Olympic Pipeline Partially Restarts; 20 Inch Line Stays Shut Pending Repairs

BP Pipelines North America said early Tuesday that the Olympic pipeline completed a partial restart after tests showed no indication of a leak in the 16-inch pipeline segment, allowing the line to safely resume operations.

The 20-inch line, however, remains shut after testing confirmed the presence of a leak in the segment, the operator said.

The Olympic system, a critical fuel artery for the Pacific Northwest, transport gasoline, diesel and jet fuel to terminals serving Seattle, SeaTac Airport, Tacoma and Vancouver in Washington and Portland, Ore.

BP said repair plans for the 20-inch segment are being developed and a timeline for restart “will be shared when available.”

The leak was first reported Nov. 11 following the discovery of a sheen in a drainage ditch near an agricultural field roughly 25 miles North of Seattle. The full extent of the release remains under assessment, but BP said no product has been observed outside of the response area.

The partial restart returns one of the two parallel lines, both of which normally can supply jet fuel to Seattle-Tacoma international airport, to service.

SeaTac had implemented fuel-saving measures last week, including notifications of inbound carriers to top off fuel before arrival.

BP said the 16-inch line was previously restarted on Nov. 16 but was shut down again on Nov. 17 after crews observed an “increase in product” in a collection point near Everett, Wash., prompting further investigation.

The outage has been a key driver behind recent stronger Pacific Northwest gasoline values, as the region continues to manage reduced flows from its primary refined product pipeline.

–Reporting by My Nguyen, mynguyen@opisnet.com; Editing by Michael Kelly,
mkelly@opisnet.com