|
Alyeska planning safety review on TAPS Operator of the 800-mile pipeline looking at valves, pumps and leak detection, spurred by request from Sen. Lisa Murkowski Eric Lidji For Petroleum News
As scrutiny increases in the wake of operational issues, Sen. Lisa Murkowski wants the operator of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline immediately review the safety of the line.
Following a July 26 meeting, Murkowski said Kevin Hostler, the out-going president of Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., the consortium that runs the pipeline, agreed to “conduct an immediate review of safety and maintenance risks and procedures for the oil pipeline.
Murkowski specifically listed several areas up for review:
• The remote gate valves, which isolate segments of the 800-mile pipeline to limit spills;
• The capacity of pump station relief tanks capacity;
• The system to monitor pipeline pressures;
• The reliability of pipeline control systems;
• Leak detections along the pipeline; and
• Power generation, distribution and backup.
Hostler is retiring from the company in September.
An Alyeska spokesperson told the Associated Press that a third party would conduct the review, which Alyeska had been planning since a shutdown of the pipeline in May.
Oil did not hit the ground Many of those issues directly relate to a May incident where a power outage triggered a relief valve that lead to a tank overflowing, eventually shutting down the entire pipeline.
Although it occurred in the spring, the event has gained attention in recent weeks as the subject of a congressional hearing and national news reports, and drawing criticism from Rep. David Guttenberg, a Fairbanks Democrat who once worked for Alyeska.
But contrary to reports from national news outlets and a congressional subcommittee, the pipeline did not spill 5,000 barrels of oil onto the ground near Delta Junction, but rather into a lined pit designed as a back-up system for overflows. Such an overflow occurred on May 25, as Alyeska crews performed scheduled maintenance at Pump Station 9.
During a test of the fire systems, the power went out, triggering a relief valve that sent oil into an overflow tank. Because power was out at the pump station, the command center in Anchorage couldn’t see the tank filling up, and didn’t see it eventually overflow.
As CNN reported on July 26, “about 5,000 barrels then leaked onto the ground nearby.” The House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, under the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, made similar claims at a July 15 hearing.
However, the oil didn’t overflow onto unprotected ground, but rather into “secondary containment,” a lined pit designed for such an event, filled with gravel and surrounded by berms, according to Tom DeRuyter, of the Department of Environmental Conservation, and a member of the state response team that filed five situation reports on the incident.
After excavating the gravel, DEC and Alyeska found rips in the lining, but DeRuyter said their investigation hasn’t yet determined whether those rips existed before the oil overflowed into the pit, or were caused by the excavating equipment removing the gravel.
The oil that overflowed into the pit was recovered within a week, but recovering the oil entrained in the gravel took longer, requiring a sump pump and a drainage system. “We’ll put out a final sit rep once we have a good volume estimation on the amount released,” DeRuyter said. That report should tell how much oil got through the holes into the soil.
| 