The U.S. House and Senate have both passed a bill that tightens requirements for pipeline operators, a bill that Carl Weimer, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust and a Whatcom County Council member, said is step in the right direction but doesn’t go far enough. Weimer
Among other things, the bill requires pipeline operators to install automatic remote-controlled shut-off valves when they install new lines or replace old ones. The Olympic Pipeline, which exploded in 1999 in Whatcom Falls Park and killed three young people, had no remote-operated shut-off valves, which could have helped prevent the release of hundreds of thousands of gallons of gasoline into the creek, according to a speech Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Everett, gave on the House floor Monday.
Larsen, in his speech, credited Weimer and the Pipeline Safety Trust for its work to improve pipeline safety.
