BP’s Olympic Pipeline system remained shut on Monday as the company and authorities investigated a fuel leak near Everett, Washington, while airlines activated contingency plans to limit disruptions during the busy Thanksgiving travel week.
The leak was first reported on November 11. BP restored one of the two pipelines east of Everett that had been shut to determine the source of some product discharge. The restored line was shut down again shortly afterward, halting refined product deliveries on the system.
“Over 200 feet of pipeline have been excavated to date. Crews are operating around the clock and will continue overnight operations tonight,” BP said in an emailed statement on Monday. The timeline for restarting the pipeline is not available, the company said, while the total amount of leaked product is still being assessed.
The 400-mile Olympic Pipeline system moves refined petroleum products including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from northern Washington to Oregon.
In response to the closure of the system, which normally supplies more than 90% of Oregon’s transportation fuels to terminals in Portland for distribution throughout the state, Governor Tina Kotek on Monday declared a fuel emergency.
She ordered activation of Oregon’s emergency management plan to address the situation, in coordination with the state’s energy and transportation departments.
Last week, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson declared an emergency following the pipeline shutdown, which has disrupted jet fuel supplies to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac).
Operations at Sea-Tac have not seen major disruptions as airlines turn to contingency plans, a spokesperson said. “We encourage travelers to stay in touch with their airlines about their specific flight.”
CONTINGENCY PLANS
Major airlines including Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines have implemented plans to minimize impact on flights during busy Thanksgiving travel week.
Delta has transported extra fuel via tanker trucks into Sea-Tac to supplement fuel reserves and added refueling stops to a number of outbound domestic long-haul flights, the carrier said in an emailed response.
Alaska Airlines has tankered fuel on inbound flights to Seattle and expanded its trucking operations to bring in extra fuel, in addition to adding a fuel stop to roughly a dozen flights per day.
“We continue to minimize the impacts of the Olympic Pipeline fuel leak. We do not expect disruption to our operations at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport through the Thanksgiving travel week,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement.
(Reporting by Nicole Jao in New York; Additional reporting by Steve Gorman in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio and Christian Schmollinger)