Gov. Tina Kotek declared a state of emergency through Dec. 24 in light of potential disruptions and higher-than-expected gas prices
By Alex Baumhardt, Oregon Capital Chronicle
A BP pipeline carrying 90% of Oregon’s transportation fuel has been shut down since Nov. 17 following a discovered leak.
The disruption to the state’s fuel supply, and the potential for impacts at the pump and at airports during a busy holiday travel season, prompted Gov. Tina Kotek to declare a state of emergency Monday that will last through Dec. 24, unless conditions change. BP officials on Tuesday said they had partially restarted the pipeline.
Oregon’s emergency order will allow fuel suppliers and state agencies to bring more fuel into the state via truck and train and temporarily waive some reporting and fee-based regulations related to transporting fuel into the state.
Report price gouging to the Oregon Department of of Justice Consumer Protection Services online here or by calling the attorney general’s Price Gouging Hotline at 503-378-8442
Oregon is not experiencing supply constraints, according to a news release from Kotek’s office. She does not expect flights at Portland International Airport or other Oregon airports will be impacted, but she is working with the Port of Portland to ensure supplies reach the airport. Some airlines operating flights out of Washington have had to adjust due to fuel supply issues, according to local news reports, and some long-haul flights have rerouted to out-of-state airports to refuel, causing some delays.
Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson declared a state of emergency over the pipeline on Nov. 19, two days after BP shut down the pipeline and more than a week after employees discovered the leak in Snohomish County east of Everett on Nov. 11. It is the second disruption the pipeline has had in the last three months and the second leak in two years.
During the last Olympic Pipeline outage in September, gas prices in Oregon jumped 16 cents in a single week, according to AAA. Average gas prices jumped 8 cents in Washington and 9 cents in Oregon during the last Olympic Pipeline leak in late June 2023.
Any evidence of price gouging during the current emergency should be reported to the Oregon Department of Justice Consumer Protection Services, Kotek’s office said.
BP’s Olympic Pipeline runs transport gas, diesel and jet fuel across about 400 miles from Blaine, Washington, to Portland, where it’s distributed to much of the rest of the state.
Alex Baumhardt has been a national radio producer focusing on education for American Public Media since 2017. She has reported from the Arctic to the Antarctic for national and international media, and from Minnesota and Oregon for The Washington Post. This story first appeared in the Oregon Capital Chronicle.
