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May 2013

Vol. 18, No. 18 Week of May 05, 2013

Regulators scrutinize Alyeska Pipeline

Operator of trans-Alaska oil line gains passing marks on control room operation, efforts to safeguard piping at Valdez terminal

Wesley Loy

For Petroleum News

Federal pipeline regulators recently conducted an “audit” of the primary control room for the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, and apparently things checked out OK.

“We received an email stating there would be no violations cited as a result of the audit,” said Michelle Egan, spokeswoman for Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.

Alyeska is the Anchorage-based oil company consortium that runs the 800-mile pipeline and the tanker terminal at Valdez.

Since 2007, the company has operated the pipeline from a control center on Government Hill in Anchorage. Previously, the pipeline was controlled from Valdez.

The Alyeska audit was part of a nationwide series of control room audits following changes in regulations, Egan said.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration conducted the audit.

Alyeska’s president, Thomas Barrett, formerly was PHMSA administrator.

Regulators are concerned with a range of control room issues, from operator qualifications to shift schedules to fatigue management, Egan said.

PHMSA maintains a website on control room management at primis.phmsa.dot.gov/crm.

Marine terminal piping

Recently, Alyeska has received positive feedback from other regulators regarding its efforts to ensure the integrity of piping at the Valdez Marine Terminal.

The terminal is a sprawling complex of enormous oil storage tanks and piers where tankers load. The terminal includes extensive piping, much of which is either buried or shrouded in insulation, making inspection difficult.

In 2012, a consultant for the Prince William Sound Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council, which watches over terminal and tanker operations, conducted a corrosion survey of the terminal and urged improved piping inspections.

Federal correspondence reviewed by Petroleum News indicates regulators, after a briefing from Alyeska, determined the company has a plan for 2013 that, if completed, would be “a compelling and a positive effort to maintain the VMT piping systems.”

That statement was on the letterhead of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Branch of Pipeline Monitoring. The briefing group also included representatives from the U.S. Coast Guard, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and PHMSA.

Lines over water

BLM officials, however, asked Alyeska for “clarification on the frequency of inspection for VMT facility piping over or adjacent to water.”

The citizens’ council consultant, Dr. Rust Inc. of Cape Canaveral, Fla., focused in part on the potential threat of corrosion found in pipes extending over water, saying Alyeska had not embraced the best management practice of annual inspections of overwater piping.

In a March 15 letter replying to the BLM, Alyeska’s director of regulatory affairs, Joseph Robertson, noted that none of the VMT’s offshore piping is under DOT jurisdiction. Rather, it is regulated by the DEC.

“Alyeska recognizes the importance of ensuring the continued integrity and operational safety of our piping systems, especially those in highly sensitive areas such as over and adjacent to navigable waterways,” Robertson wrote.

“Although the offshore piping at VMT is not under DOT jurisdiction, Alyeska is treating it as such and intends to inspect it yearly,” he continued. “Of course this does not mean that every inch of piping is inspected every year.”

Alyeska will use a risk-based program to help prioritize inspections, Robertson said.

In an April 26 letter to the citizens’ council, the Coast Guard’s commanding officer at Valdez, Benjamin J. Hawkins, addressed the Dr. Rust report.

“While we share concerns regarding the integrity and condition of overwater sections of crude oil piping, the VMT has demonstrated a commitment and an intent to exceed that which is required by regulation,” Hawkins wrote. “We look forward to the results of their work in 2013 to inspect the girth welds, and we expect that it will further inform the discussion as to the condition of the piping.”






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