Over the years of exploring Whatcom County I have tried to get as close as possible to the BP Cherry Point Refinery to get some sort of captivating photo. I never had much luck…

That all changed a few weeks ago. BP invited The Bellingham Herald for a tour of the facility and I was assigned as the photographer. BP spokesman Scott Dean Director of External Affairs at BP Cherry Point Bill Kidd guided us through the new 200-acre rail offloading facility and around the refinery.

The video I created above features Director of External Affairs at BP Cherry Point Bill Kidd talked about the 200-acre rail offloading facility and the new safer rail cars that transport crude oil. The updated rail cars feature head shields on the end of the train cars, vent valve protection on top and bottom and feature thicker and stronger steal.

Throughout the tour I was able to see the control room up close, the new features to increase the safety of oil train cars and the oil refining equipment up close. It was pretty cool to finally see the insides of the refinery before I leave my job at The Bellingham Herald for DB Skimboards / DB Longboards.

You can view the full photo gallery here at BellinghamHerald.com.

You can read the full story by The Bellingham Herald reporter Samantha Wohlfeil here.