Damaged pig arrives in Valdez

Petroleum News Alaska Staff

Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. said July 7 that an instrumentation pig arrived in Valdez damaged and with a ring of metal wrapped around it. The pig was launched from pump station No. 4 on June 26 and engineers and technicians awaiting the arrival of the data-collecting device discovered the damage and the metal when the pig arrived July 7. Alyeska said engineers confirmed that the metal wrapped around the pig is a check valve seat right probably dislodged as the pig made its pass through the pipeline.

Bill Howitt, an Alyeska senior vice president, mobilized a team to visually inspect each of the 38 check valves between pump station No. 4 and Valdez. “We of course will use other technology to determine if the dislodging of the seat check valve has caused damage to the pipe, but getting crews out there immediately gives us a head start on minimizing any potential harm to the environment,” Howitt said. “We would rather err on the side of safety than sit on the sidelines waiting for information to come to us.”

Alyeska said engineers are working to determine what caused the seat check valve to become displaced, what if any damage has been done internally and externally to the pipe and valve, and what information obtained from the pig may have been lost due to the damage.