Another chapter closes in Bellingham's deadly Whatcom Falls Park pipeline disaster The Bellingham Herald 12/10/2020 Robert Mittendorf, The Bellingham Herald (Bellingham, Wash.) Bellingham City Council members closed the Olympic Pipeline Incident Fund, one of several established in the wake of the deadly June 1999 explosion and fire in Whatcom Falls Park. It ended without ceremony or comment on a unanimous council vote Monday, Dec. 7, except to note that all funds have been spent on Whatcom Creek restoration and monitoring. A total of five funds were created with settlement money related to the disaster, said Forrest Longman, deputy budget director. “After closing this fund, only one will remain, the Natural Resource Protection and Restoration Fund which is an endowment fund seeded with $4 million,” Longman said. “The interest revenue from that fund is used for restoration projects (not limited to the Whatcom Creek area).”