The Day Whatcom Creek Burned

<p>On June 10, 1999, a gasoline leak in a buried pipeline devastated a quiet corner of Bellingham, Washington. Over 200,000 highly flammable gallons flowed unchecked into Whatcom Creek and ignited into a human and environmental catastrophe now known as the Olympic Pipeline Disaster. A gigantic fireball raced down the creek, ravaging a natural refuge, and a towering plume of black smoke rose in the sky as explosions echoed across the city. Most tragically, the disaster took three young lives—an 18-year-old fly fisherman and two 10-year-old boys.</p> <p>The shocking events stunned the nation and exposed serious failures in pipeline regulation, oversight, and corporate accountability. Yet from the ashes emerged an extraordinary story of resilience. Refusing to let the tragedy be forgotten, the victims’ families and an outraged community challenged one of the nation’s most powerful industries, ultimately helping reshape pipeline safety regulations.</p> <p>Drawing on his firsthand experience as one of the incident investigators for the Washington State Department of Ecology, Ron Holcomb takes readers inside the emergency response, environmental restoration, criminal investigation, and the years-long fight for accountability. The case led to the first-ever criminal convictions of pipeline company executives, more than $100 million in penalties, and the creation of the Pipeline Safety Trust—the nation’s only nonprofit organization with a full-time staff dedicated exclusively to pipeline safety. The lessons of Bellingham were paid for at an unbearable cost. They are too important to forget.</p>