Whatcom County refinery, pipeline operator fined millions for 2023 Conway spill
A Whatcom County refinery and fuel pipeline operator is facing fines of nearly $4 million and almost $1 million in other costs for its role in a 2023 gasoline spill that blocked roads and forced a Skagit County school to close temporarily.
Officials at the state Department of Ecology issued a $3.8 million penalty on Monday to Olympic Pipe Line Co. LLC and BP Pipelines (North America) Inc. for the Dec. 9, 2023, spill, which sent 21,000 gallons of gasoline into a fish-bearing irrigation itch that drains into the Skagit River in Conway, a village south of Mount Vernon.
In addition, Ecology seeks reimbursement for $822,162 in “response costs” related to the spill. State and tribal trust agencies are still evaluating damage assessment and restoration expenses, Ecology said in a statement.
“Ecology is penalizing the pipeline owner and operator for unlawful discharge of pollution into waters of the state and negligence. Gasoline is toxic, flammable, and gives off strong vapors when it evaporates. When spilled, it can coat wildlife, impairing fish, birds and other creatures quickly,” the statement said.
Cleanup of the 2023 spill took three months as crews removed 12,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil and 330,000 gallons of oily water, Ecology said. Conway Elementary School was closed temporarily during the incident.
BP and Olympic Pipe Line have 30 days to appeal the penalty to the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board, Ecology said.
Ecology also said in its statement Monday that the spill was caused by a corroded nut on a 3/8-inch high-pressure tubing assembly used to monitor pipeline pressure.
“The incident started Dec. 9, 2023, when a pipeline alarm sounded multiple times indicating a possible leak. Pipeline staff investigated, but a leak was not identified. Alarms sounded again Dec. 10, leading the pipeline operator, BP, to shut down the pipeline,” Ecology said.
“A field technician found water and gasoline overflowing from a concrete vault near Conway. The gasoline flowed downhill 400 feet through a field and into Hill Ditch, an irrigation channel that flows to the Skagit River, and also into nearby wetlands,” Ecology said.
The pipeline involved in the 2023 spill is the same pipeline that leaked Nov. 11 near Everett, interrupting the flow of jet fuel to Sea-Tac International Airport. Cleanup and repairs are underway, according to previous Herald reporting.
Called the Olympic Pipeline, it carries a variety of petroleum products, including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, along a 400-mile underground route from the refineries west of Ferndale to Portland, Ore.
A June 10, 1999, leak in the same pipeline — under a different operator — killed three people and caused a massive fireball in Whatcom Falls Park.
