Responders Set up Containment Boom After Giant Gasoline Spill in Washington State

An oil containment boom floats in the water as contract workers from BP use skimmers to clean oil from a marsh near Pass a Loutre, La., on June 1, 2010. Win McNamee/Getty Images

Responders with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have set up a containment boom to control the spread of oil following a gasoline spill in northwest Washington state on Sunday, officials have confirmed.

EPA officials placed approximately 1,600 feet of absorbent and containment boom downstream of the spill in Hill Ditch and Bulson Creek on Tuesday, the agency said on X, after roughly 25,660 gallons (97,100 liters) of gasoline was spilled.

The spill occurred at approximately 6:35 a.m. on Sunday after a small tube between the main portion of the Olympic Pipeline and a pressure-check valve failed in the Skagit Valley, spilling gasoline into nearby creeks.

The Olympic Pipeline is a 400-mile interstate pipeline system that includes 12-inch, 14-inch, 16-inch, and 20-inch pipes. It is operated by oil and gas giant BP and runs along a 299-mile corridor from Blaine, Washington, to Portland, Oregon; transporting gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from four refineries in northwestern Washington state.

BP immediately shut down the impacted segment of the pipeline and the cause of the leak is under investigation, the company said.

The London, England-headquartered company noted the pipeline was not ruptured during the incident but said it is currently unclear what caused the valve failure.

Hill Ditch and Bulson Creek both support salmon and many species of waterfowl and other wildlife, according to officials.

No Public Health Risk

The EPA said there were no signs so far that gasoline had reached the Skagit River, and no injuries to wildlife or fish had been observed in the spill area, although members of the public are being asked to contact the Oiled Wildlife Hotline if they see an animal in distress in the area.

In its update Tuesday, the EPA said BP is currently working to calculate the exact volume of gasoline released during the spill.

However, the Washington State Department of Ecology has estimated that roughly 30,000 gallons of gasoline was discharged from the pipeline, with about 5,000 gallons captured by the vault.

Air quality monitoring conducted by the Department of Ecology and BP indicated no public health risk from gasoline fumes, officials said.

Sunday’s spill prompted the temporary closure of nearby Conway Elementary School on Monday as part of efforts to ensure the safety of students, staff, and families, although it reopened again on Tuesday.

The Skagit County Emergency Operations Center has also set up a temporary command center at the elementary school so they can coordinate with various agencies, including the EPA and fire department, as well as BP, which is on-site working on the cleanup, school officials said in a notification to parents.

Oil Spill ‘Extremely Disheartening’

This is not the first time the pipeline has spilled.

In 1999, more than 277,000 gallons of gasoline poured out of a ruptured section of the pipeline and entered Whatcom Creek in Bellingham, igniting a fireball that killed three people.

Sunday’s spill was one of the largest in Washington State since 2000, although spills of similar size often occur nationally, according to Kenneth Clarkson, spokesman for the Pipeline Safety Trust, a nonprofit organization promoting oil and gas pipeline safety that was formed after the 1999 explosion.

Mr. Clarkson noted there was an 88,000-gallon (333,100-liter) oil spill in Oklahoma City in September and a 51,420-gallon (195,000-liter) spill in Cushing, Oklahoma, in October.

“To see another spill of this magnitude from this pipeline is more than extremely disheartening,” Mr. Clarkson said. “This time, we are fortunate that nobody was injured or killed; any spill, and especially one of this size, that happens near our schools and into our treasured waterways and salmon habitat is completely unacceptable.”

A BP spokesperson shared a statement with The Epoch Times, noting that approximately 6,722 gallons have been recovered to date.

The company said the gasoline leak occurred due to the failure of 3/8” tubing leading from the main pipeline to a pressure gauge within the vault.

“Responders identified and stopped the leak on Sunday. Since then, efforts have focused on recovering gasoline and minimizing environmental harm while protecting the safety of responders and the community,” the spokesperson said.

“In addition to maintaining the containment and absorbent boom and fuel skimming operations in Hill Ditch and Bulson Creek, today’s work involved collecting gasoline remaining on the surface of the field adjacent to the pipeline vault. Currently, 2400 feet of containment and absorbent boom have been deployed,” the spokesperson added.

However, BP noted that wildlife response teams have recovered one deceased beaver, which was determined to have died as a result of the spill.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

This report was updated with a comment from a BP spokesperson.