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rage L VI `h explosion rocked the school and corning just weeks after Columbine, the teachers in the building raced from their classes fearing the worst and instead encountered a nightmare of a different sort -- a hailstorm of burning branches falling into their school parking lot, singeing their clothes and leaving them shaking with fear. In an instant everyday lives were shattered. And now so many families live with real fears about pipelines they never knew existed 5 months ago. On June 10, a pipeline ruptured. Gas leaked out, ignited, and sent a fireball racing one and a half miles down Whatcom Creek -- creating a plume of smoke that rose more than twenty thousand feet in the air. The explosion killed three young people. It shattered a community and inflicted serious environmental damage. Without warning on a quiet summer day, three young people were taken from their families in a tragedy that should never have happened. When I viewed the damage personally a short time later, I was amazed at the wreckage. One and a half miles of creekside turned to ashes -- instantly. A salmon spawning ground I was to have dedicated a few weeks later -- gone. Neighbors who could not sleep at night. Young children, who to this day panic during lightening storms. Three families whose lives will never be the same because their children are gone. Mr. Chairman, none of us can rest easy until we know that our citizens are protected. Today, I want to focus on the lessons of the Bellingham tragedy And, I want us to take every step we can to make sure that something like this doesn't happen again. We have all heard that transporting hazardous liquid by pipeline is the safest and most cost - effective method available. However, I find the track record here unacceptable. Since 1990, there have been at least six releases from pipelines across the country. All of them caused extensive environmental damage costing millions of dollars. And three of them resulted in fatalities. Clearly, the status quo is not acceptable. The NTSB is currently investigating the cause of the explosion. I understand we may not have the results in hand when we reauthorize the Office of Pipeline Safety next year. While we wait for that report, I have asked the Inspector General at the Department of Transportation to look into the practices and regulations of OPS. I am pleased that the Inspector General has agreed to undertake this review, and I hope he will report back to me by the end of this year, in time to assist in reauthorization. Mr. Chairman, at this time I'd like to submit for the record a copy of my letter to the Inspector General. There are a few ideas I'd like to raise that I think are important as you discuss reauthorizing the Office of Pipeline Safety. First, we need to strengthen "right to know" standards -- because the public should not be kept in the dark when there are problems with pipelines I think it is outrageous that under current law, the public only has the right to know about pipeline activities during negotiations on easements and rights of way. That is not acceptable. These pipelines run through and under out communities, our homes and http:!/ murray. senate.gov!pipelinetestimonyhtml 8/22/02