Important work is underway to help understand the chemical tank failure that killed 11 workers last month at a pulp and paper mill in Longview. Those investigations should provide answers to the devastated families and community — and hopefully prevent other tragedies.
Meanwhile, in Ferndale, near Bellingham, another industrial tank has come under scrutiny because of serious safety concerns.
The two tanks differ in how they were built and in what they store, but the same important premise applies — tank safety issues must be addressed before it’s too late.
The Ferndale storage tank, built in 1977 at Cherry Point, relies on a single wall of steel to contain millions of gallons of refrigerated propane. Nowhere else in North America is this much propane, a type of liquefied petroleum gas, kept in a single-walled tank.
Modern, refrigerated, propane storage tanks include double-walled full containment systems, so that if the inner tank fails, the outer containment system can retain released liquid and vapor. Whenever possible, large-scale propane storage is located in underground caverns, reflecting the significant fire, explosion and vapor-cloud hazards associated with storing large volumes of propane above ground.
The reason is simple: While catastrophic failures are rare, the consequences can be disastrous.
I recently provided testimony about the outdated Cherry Point tank during an appeal by local environmental groups of a county decision allowing an expansion of the Ferndale terminal. As a result of that appeal, the Whatcom County Hearing Examiner in March ordered county officials to redo a flawed analysis of the impacts of the LPG terminal expansion. Unfortunately, the terminal’s owner, AltaGas, is now appealing that decision, arguing that no further studies are needed, despite obvious safety and environmental risks posed by the expansion of this aging terminal.
One of the questions that AltaGas, regulators and at-risk communities need to answer is whether this nearly 50-year-old, single-containment propane tank at Cherry Point remains an acceptable hazard in one of the most environmentally sensitive and industrially complex locations in Washington.
Allowing its continued use is becoming increasingly difficult to justify. While the tank complied with regulations when it was built in 1977, a tank of this design would never be allowed to be built to store LPG today.
In fact, at its Ridley Island Propane Export Terminal in British Columbia — a facility similar to the Ferndale terminal — AltaGas built a double-walled full containment refrigerated propane tank in 2019. That tank has a strong, outer concrete shell designed to prevent propane from escaping into the environment if the inner steel tank fails.
When you consider where the Cherry Point tank is situated, its obsolete design becomes even more concerning. Risk is determined not only by the probability of a failure, but also by the consequences if a failure were to occur.
A major propane release here could rapidly generate a large flammable vapor cloud. If ignited, it could result in major fires or explosions that could affect nearby oil refineries, marine terminals, rail infrastructure, emergency response operations and surrounding communities as far away as four miles from the tank. Emergency planners refer to these concerns as “cascading” or “domino” risks.
In 1984, a series of fires and explosions at an LPG terminal near Mexico City caused one of the deadliest industrial disasters in world history, with over 500 victims killed and 5,000-7,000 suffering severe burns. It taught the energy industry critical lessons including containing LPG tanks in concrete to stop the tanks from rupturing like a bomb in the event of a fire.
The AltaGas terminal also sits adjacent to some of the most environmentally significant waters in the Pacific Northwest. The shoreline supports critical habitat for salmon, herring, marine mammals and migratory birds. The nearby waters are central to the cultural and economic life of the Lummi Nation and support commercial, tribal and recreational fisheries.
Replacing this propane tank with a modern double-containment or full-containment design would require a substantial investment. But compared with the economic, environmental, and human consequences of a catastrophic release, that investment may ultimately prove far less costly.
The lesson from many industrial accidents is not that aging infrastructure inevitably fails. It is that communities often wait too long to replace it.
