Cleanup underway after Drift River spill

Cleanup is underway following July crude oil spills discovered at the Drift River Terminal Facility on the west side of Cook Inlet.

In an Aug. 9 update the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Spill Prevention and Response, said a recovery plan was provided by Cook Inlet Pipeline Co., which runs the terminal, and has been accepted by the department. The pipeline company, a subsidiary of Hilcorp Alaska, has hired an environmental contractor to address the contamination discovered July 28. The spill discovered July 2 was primarily contained inside a valve box (14 gallons) with 1 gallon on the ground. The spill discovered July 28 was a stain at the surface of one of the buried 20-inch fill line blind flanges in the pipe corridor between tanks 1 and 4. DEC said the stain area reported by Cook Inlet Pipeline is a triangular surface area 24 feet by 24 feet by 30 feet (see story in Aug. 7 issue of Petroleum News).

The cause of the spill was over pressurization of the 20-inch fill line while emptying two tanks in preparation for internal inspection, the agency said.

The recovery plan includes: Excavation of contaminated soil from the area where the stain was discovered July 28; excavation of oil around buried flanges associated with the 20-inch fill line to visually inspect the flange condition and determine if any leaks were evident at these locations by collection of soil and water samples for lab analysis; and removal of remaining crude oil from the isolated 20-inch fill line.

DEC said remaining oil in the 20-inch line will be removed when a tanker comes in on Aug. 14.

- KRISTEN NELSON