NTSB Press Release
National Transportation Safety Board
Office of Public Affairs
NTSB TO HOLD PUBLIC MEETING ON 1999 GASOLINE PIPELINE RUPTURE
October 03, 2002
Washington, D.C. -The National Transportation Safety Board will hold a public Board meeting to discuss the rupture and subsequent fire of a gasoline pipeline in Bellingham, Washington. The meeting will be held Tuesday, October 8, at 9:30 a.m., in its Board Room and Conference Center, 426 L’Enfant Plaza S.W., Washington, D.C.
On June 10, 1999, a 16-inch-diameter steel pipeline owned by Olympic Pipe
Line Company ruptured and released about 237,000 gallons of gasoline into a
creek that flowed through Whatcom Falls Park in Bellingham, Washington. About
90 minutes after the rupture, the gasoline ignited and burned approximately
1½ miles along the creek. Two 10-year-old boys and an 18-year-old man
died as a result of the accident; eight additional injuries were documented.
A single-family residence and the city of Bellingham’s water treatment
plant were severely damaged.
Directions to Board Room: Front door located on Lower 10th Street, directly
below L’Enfant Plaza. From Metro, exit L’Enfant Plaza station at 9th
and D Streets escalator, walk through shopping mall, at CVS store take escalator
down one level. Board Room will be to your left.
NTSB Media Contact:
Keith Holloway
(202) 314-6100
hollowk@ntsb.gov
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The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is an independent federal agency charged with determining the probable cause
of transportation accidents, promoting transportation safety, and assisting victims of transportation accidents and their families.
