Work in Other Communities

The Trust has, from time to time, been invited to participate in advising communities about pipeline safety issues. Sometimes our involvement follows an incident, and sometimes a community is acting before an incident occurs, in an effort to mitigate the effects of an incident or avoid them altogether.

Pipeline Safety in Washington State:  In 2017 the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission, in association with the Washington Citizen Committee on Pipeline Safety, contracted with the Trust to develop a report that would take a look at how pipelines are routed, constructed, operated,
maintained, regulated, and inspected in Washington State and make recommendations for ways to improve pipeline safety in the state even further.

Report on Proposed Canadian Pipeline Safety Indicators and Transparency: In 2016 we worked with the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association and many groups across Canada to produce a report on the need to standardize definitions related to pipeline failures, data collection and ways to make that information easily available and understandable to the concerned public. We also held a one day workshop on this report bringing together stakeholders from the National Energy Board of Canada, the pipeline industry, provincial regulators, PHMSA, First Nations, and representatives from a variety of concerned communities and groups for the discussion.    

Contra Costa County, California: The Alamo Improvement Association representing an unincorporated area near the middle of this East Bay region, asked the Trust to present at two petroleum pipeline safety educational forums in the county, and develop a report as part of a technical assistance contract.

Fort Worth, Texas: We were asked by the Fort Worth League of Neighborhood Associations to prepare a report on the state of natural gas pipelines in Fort Worth.

Salt Lake City, Utah: Salt Lake City suffered through 2 crude oil spills in 2010. In 2011, the City was awarded a PHMSA Technical Assistance Grant to hold two public education workshops, a conference, and prepare a report, all of which they asked the Trust to assist in developing.

Association of Washington Cities: With the assistance of the AWC, and MRSC, the Trust worked with 6 cities in Washington in developing draft ordinances to implement PIPA recommendations.