Leak in Olympic Pipeline Found, Operations at Sea-Tac Airport Returning to Normal

British energy company BP announced on Tuesday morning that the leak near Everett, Washington, on the 400-mile-long Olympic Pipeline had been found in the 20-inch line that transports gasoline, and the flow of aviation fuel had been restarted in the 16-inch line.

On Saturday, Alaska Airlines and Delta Air Lines had to implement contingency plans at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, including increasing the amount of fuel delivered by trucks, having incoming flights “ferry” fuel to Sea-Tac, and forcing direct long-haul flights to make interim fuel stops.

The Olympic Pipeline connects the BP Cherry Point Oil Refinery in Blaine, Washington, the largest producer of aviation fuel in the Pacific Northwest, to Seattle-Tacoma and Portland International airports.

On November 19, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson declared a state of emergency, waiving work hour limits for truck drivers who haul fuel products. In a letter to BP CEO Murray Auchincloss, Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) said that it would take 90 tanker trucks a day to deliver half of what is needed at Sea-Tac.

Officials at Portland International Airport said their operations weren’t impacted because aviation fuel could be hauled in barges on the Columbia River to the airfield.

The leak was first detected on November 11 when a sheen was observed in a blueberry field in Western Washington. The Olympic Pipeline was shut down, then briefly restarted on November 16. However, the leak wasn’t fixed, forcing a second closure.

Map of the Olympic Pipeline, courtesy of BP

The Olympic Pipeline consists of two parallel pipes, a 16-inch and a 20-inch, that provide gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuel to Washington and Oregon. It starts at the Ferndale refineries in Whatcom County, Washington, and ends in Portland, Oregon. It also connects to the Transmountain Puget Sound Pipeline from Canada and the Kinder Morgan Pipeline in Eugene, Oregon.

The leak has been isolated to the 20-inch line used to transport gasoline, and repairs are ongoing. A spokesperson for BP told Seattle-based KOMO News they hope the second line can be partially opened as repairs continue.

Fuel Situation at Sea-Tac Stabilizing After Dozens of Flights Rerouted

The outage couldn’t have come at a worse time. The week of Thanksgiving is the busiest air travel period in the United States, with the Sunday after Thanksgiving the single-busiest travel day.

Passengers on Alaska Airlines began receiving notices that scheduled flights were being rerouted on Saturday night.

“Just got this notification for my flight tonight to NY,” one person wrote on social media. “Alaska Air: Due to fuel supply constraints in Seattle from a temporary pipeline closure, we’ll make a brief stop in GEG [Spokane, Washington] to refuel.”

A passenger on a nonstop Delta Air Lines flight from Boston to Seattle said their plane was rerouted through Spokane to refuel. Others reported that their Delta flights were being rerouted through Salt Lake City, Utah.

Another person lamented that her husband missed a connecting flight on American Airlines at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport because it was rerouted through Portland, Oregon, and arrived almost three hours late.

Customers of American Airlines were also getting notifications. “Due to an airport fuel supply issue impacting all airlines at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, your American Airlines flight could need to make a refueling stop prior to arriving at your destination.”

Multiple people reported that Alaska Airlines flights to and from Maui were being diverted to Portland for an interim fuel stop. “My kids’ flight from Sea-Tac to Maui was diverted to Portland yesterday, turning a 6-hour flight into a ten-hour ordeal with little kids,” one person wrote.

Alaska and Delta reported through separate statements that by Tuesday evening, flight operations were returning to normal and aircraft were no longer being diverted.

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