Spring/Summer 2000 One Year Later

Spring/Summer 2000 - One Year Later

Eminent Domain
by Cole Cosgrove

Like a fuse, Olympic Pipe Line Company’s 16-inch wide, half-inch thick steel pipeline winds through the city of Bellingham. Since its 1964 installation, the fuse was relatively quiet. Buried 3 to 4 feet underground, it pumped gasoline, diesel and all the jet fuel used by SeaTac International Airport — about 12.8 million gallons of highly-volatile fuel per day. The fuel flowed unnoticeably under the front lawns of homeowners, under hiking trails at Whatcom Falls Park, under the grassy field of Highland Heights playground and under Kulshan Middle School’s front parking lot. Out of sight, this underground pipeline inconspicuously transported fuel. Inconspicuous, that is, until June 10, 1999. The fuse ignited. Explosions rocked the silence. A tower of smoke billowed five miles high. People who happily ignored the pipeline’s nearby easement, which attractively offers extra land for soccer fields or gardens, could no longer overlook the pipeline that now fit the stereotypical profile of a serial killer: the quiet, unassuming neighbor who always "kept to himself," suddenly and dramatically exposed.

"I’d feel perfectly safe living next to the pipeline," said Olympic Pipe Line spokesman Pearse Edwards, who does not live next to the pipeline.

Pearse Edwards wasn’t moving into a house with a pipeline running through its back yard the day Whatcom Creek ignited.

But Jan Dustrude was.

"We got the keys the day of the explosion," she said, regarding the house she moved into on Clearbrook Drive on June 10, 1999. Dustrude and her husband have two children under the age of 10. Dustrude said they asked about the marker in her back yard, indicating the location of the TransMountain pipeline.

"The realtor said this pipeline was inactive," she said.

What the realtor didn’t tell her was Olympic’s very-much-active pipeline ran less than a block away. But she, of course, found that out for herself on June 10.

Dustrude’s neighbor, Karin Maya, wasn’t aware of the pipeline in her back yard until she was excitedly signing the final papers.

"It wasn’t in the initial stats when we went to buy the house," Maya said. "That would have made me step back and do a lot more research."

Ron Bauleke knew the pipeline was there; he was just never concerned about it. He and his wife Cindy had previously lived near a pipeline and never thought twice about it, he said.

"I was never concerned," he said. A "No Fear" T-shirt aptly sums up his attitude. "It’s been there forever, nothing had happened before."

After their children moved out of the house and went to college a few years ago, the Baulkes thought about selling the spacious house on Evening Star Lane. That is, until the explosion dropped their property value.

Events like fiery eruptions tend to scare away potential buyers (unless, apparently, the potential buyer is Olympic spokesman Pearse Edwards).

Gasoline explosions also scare Jan Vanderstoep, who lives adjacent to Olympic’s pipeline on Cascade Place.

"I absolutely hate it," she said. "We were told by our real estate agent it was just natural gas, not gasoline and airline fuel. It makes us very nervous. Our property value has just dropped."

State law requires sellers to disclose conditions that could affect the property’s value. Such disclosure reports may not mention a pipeline less than a block away. Comparatively, the burn width at Whatcom Creek was 150 feet on either side.

Appraisers, however, are required by state and federal law to note, "adverse environmental conditions present in the improvements on the site or in the immediate vicinity of the subject property."

Pipelines, especially those that leak and ignite, are considered such a condition. Exactly how much a pipeline affects property values is a question that falls to Whatcom County Assessor Keith Willnauer.

"We’re aware of the presence of stigma, and really the job beyond that is trying to quantify that," Willnauer said. "Are we concerned about it? Obviously, yes. Do we intend to take it into account in our appraisal process? Absolutely."

Willnauer is researching the work of other assessors from around the country who have previously dealt with pipeline spills in an attempt to find how pipelines fit into the appraisal equation. When Willnauer calculates property values he bases his estimates on previous sales. Since he doesn’t have enough sales data yet, he looks at how much houses have sold for in other areas where spills have occurred.

Since Willnauer does not yet have exact figures, he said he is hesitant to admit pipelines reduce property value.

But living next to a pipeline that spills gasoline isn’t exactly like living next to a golf course.

Phil Barrett, Jr., his wife and 18-month-old son, moved into a house near the pipeline during the time of the lowered real estate prices. When looking for a house, Barrett said they looked at five houses adjacent to Olympic’s pipeline. They made an offer much less than the asking price on the five-year-old house, and the sellers accepted. Barrett said he is not concerned about the pipeline restarting.

"I think it’s going to be a long time before it reopens," Barrett said.

Steve Fedenuik has been living near the pipeline for more than 20 years and he doesn’t care whether it is running or not.

