ConocoPhillips cleaning up Kuparuk spill

Dozens of emergency responders worked in dangerous cold Dec. 17 to clean up an oil and water spill in the Kuparuk oil field on the North Slope.

Field workers discovered the spill, estimated at 102 barrels or 4,284 gallons, early Dec. 16 after hearing a whistling sound the liquid made as it leaked from a pressurized pipeline, state pollution regulators said.

Investigators found a 6-inch rupture in the pipe, which is 24 inches in diameter and carries a mix of crude oil, water and natural gas from oil wells, state officials said.

External corrosion caused by water collecting underneath the insulation wrapped around the steel pipe is believed to be the cause of the leak, said Natalie Knox Lowman, spokeswoman for ConocoPhillips, the company that runs Kuparuk.

The leak has forced the shutdown of three drill sites that produce 12,000 barrels of oil per day, or about 8 percent of Kuparuk’s recent average output, Lowman said.

Kuparuk is Alaska’s second-largest oil field. ConocoPhillips runs it on behalf of itself and its co-owners, BP, Chevron and ExxonMobil.

About 50 emergency responders were cleaning up the spill in minus-15-degree weather. They planned to use vacuum trucks, hand shovels and warm water to flush and clean up the spill, which covered an area of tundra the size of a small ranch house, state officials and Lowman said.

Part of the cleanup will involve building an ice road about the length of three football fields to better access the spill area, officials with the state Department of Environmental Conservation said. Such a road will minimize harm to the tundra, which is covered with 6 inches of snow.

Corrosion is an ever-present threat in the North Slope oil fields. The neighboring Prudhoe Bay field in particular has had problems in recent years, including major pipeline spills and shutdowns last year that resulted in recent federal criminal penalties against BP, the company that runs Prudhoe.

—Wesley Loy, Anchorage Daily News