Olympic Pipe Line Renton Spill
(Information on this site is considered to be accurate at the time of posting, but is subject to change as new information becomes available.)


Excavation of pipeline section. This is where the water surfaced when the pipe downstream broke during hydro-testing.
 
Taken by Mariann Cook Andrews (Ecology), May 10, 2001

Summary Information

Date of Incident:  
Tuesday, May 08, 2001
about 10:30 p.m.

Location:  
Maplewood near Royal Hills Drive, in Renton

Product/Quantity:  
Over 4,000 gallons of petroleum-tainted water.  

Cause:  
The pipeline burst during a hydro pressure test.
 

Photographs

Maps/Drawings

News Articles

 

 
  

Update - May  14, 2001  p.m.

Ecology's initial response was limited as early reports indicated that only trace amounts of diesel were present in the spilled hydrostatic-test water.  Follow-up site visits documented that a sheen due to petroleum was present in the creek 12 hours after the spill occurred.  Ecology took samples from the creek, the samples are being analyzed for diesel and gasoline.  Additionally Ecology documented numerous dead worms in the shallow areas of the creek.  Such organisms are typically resistant to degraded conditions so their die off indicates that the spill may have been more toxic than originally assumed.

Summary - May 14, 2001  a.m.

An estimated 4,200 gallons of petroleum-tainted water spewed out of a  broken section of the Olympic Pipe Line into a Renton neighborhood.  The pipeline broke during hydrostatic-testing of the pipeline.  

During hydro-testing, water is pumped into the pipeline to test its structural integrity.  At the time of the pipeline break the pressure was about twice what it would be during normal operations.  Hydrostatic testing is not required by federal or Washington state law, but BP Pipelines, which assumed control of Olympic Pipe Line last July, is voluntarily performing the tests under an agreement with the federal Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS).

The pipeline break and resulting spill of petroleum-tainted water occurred  late Tuesday night (May 8th).  The spilled material flowed across people's yards and into a small creek which feeds the Cedar River.