"I have no concerns," Fedenuik said. "We never did have concerns. In fact, 20 years ago I cut down about 20 trees off the property and built a big bon fire right on top of the pipeline; the line is only about four feet under."

Fedenuik, ironically, is not wearing a "No Fear" T-shirt. He is, however, mad at Bellingham Mayor Mark Asmundson for "making a big fuss."

"Property values are down because he makes a lot of noise," Fedenuik said.

Fedenuik doesn’t say anything about the noise of 229,500 gallons of gasoline igniting in a public park. He was RV’ing in the Midwest at the time, well out of earshot.

"The noise" Asmundson is making is the sound of increasing pipeline regulations, generally welcomed by people who live near the pipeline.

"I definitely appreciate the stricter regulations," said neighbor Ron Bauleke regarding the city’s stricter pipeline safety requirements.

Interstate pipelines, like Olympic’s, are a federally regulated industry. City governments do not have regulatory authority over pipelines. Bellingham, however, is unique because the pipeline passes through city-owned land at Whatcom Falls Park. Thus, Olympic must sign an operating agreement with the City of Bellingham.

For reasons unknown, Olympic allowed its previous contract to expire in 1995. So Bellingham is now able to negotiate stricter safety agreements with Olympic, on the condition that Olympic needs city approval to use city land. Olympic and the City of Bellingham signed a temporary license agreement that expired on May 4, 2000.

One demand in the temporary agreement was a pipeline relocation feasibility report to determine the possibility of moving the pipeline outside of city limits. The City of Bellingham and Olympic agreed on independent third-party contractor GeoEngineers, Inc., who submitted the relocation feasibility report to the City of Bellingham and Olympic.

"A significant motivator behind the evaluation of relocating OPL’s pipeline is to remove the line from proximity to residential areas, particularly high-density residential developments," James A. Miller, principal of GeoEngineers, wrote in the report. "Such relocation would expose fewer people to potential hazards in the event of a pipeline accident."

The study determined the three possible alternative routes were not any safer than the current route. The best alternative adds 23.1 additional miles to the pipeline, statistically increasing the risk of a spill, and crosses four major rivers not affected by the current route. The river crossings are of concern to the study because of the recent listing of salmon under the Endangered Species Act. Additionally, the best alternative route is upstream of two public water systems, traverses extensive aquifer recharge areas, crosses more than six times as many acres of wetlands and crosses tribal lands and treaty right areas that are avoided by the existing alignment, according to the report.

"No substantial benefit to public safety or the environment has been identified for this action," Miller wrote in the report. "The feasibility of obtaining the necessary permits and approvals for rerouting the pipeline is low."

So why doesn’t the City of Bellingham at least deny access for Olympic to run the pipeline through Whatcom Falls Park? According to its Website, the City of Bellingham sees it as an opportunity, in the best interest of community safety, to allow Olympic to continue to use the city-owned land because the city can set the strict operating conditions. In the long run, if Bellingham completely denies access through the park, Olympic, as a Department of Transportation entity, could exercise its right of eminent domain—the taking of private land for public use—and run the line through a neighborhood, condemn houses for land use and avoid the city’s additional safety requirements.

One of those safety requirements was a hydrostatic test of the 10 miles of pipeline that runs through Bellingham. The hydrostatic test involved pumping water through the pipeline at 135-140 percent of maximum operating pressure. The water test hadn’t been done since the pipeline was laid, Olympic spokesman Pearse Edwards said.

"During the first round of tests, 10 miles through Bellingham, we did have one failure," Edwards said. "As a result of that we tested the other 29.5 miles from Ferndale to Allen Point and that tested out fine."

When Olympic performed the water testing, Kulshan Middle School principal Sherrie Brown said she paid close attention, as the pipeline runs through school grounds.

"When they did the water testing, one part of the pipe was split and didn’t go through the water testing very well, up by Woburn Street," Brown said. "But the part by our school tested out fine."Brown said the tests help to reassure her the pipeline will be safe when it restarts.

"I think there’s enough people who are really watching it to keep it safe," she said. "I think it’ll be passing a lot of scrutiny. They’ll be making sure it is safe enough."

Olympic can restart the pipeline after it meets the City of Bellingham’s requirements and then gets approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline Safety Office. Olympic applied for restart in January, but hasn’t heard back yet, Edwards said. Until then, people like Jan Dustrude can only sit and wait.

"I think if it doesn’t get resolved in a safe way, we would think about moving," Dustrude said. "I’m hearing conflicting stories about pipeline safety. That is what’s really irritating and doesn’t give us piece of mind. I’m definitely concerned for the safety of the kids.

Spring/Summer 2000 - One Year Later

Eminent Domain by Cole Cosgrove

Eminent Domain
by Cole Cosgrove