Gas pipeline explodes; blaze seen for miles
STEVENSON, Wash. (AP) —
Flames exploded from a natural
gas pipeline meter station Mon
day night, shooting high into the
air near this south-central
Washington community, au
thorities said.
No injuries were reported.
After burning fiercely for two
hours, the flames diminished
when the supply of gas was shut
off, said Owen Zuro, a spokesman
for Northwest Pipeline Corp.,
which owns the station and gas
pipeline.
Zuro theorized that the 26-inch
pipeline, which runs from the San
Juan Basin of Utah to Sumas,
Wash., could have been ruptured
by an earthslide although the
pipeline is buried throughout its
length.
Witnesses said the blaze was
visible for 20 miles.
“I've never seen anything like
it," said Dave Henderson, a
Skamania County sheriff’s de
puty. “It was just a huge torch."
Officials blocked off the area for
a half mile around the 75-foot
clearing where the station was lo
cated.
The flames had not spread out
side the clearing into adjacent
woods when Northwest Pipeline
employees from Battle Ground
and The Dalles arrived to shut off
valves on both sides of the blaze.
Zuro said shutting off the
OLCC
(Continued from Page 1)
completely. All-campuses are out,
so sales (of kegs) are down."
The Kappa Sigma fraternity
held an all-campus party last
weekend in which 20 15-gallon
kegs were purchased. According
to Steve Studebacker, social
chairer of that fraternity, the keg
law didn’t hi nder them from buyi ng
kegs, gut, he admits, “it puts a
responsibility on whoever buys
the keg."
Studebaker adds, “I’m not 21,
but I take someone with me when I
buy the beer.”
Kappa Sig's all-campus was
their first one in a year, and
Studebacker says “So far we re
okay, so we might try it again.”
As long as the advertisements
are kept “discreet" and the news
of the parties not widely circu
lated, fraternities should be safe,
Studebaker says.
Other fraternity members agree
that so far the law hasn’t affected
them, They say they still buy as
many kegs as ever, but they buy
them more often for private func
tions.
“This law just puts more of a
strain on the campus community,"
says Dave Steil, president of the
Sigma Alpha Epsilon house,
adding that he’s aware of the po
tential “OLCC crackdown.’’ Steil
isn’t sure if his house will have its
outdoor keg in the spring, be
cause “obviously they didn’t pass
it (the law) just to look at it.”
Gary Sandstrom, OLCC liquor
control officer, says it’s too early to
predict repercussions of the law,
but “if there’s a decrease in illegal
sale, that means the law is doing
what it's supposed to do.”
Paul Patrick Distributing Co.,
Photo by Erich Boeketoetde
Take a long look at these kegs. They may be a thing of the past for
legally immature students. Trouble is brewing as OLCC enforcement of
ID reguirements makes the buying of kegs riskier and more trouble
some. The kegger, once a campus tradition, is disappearing faster
than a foamy head.
plans a survey to compare keg
sales from a year ago to see if
sales have decreased because of
the new law. “There is no question
there has been a definite drop in
sales,” he says.
“Most have shifted to bottles al
ready,” Patrick explains, saying
he is still concerned the public
does not realize potential penal
ties.
“Were liable too,” he notes,
“and we’ve been ignorant of the
law. A kid got busted, and we ll
probably get fined because we
didn’t fill out the forms to the nth
degree.”
David Whitbread, executive
secretary of Oregon Beer and
Wine Distributors, calls it an
“anti-consumer type bill,” saying
the law will only cost consumers
more. He contends that many dis
tributors have raised the dock
prices of keg beer because of the
time it takes to fill out forms.
“Tavern people say there's no
way they can maintain a bar and
check people's license plates at
the same time,” he says, calling
the new law a “hassle.”
The three local OLCC enforce
ment officers act as a police
agency, according to enforcement
officer Jim Stevens. “Ninety-five
percent of our work is investigat
ing licensing and five percent is
enforcement,” he says. “We act in
an advisory capacity. If we get
evidence (of keg violation) or re
quest from an agency, we would
examine the wholesaler’s re
cords.”
A record of keg sales is kept by
the licensee for a two-year period,
available at all times for inspection
by OLCC representatives.
Stevens says the sales and tag
receipts are the “one and only
step” they take in tracking down
keg violators. This method is
good, he says, assuming the keg
buyers put down the correct ad
dress. But “there are a lot of ways
to beat the system.”
Will party life change in
Eugene? It’s too early to tell, but
there’s a potential risk involved in
sponsoring a Saturday-night keg
ger. And as Whitbread puts it,
“maybe quart bottles will become
a better status symbol than beer in
kegs.”
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pipeline valves to extinguish the
blaze would leave 16 miles of the
line without gas.
The move leaves the com
munities of Stevenson and North
Bonneville without natural gas.
Zuro said between 35-40 resi
dences are supplied by the gas in
North Bonneville and between
125-135 homes use gas in
Stevenson.
“We ll lose those two towns,
they’ll be without gas service,”
said Zuro. “There’s nothing we
can do. No other towns on the gas
line will be affected.” No damage
estimate was immediately availa
ble.
The meter station was located
about two miles west and a mile
north of Stevenson, a small com
munity which sits along the Col
umbia River on the Oregon
Washington border.
Henderson said the nearest
house was at least a mile away
from the blaze.
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