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State report: North Pole refinery
has too many spills First comprehensive review shows an average of more than 10 spills a year since operations began in 1977 by The Associated Press
The North Pole refinery owned by Williams Alaska Petroleum has had too many spills in its more than two decades of operation, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation.
In its first comprehensive look at the refinery’s spills, the state says the refinery has had 258 spills of jet fuel, gas, and crude totaling 243,306 gallons, the equivalent of about 11 railroad tanker cars.
The number of spills has averaged just under 11 per year since the refinery opened in 1977, though from 1990 to 1999 the refinery averaged just over 14 per year, according to the report.
It said pipe corrosion or mechanical failure are the top reasons for spills.
“The fact is there are a lot of spills,” said Ed Meggert with the DEC’s northern region spill response unit.
The environmental agency’s findings do not mean Williams has been negligent in managing the refinery, Meggert said.
“I think Williams is trying to be a good corporate citizen,” Meggert said. “It’s our job to help them do it.”
Williams officials don’t dispute the amount. They say safety is a company priority and point to several measures initiated to clean up and prevent spills.
“We are constantly evaluating how to do things better,” said Kathleen McCullom, the refinery’s manager of environmental affairs.
The spills represent about .003 percent of the 8 billion gallons the refinery has produced since 1977, she said. About 20 acres contaminated The refinery taps into the trans-Alaska pipeline and daily processes 9 million gallons of crude. About 40 percent of that is turned into jet fuel, gasoline, heating oil, asphalt and other petroleum products. The rest is returned to the pipeline.
Amanda Stark, a state spill response specialist who authored the report, said much of a spill is cleaned up at the time it happens. But she also said some of the Williams spills are difficult to clean because pipes and refinery infrastructure make them hard to reach.
The spills make up about 20 acres of contaminated soil and ground water that lie beneath the 80-acre refinery site, according to a 2000 Williams-commissioned report on file at DEC.
Williams’ refinery and Tesoro Alaska’s Kenai refinery are the largest of the four refineries in the state. The North Pole refinery was first owned by Earth Resources Co. of Alaska, which sold it to MAPCO Alaska Petroleum in 1981. Williams acquired the refinery in 1997.
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