Posted on 03/10/2006 7:17:18 PM PST by NormsRevenge
ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A massive oil spill discovered earlier this month at Prudhoe Bay is the largest ever on Alaska's North Slope, officials said Friday. Between 201,000 and 267,000 gallons of crude leaked from a ruptured transit line onto the snow-covered tundra, according to an official estimate of the spill.
That amount far surpasses the 38,000 gallons spilled in 2001, officials said. By comparison, the Exxon Valdez spilled 11 million gallons when it ran aground in Prince William Sound in 1989.
“I can confirm it's the largest spill of crude oil on the North Slope that we have record of,” said Linda Giguere with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. She said the state began comprehensive record keeping on spills 10 years ago, following years of cursory record keeping since the trans-Alaska oil pipeline was built in the 1970s.
The estimate was based on a survey conducted this week at the site operated by BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. where the leak was discovered March 2. Workers took measurements by probing the snow covering much of the crude that leaked from the 34-inch line.
The spill covers two acres of remote and unpopulated land on Alaska's north coast near the Beaufort Sea. Richard Fineberg, a former state oil analyst, said it's too early to determine environment consequences, but said this area near the start of the trans-Alaska pipeline is not the image most Americans have of the state.
“That area is not pristine. It's industrial,” he said.
More importantly, Fineberg said, the spill is the latest result of the oil industry's failure to properly maintain the North Slope's aging infrastructure. That failure, he said, potentially hurts a public that is heavily reliant on the 800-mile pipeline, which carries nearly 17 percent of domestic crude oil production.
“In my estimation, this chronic phenomenon has its roots in cost-cutting pressures and places Alaska's environment and a major portion of the West Coast oil supply at significant and needless risk,” he said.
The source of the spill was a quarter-inch hole apparently caused by internal corrosion in the three-mile line that leads to the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.
It's not known when the leak started. It was located deep inside insulation of the transit line in a low-lying section designed to let caribou pass.
To date, workers have recovered 52,920 gallons – or 1,260 barrels – of crude. The effort has been slowed in recent days by wind-chilled temperatures that dipped to more than 70 degrees below zero.
“It's a significant spill. The volume is large, but the footprint is small,” Giguere said. “It's contained and controlled, which is the really good news. Morale is high, despite the cold temperatures and harsh conditions.”
The plant, 650 miles north of Anchorage, usually processes 100,000 barrels of oil daily – slightly less than 10 percent of the daily flow through the 800-mile trans-Alaska pipeline. For now, a six-inch pipeline is being used for production of 5,000 barrels daily.
Production is not expected to resume for at least two weeks, BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said Friday.
For now, the company is working on repairs and two plans to resume production: evaluating the integrity of the entire line and looking at rerouting the crude through another pipeline, Beaudo said.
“We're being prudent to make sure we have options,” he said. “We're covering all the bases.”
Meanwhile, officials on Friday reported another leak on the North Slope, this time in a 24-inch diameter pipeline carrying water with a trace of crude from wells to a processing plant operated by ConocoPhillips in Kuparuk, the slope's second-largest oil field after Prudhoe Bay.
The spill was discovered by a ConocoPhillips operator Thursday afternoon who noticed an icicle forming on the line, said company spokeswoman Dawn Patience. She said the drill site has been shut down, affecting 15 wells.
Neither the cause nor volume of crude spilled in this leak was immediately known, but it was not expected to be as large as the other spill, said DEC spokesman John Dixon.
“I'd be surprised if it even exceeds 500 gallons,” he said.
BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc.: alaska.bp.com/
Unified Command information site: www.dec.state.ak.us
Wow, two whole acres. Another acre and a half and it would be the size of my yard.
It's a part of the feed lines that they haven't been inspecting. Carries crude, some of it sludgy. Really crude crude. The pipelines and plant are 30 years old, which is getting old, so this kind of thing will probably be happening more.
They also don't tell you that the ocean naturally secretes oil.
"this kind of thing will probably be happening more."
It won't be happening when we drill in ANWR, those lines will new, clean and leakproof.
So it appears the leak went undetected exactly because they placed this portion underground or under the snow for the caribou?
Only polluted 2 acres of an industrial area, not that big a deal, plus now we see this is the source of almost 20% of our donmestic oil. Imagine if we truly developed Alaska for oil?
Really not "the oceans" but natural seeps from underlying
oil bearing formations in the ocean floor. There are many off the SoCal coast like at Santa Barbara, CA.
Since the tundra, by definition, is frozen the damage should be nil.
They will feed into existing pipelines. The main pipeline is inspected constantly and does need repair sometimes. The feed lines from ANWR will be new. At the same time there is the new Natural Gas Pipeline nearly ready to begin construction so they will have to work around each other.
End of sarcasm
It was 50 below when they were trying to deal with this, windchill included. At least they have daylight.
Crude oil prices are listed in dollars per BARREL, but oil spill quantities are listed in more numerous and ominous GALLONS. Anyone know why that might be???
You know--this is kind of like when some crazy starts shooting up innocent folks - it kind of puts a crimper on gun rights work...
Well, this oil spill isn't helping the cause of drilling in ANWR....
This facility pumps 100,000 barrels per day. A barrel is 42 gallons. This spill is minor by comparison. The reason they report spills in gallons is for PC impact.
yup, I understand the Alaskan pipeline is wearing out, from corrosion. It probably needs to be replaced.
30 years is beyond the original lifetime design. Prudhoe was supposed to run about 20 years, but it just keeps producing--about half the rate.
They do quite a bit of preventative maintenance on the pipeline. X-ray the welds of interior pipe sections for corrosion that occur with age.
ANS crude is high sulfur and has some acids that must be delt with.
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