BUY THE BOOK

THE DAY WHATCOM CREEK BURNED

The Olympic Pipeline Disaster and the Fight for Accountability

A Tragedy. A Community. A Lasting Legacy.

On a summer afternoon in June 1999, a 30-year-old underground pipeline ruptured beneath Bellingham, Washington, triggering a deadly chain of events. A river of gasoline poured into Whatcom Creek, overwhelming an 18-year-old fly fisherman before igniting into a massive fire. Explosions echoed across the city as a towering column of black smoke rose 30,000 feet into the sky, visible as far away as Vancouver, British Columbia.

Two 10-year-old boys playing along the creek were engulfed in flames. Although they survived long enough to reach the hospital, both died the following morning. The spill and fire devastated more than 1.5 miles of a salmon-bearing stream and the surrounding forest in Whatcom Falls Park, killing 100,000 fish and other aquatic organisms within minutes.

Drawing on his firsthand experience as the Washington State Department of Ecology investigator assigned to the disaster, Ron Holcomb takes readers inside the emergency response, environmental restoration, criminal investigation, and the years long fight for justice. The case led to the first 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 Day Whatcom Creek Burned is ultimately the story of how one community transformed unimaginable loss into lasting change, leaving a legacy that continues the fight to protect communities across America.

A LASTING IMPACT

From Rupture to Restoration
The Whatcom Creek disaster forever changed Bellingham and helped spark a nationwide movement for pipeline safety. Today, the story lives on in restored waterways, improved regulations, and a community that refuses to forget.

Image: Interpretive signs at Whatcom Falls Park, Bellingham, WA

PRAISE FOR THE DAY WHATCOM CREEK BURNED

“This is an important account of a devastating tragedy. With the eye of a trained investigator, author Ron Holcomb details how this disaster was allowed to happen and how survivors found a way to channel their grief into lasting change for pipeline safety.”

-MIKE SORAGHAN

Energy Reporter, Politico

“The Bellingham story needs to be told and retold. I thank author Ron Holcomb for his remarkable effort in producing this record. We do not want our boys to be forgotten, and we want their deaths to continue to make a difference. This book will help that cause.”

-BRUCE BRABEC

Stepfather of Olympic Pipeline victim Liam Wood

“The Day Whatcom Creek Burned is a book that needed to be written. Ron Holcomb recounts one of the Pacific Northwest’s most devastating and consequential disasters with honesty, compassion, and remarkable depth. This is a story of heartbreaking loss, corporate and institutional failure, and a community forced to confront tragedy in its own backyard. As mayor of Bellingham during the disaster, I witnessed firsthand the pain it caused and the lasting impact it left on our community. Through exhaustive research, firsthand experience, and compelling storytelling, Holcomb has produced an important and deeply relevant book that ensures those lives, those lessons, and the struggle for accountability will not be forgotten.”

-MARK ASMUNDSON

Former Mayor of Bellingham

“More than three million miles of fuel pipelines crisscross this country – largely unseen, unexamined, and unknown to the public and local governments alike. The Day Whatcom Creek Burned tells the harrowing story of how my community discovered just how catastrophically things can go wrong when a pipeline operator – and the regulators charged with holding it accountable – fail to pay enough attention to safety. More importantly still, it is the story of how that same community refused to be silenced: stepping up to demand restoration of what had been destroyed and fighting to transform pipeline safety across the nation.”

-CARL WEIMER

Special Projects Advisor and Former Executive Director, Pipeline Safety Trust

“Kudos to Ron Holcomb for writing with empathy and authority about the deadly Olympic Pipe Line Co. explosion, a 1999 tragedy that rocked Bellingham and triggered demands for stronger national pipeline safety standards.”

—JOHN DODGE

Environmental reporter and author of “A Deadly Wind”

“If you find this book as important and impactful as I did, I encourage you to share it with those responsible for public safety and infrastructure in your community – mayors, city and county officials, state legislators, utility executives and regulators. Preventable tragedies are far less likely when informed citizens and accountable leaders work together. Public awareness and accountability save lives.”

—JIM HALL

Former NTSB Chair

“On a pleasant June afternoon in 1999, a resounding boom and a dark plume of smoke thousands of feet high stunned our Northwest city. We soon learned that a fuel pipeline had ruptured, spilling more than 200,000 gallons of gasoline that ignited, killing three youths and charring more than a mile of a major creek in a beloved park. Ron Holcomb's book, the first to detail the disaster in Bellingham, Washington, reminds us all of what's still important today; in the face of wrongdoing and calamity, a community can unite and fight for justice, accountability, and changes to make the world a safer place.”

—DEAN KAHN

Former editor, The Bellingham Herald

“When we arrived in Bellingham the morning after the explosion, none of us anticipated the scale of the environmental devastation. As a natural resource damage assessment scientist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, I helped assess the damage and develop the long-term restoration plan. In The Day Whatcom Creek Burned, Ron Holcomb tells this tragic story with accuracy, insight and the perspective of someone who was there. This is an authoritative account of one of Washington state's most significant environmental disasters.”

—DAN DOTY

Former natural resource damage assessment scientist, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife

“Ron Holcomb’s The Day Whatcom Creek Burned provides a clear, comprehensive, riveting explanation of the complex world of oil and gas pipelines, including how tough it is to analyze causes and reduce incidents following a terrible tragedy. As someone who has worked to improve pipeline safety nationally since the 1990s, I’m sad that the Bellingham tragedy is not unique, but I’m inspired by the victims’ parents and the community members who visibly and tirelessly worked to ensure there would be fewer pipeline tragedies in the future. Additionally, the book kindly and thoughtfully conveys the story of this tragedy on the families involved, on the greater Bellingham community, and on the environment.”

—LOIS EPSTEIN

Alaska-based engineer and Pipeline Safety Trust board member

“The humanity of this book pulls you in and stays with you: the victims’ grieving parents determined to secure justice for their lost loved ones; the first responders grappling with a devastating explosion in their community; local officials, everyday citizens and cleanup teams who stepped up to help the city recover. Investigators, attorneys, engineers and lawmakers sought explanations and accountability for the disaster. Author Ron Holcomb brings their stories together with professional knowledge, care and empathy. This book shows that people view the environment not as a distant concept, but as their home—and they are willing to fight to protect it and those they love.”

—WENDY WEISENSEL

Former environmental public affairs manager, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources