LETTER: BP/Arco Fuel Line Runs the Border of Proposed Rose Hill JH School

Underground pipeline

By Grayling Gentry, district parent

LETTER:  Here is a brief article that I hope you might consider publishing at redmondblog.org, preferably before the Tuesday [and Wednesday night] public input meeting at Rose Hill Junior High.  (4/5 and 4/6, 7:00 PM)

According to City of Redmond Ordinance 2136, signed into law in 2002 in the wake of the Bellingham pipeline tragedy, the Rose Hill Junior High acreage may not be a suitable site for any school, modernized or not. The school property is home to the Olympic (now BP/Arco) hazardous fuel pipeline, which runs north to south along its eastern boundary. This defines Rose Hill Junior High as a "high consequence use," which is another way to say that risk of injury and death to quite a few people would be imminent in the event of a pipeline breach.

Consisting of 16" and 20" diameter steel pipes of .281" thickness that lie 30" to 40" underground, the pipeline was built in 1965 -- just three years before the school. It is now 46 years old and has gone through the Nisqually earthquake and possibly other stress-producing events. How safe is it? PSE in 2010 agreed to replace its 1970s-era steel natural gas pipelines after a fatal explosion in a Bellevue residence resulted from gas leakage due to pipe corrosion. The Rose Hill Junior High pipeline, an extension of that fateful Bellingham line, carries diesel, aviation fuel (kerosene) and gasoline at pressures up to 1440 psi. Without physically examining the pipes, there is no way to know how they are holding up.

City of Redmond's stated purpose in enacting this ordinance is to "avoid exposing land uses with high on-site populations that are difficult to evacuate and land uses that serve emergency functions to risk of injury or damage in the event of a pipeline failure." Among other responsibilities, the ordinance charges the city with holding community safety meetings every two years, but none has been offered in the 22 years I have lived in my home, just a few hundred feet from the pipeline. By putting the new school closer to the pipeline and increasing its population from 438 to 900 (plus an additional 80 staff), City of Redmond is ignoring its own law and allowing LWSD to put the lives of countless children and staff at increased risk.  Read More >>

This and other concerns will be addressed during the two Modernization input meetings in the Rose Hill Junior High cafeteria on April 5th and 6th, both at 7:00pm. Hope to see you there!

Full text of Ordinance: http://www.mrsc.org/ords/r42o2136.pdf

Policies on Land Use Compatibility
Redmond can help reduce the risk of injury in the event of a pipeline failure by not allowing certain land uses to locate near hazardous liquid pipelines. Land uses with high-density on-site populations that cannot be readily evacuated or protected in the event of a pipeline failure are considered “high consequence land uses”. Examples include but are not limited to schools or multi-family housing exclusively for elderly or handicapped people. These types of uses are not appropriate near pipelines due to the risk and potential consequences in the event of a pipeline failure. Facilities that serve critical “lifeline” or emergency functions, such as fire and police facilities or utilities that provide regional service, are also considered “high consequence land uses”.

UT-117 Locating new high consequence land uses near a hazardous liquid pipeline corridor represents an unusually high risk and shall not be allowed. Proposed expansions to high consequence land uses located near pipeline corridors shall at a minimum be designed to avoid increasing the level of risk in the event of a pipeline failure, and where feasible, reduce the risk.
 
By Grayling Gentry 
grayling.gentry@gmail.com
LWSD resident and parent
Kirkland, WA.

Photo:  Google Images (not an image of Rose Hill JH site)

"The District has provided the City with a risk analysis [of the pipeline] and facility comparison for the existing versus proposed structures [school] and the City is currently completing their final review of this analysis as part of the pre-application review for the land use permit."  By Ms. Kathryn Reith, Communications Director, LWSD, 4/4/2011

READ the entire response to Grayling's Letter.  Read more >>

Lake Washington School District and the City of Redmond are well aware of the ordinance around the petroleum pipeline referenced by Ms. Gentry and are working together to ensure student and staff safety in the new school building. Let me provide some additional background as well as the actions being taken.

In 1964, the petroleum pipeline operated by the Olympic Pipeline Company was installed near the east property line of the school property. The Rose Hill Junior High School building was constructed in 1969 near the west property line. The school has operated continuously since construction without any interference between operation of the pipeline and operation of the school.

In 2002, the City of Redmond enacted ordinance number 2136 related to the pipeline and land use permitting. The City of Redmond has indicated that the modernization of Rose Hill, as an existing facility near the pipeline, will be subject to that section of the code requiring that the new building “shall at a minimum be designed to avoid increasing the level of risk in the event of a pipeline failure, and where feasible, reduce the risk.”

The ordinance states that the design of the new facility shall take into account “measures such as site planning that reflect anticipated flow paths for leaking hazardous materials and emergency procedures to help reduce the likelihood of fire and injury in the event of a pipeline failure.” Both the existing and the proposed building are well uphill from the pipeline and flow patterns would direct any leaking fuel away from the school.

As such, the District has worked with the modernization architects and engineers to develop a plan for the new building that:

• Is farther away and further uphill from the pipeline than the current building, and places classroom wings on the opposite side of the site from the pipeline.
• Is fully equipped with fire sprinklers and fire alarms.
• Has fewer and smaller door and window openings facing the pipeline.
• Has non-combustible, double-wall construction facing the pipeline.

The District has provided the City with a risk analysis and facility comparison for the existing versus proposed structures and the City is currently completing their final review of this analysis as part of the pre-application review for the land use permit.

Kathryn Reith, 4/4, 1:05 PM
Communications Director
LWSD