Congressman Rick Larsen's Online Office

Washington, D.C. — Today, the U.S. House of Representatives passed by voice vote H.Res. 1262, introduced by U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02), to express the condolences of the U.S. House of Representatives for those workers who died and the one worker who was severely injured at the fire at the Tesoro Anacortes Refinery on April 2, 2010. Larsen also delivered the following statement on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The following are Rep. Larsen’s remarks as prepared for delivery:

Madam Speaker, on April Second, Washington state experienced a tragedy when a fire occurred in the Naphtha Hydrotreater unit at the Tesoro oil refinery in Anacortes.  Six workers died as a result of the fire, and one more was burned and remains in intensive care.

I offer my condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of the victims of this fire.  My thoughts and prayers are with Tesoro’s employees and everyone from the City of Anacortes, the state of Washington, and our nation who grieve for the workers who died and suffered injury.  I encourage my colleagues to join with me in supporting this resolution to honor the lives of Matthew C. Bowen, Darrin J. Hoines, Daniel J. Aldridge, Kathryn Powell, Donna Van Dreumel and Lew Janz.

This resolution also expresses the best wishes of Congress to Matt Gumbel, who was severely burned in the fire and is currently in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.  I hope that Matt recovers as quickly as possible from his injuries.

Earlier this week, I received a letter from the CEO of Tesoro and the Chair of the United Steelworkers Local 12-591, expressing support for this resolution.  I request unanimous consent that this letter be entered into the Congressional Record.

Multiple federal, state, and local agencies, including the Chemical Safety Board, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, are currently investigating the causes of the fire.  I strongly support the work they are doing to help us understand what happened and how to prevent a similar accident in the future.

Although most Americans don’t associate Northwest Washington with oil and gas, Skagit and Whatcom Counties in my district have been home to major oil refineries for decades. The four oil refineries in Northwest Washington process approximately 500,000 barrels of oil each day.  These refineries are central to the local economy, employing nearly 2,500 people and supplying over $200 million in annual wages to workers and contractors.

The refining industry is inherently hazardous.  As one refinery employee in my district put it “we don’t bake cookies, we boil oil.”

That being said, preventing accidents that harm workers is vitally important.  As the fire at the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes fades from newspaper headlines, we must remain sharply focused on worker safety - at the Tesoro refinery in Anacortes, and at refineries and industrial sites around the country.  

While it is not possible to prevent all refinery accidents, we need to learn from what happened in Anacortes.  We need to make sure that we are doing everything we can to reduce the risk of a similar accident in the future.

I urge my colleagues to join with me in supporting this resolution expressing the condolences of the House of Representatives to those who lost families, friends and loved ones in this fire.

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