattle.

"No new pipeline!" Harper said with enthusiasm.

The more voices, the stronger the message. The conference keynote speaker Bob Rackleff, president of the National Pipeline Reform Coalition, stressed the importance of national coalitions.

"We will raise public awareness and build support for meaningful pipeline safety reforms; for an end to shameful, needless tragedies; for an end to the equally shameful neglect of safety by both industry and regulators," he said.

Rackleff emphasizes that the coalition should get together and stay together.

And, of course, he is right. It would be a sad waste of three lives not to take the opportunity to create change. Activists clearly prove they are striving for that change and the nation’s eyes are open to their lessons. From angry students in Washington, D.C., to determined citizens in Washington state, activists across the country refuse to let their messages go unheard.

Spring/Summer 2000 - One Year Later

Acting Out by Katrina Tyrrell

Acting Out
by Katrina Tyrrell