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Prudhoe spill maybe 100 gallons of oil
Using an assessment of the amount of liquid likely to have been in the well bore and its surface flow line at the time that the line ruptured in the Prudhoe Bay drill site six oil spill incident on Dec. 21, BP has now estimated that 300 to 700 gallons of liquid were released, according to a situation report that the unified command for the response to the spill issued Dec. 29.
Of the total volume of liquids released, as much as 100 gallons may have been crude oil, taking into account the likely amount of produced water mixed with the oil and the fact that BP had injected 135 gallons of corrosion inhibitor into the well head prior to the incident, BP said. The well had been shut-in for 58 hours prior to the pipeline rupture, BP said.
About six acres impacted According to the situation report, the spill impacted a total area of about six acres, with earlier reports saying that varying levels of oil misting had contaminated the snow on part of the drill site, the adjacent tundra and part of the drill-site reserve pit. Response crews have now removed about 386 cubic yards of contaminated snow, including all of the contaminated snow on the tundra. Responders are using a skid-steer loader to remove snow from the more heavily contaminated region adjacent the well house. Contaminated material is being stockpiled, ready to be moved to a temporary staging area.
The cause of the pipeline rupture is not yet known.
—Alan Bailey
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