Holiday sweaters? Definitely not always in season D1
SUNDAY, 12.14.2014
Boat maker’s fraud persists
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EVERETT, WASHINGTON
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WWW.HERALDNET.COM
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$1.50 (HIGHER IN OUTLYING AREAS)
OIL TRAIN ANXIETY
Philip Warnock’s duplicity has continued for years despite convictions, a long list of unhappy customers, and even a death By Rikki King Herald Writer
SEATTLE — Philip Warnock’s deceptions go back decades. Prosecutors and police say the 70-year-old Covington man ripped off customers, landlords, investors, employees and suppliers. He sold people boats that didn’t exist and boats made with shoddy, unsafe materials. He made hundreds of thousands of dollars from victims all over Western Washington, including Snohomish County. Warnock “kept Philip their money and Warnock simply would not, will not stop the fraudulent boat building business,” King County sheriff’s detective Robin Fry wrote in court papers. Warnock was running “fantasy businesses,” Fry wrote. Warnock last summer pleaded guilty to seven counts of firstdegree theft in King County. In November he was sentenced to roughly 1.5 years in state prison. That means he shouldn’t be able to sell any more boats until at least December 2015. That’s his earliest release date. See WARNOCK, Page A9
Classified . . . . . . . . . . . . . .E2 Crossword . . . . . . . . . . . . .D4 Dear Abby. . . . . . . . . . . . . .D5 Horoscope . . . . . . . . . . . . .D4 Lottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .A2 Moneywise. . . . . . . . . . . . .E1 Movies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .D5
DAN BATES / THE HERALD
A long train of oil cars travels parallel to Cedar Avenue at First Street in Marysville on Thursday, heading southbound through Snohomish County.
More crude-filled tank cars are moving by rail through the area than ever before, sparking concerns about safety By Noah Haglund Herald Writer
EVERETT — The parade of flat-black tank cars began arriving here less than two years ago. Now the crude oil trains are a familiar sight — and a source of anxiety for many people along the route. Every week, up to a dozen such trains skirt Puget Sound, each hauling more than 1 million gallons of Bakken crude from North Dakota and Montana. They pass erosion-prone coastal bluffs, then travel through the downtowns of Edmonds, Mukilteo, Everett, Marysville and Stanwood. They take the highly
flammable fuel from fields in North Dakota to refineries in Skagit and Whatcom counties. “All of us use it every day, even if you don’t know it,” U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen told a roomful of people at a Stanwood railsafety forum last month. “How do you move this stuff through our communities safely?” The rhetorical question summed up a debate over crude-oil transportation that’s raged all year — and promises to result in regulatory changes soon at the state and federal level. That includes a 500-page study that could guide action by the Legislature and Gov. Jay Inslee when it reaches them next year.
Railroads have carried potentially dangerous cargoes through Washington since tracks were laid in the late 19th century. These days, that means propane fuel as well as chemicals such as chlorine and ammonia. What makes the recent oil boom different is volume. You can see it in the trains of 100 tank cars or more marked with redand-white placards bearing the number 1267 — the hazmat code for petroleum crude oil. That’s about 3 million gallons per trainload. “We think the likelihood of a derailment and fire in our town is high and we’d See TRAIN, Page A8
Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . .B5 Viewpoints . . . . . . . . . . . . .B7
MYTHS ABOUT THE POLICE
NEW OLD WILDERNESS
THE GIFT OF GOOD SENSE
The truth about what you think you know. Viewpoints, B7
Protection for the middle fork of the Snoqualmie River. Outdoors, D6
Presents that help your grown kids understand finances. Moneywise, E1
Optimistic 47/32, C10
SUNDAY
VOL. 114, NO. 307 © 2014 THE DAILY HERALD CO.
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