Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. will pay a $600,000 civil penalty as part of a “compromise agreement” to resolve several pipeline safety enforcement actions dating back to 2006.

The operator of the 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline signed the deal with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration on Nov. 15.

The seven-page agreement covers four enforcement cases PHMSA brought against Alyeska in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Alyeska had been facing total fines of $1,293,800 in the four cases.

Aside from paying the $600,000 civil penalty, Alyeska under the settlement must “develop and implement a risk-based atmospheric corrosion control program for TAPS,” the trans-Alaska pipeline system.

As part of the deal, Alyeska agreed to drop a federal lawsuit it filed against PHMSA in 2010.

“We worked with PHMSA for several months to reach agreement,” Alyeska spokeswoman Michelle Egan told Petroleum News. She said the deal closes “all open matters” with the agency.

—Wesley Loy

See full story in Nov. 27 issue, available online at 11 a.m., Friday, Nov. 25 at www.PetroleumNews.com