Seattle radio station denies posing a danger to oil refinery

Seattle radio station KKOL-AM (1300 kHz) has refuted suggestions that a recent power increase to 50 kW is causing electrical sparks at a nearby dock that forms part of an oil refinery operated by US Oil.

The company has made a formal complaint to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). But VP/Broadcast Development Dennis Ciapura of Salem Communications Corp, which owns the station, insists that “No AM radio station has ever caused an explosion or fire at a refinery.”

Ciapura told Radio Online that US Oil filed no objections during the FCC notice period before the construction permit was granted, but only after the station was built at an expenditure of over $2 million, and fully licensed.

Ciapura says it’s also interesting that KJR-AM operated within a couple of miles of the refinery for 2 1/2 years with its blanketing contour over the refinery with no ill effects other than some telephone interference.

In its complaint to the FCC, US Oil says that the interim measures taken at the dock to avoid disruption of crude oil and other shipments have not eliminated the risk. And that “any measures short of eliminating the risk are unacceptable.”

However, experts point out that the only way there can be an explosion is if there’s a vapour release, which would poison employees and neighbours long before there’s an explosion hazard.

Source: Media Network, Radio Online