More Control Of Pipeline Wanted

A Cowlitz County commissioner has called for more local control of pipeline placement and safety in the wake of two natural gas explosions over the weekend in Northwest Pipeline Corp.’s system.

“We’ve got little control on this whole thing,” Commissioner Van Youngquist said. “It’s not a good situation for local governments.”

Youngquist said he hopes U.S. Sen. Slade Gorton, R-Wash., will visit the site five miles east of the Columbia River town of Kalama where a pipeline broke Sunday night.

That break came less than 24 hours after a similar explosion near Everson, 90 miles north of Seattle, on the same pipeline, which runs from the U.S.-Canadian border to northern New Mexico.

Gorton plans to be in Washington state this weekend, but his schedule has not been set, a spokeswoman in the senator’s Washington, D.C., office said Tuesday.

No injuries or major damage occurred in the two blasts.

Settling soggy ground remains the leading theory for what caused the ruptures in the 26-inch line buried six to eight feet underground.

Cowlitz County Fire Inspector Steve McKee said Tuesday he has completed his investigation and is sure there was no tampering with the pipeline.

Dennis Lloyd, a pipeline safety engineer for the state Utilities and Transportation Commission, said past problems typically have been caused by people inadvertently digging into the lines.

“Land movement hasn’t been a problem, even in Washington with the wet weather,” he said. “What’s the reason for the land to be moving remains to be seen. The pipeline has been in service for years and has not been a problem.”

Northwest Pipeline monitors its 4,000-mile transmission system around the clock from its Utah headquarters. Washington’s pipeline is patrolled by air monthly for landslides and other signs of wear and tear.