Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - August 11, 1999
Contact:  Governor's Communications Office, 360-902-4136

Locke calls on federal officials to improve pipeline monitoring

OLYMPIA - Gov. Gary Locke today talked by phone with U. S. Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater to discuss Locke's concerns about pipeline safety and the role of the Federal Office of Pipeline Safety, a DOT agency that is responsible for monitoring the safety of petroleum pipelines in the United States.


"Secretary Slater shares my conviction that more must be done to make sure pipelines are safe and that we never have another rupture and explosion like the one in Bellingham last month that tragically took the lives of three young people," Locke said. "He assured me his department is reviewing procedures for the Office of Pipeline Safety."


Locke also met today in Olympia with Kelly Coyner, administrator of the Research and Special Programs Administration in the U. S. Department of Transportation. She has overall administrative responsibility for the Office of Pipeline Safety.


Coyner was in Washington to meet with Locke and other officials and to tour the site of the June 10 explosion in Bellingham that ignited more than one mile of petroleum product pipeline owned by the Olympic Pipeline Company.


"Many segments of our economy are dependent upon these pipelines," Locke said. "We need to double our efforts to make sure they are safe."


In June, Locke appointed a task force to review state and federal responsibilities for fuel transportation and to look for ways to improve response to incidents such as the one in Bellingham. The task force is scheduled to report back to the governor by the end of the year.

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