|
Spills reported at Prudhoe, Kuparuk
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is monitoring cleanup of recent spills in the state’s two largest oil fields, Prudhoe Bay and Kuparuk River.
On May 21, crude oil overflowed from a tank at the Flow Station 2 processing facility on Prudhoe’s east side.
Field operator BP estimated the spill volume at 4,200 gallons of crude and some produced water, DEC said.
The spill went into a secondary containment area.
A May 22 situation report from DEC listed the cause of the spill as a “failure of process instrumentation and valves used to control the fluid level in tank 1984 during processing.”
BP spokesman Steve Rinehart told Petroleum News on May 23: “No one was hurt, there was no environmental damage and no impact on production. The overfill fluids were collected and held in a designated containment area, which has an impermeable liner. I expect vacuum trucks to begin cleaning it up soon, if they have not already.”
Kuparuk spill On April 21, an estimated 710 gallons of slightly oily produced water released from a line supplying artificial lift fluid to a production well at drill site 1J in the ConocoPhillips-operated Kuparuk field, DEC said.
“A flow meter failed as produced water injection came back on-line following pigging operations,” an April 23 DEC situation report said.
A ConocoPhillips employee “witnessed the meter failure and was able to shut in the safety valve system and manual block valves to obtain source control within 5 minutes,” DEC said.
The spill affected a gravel pad, with no damage to tundra, the agency said.
Response workers vacuumed the fluids and removed saturated snow and ice. ConocoPhillips replaced the meter and brought the well back online.
DEC said it would review plans for cleanup of contaminated soils.
—Wesley Loy
| 