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BP has spill at H pad; oil contained on snow surface
Kristen Nelson, PNA editor-in-chief
The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Spill Prevention and Response, said April 18 that BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. reported a spill at well 21 at H pad in the western operating area at Prudhoe Bay.
The spill, estimated at 63 gallons of brine and 21 gallons of crude oil, occurred when a well line on the H-21 well ruptured following an unexpected shutdown at Gathering Center 2 which occurred during maintenance work.
DEC said all GC-2 well pads shut down as designed after the facility shutdown, causing wells that were flowing into GC-2 to reach their static shutdown pressures.
BP spokesman Ronnie Chappell told PNA April 22 that “all of the safety systems worked exactly as they were supposed to.”
The occasion of the break was the well shutdown caused by the CG-2 shutdown, but this break, Chappell said, occurred because of corrosion and could have been triggered by a planned well shutdown.
Western operating area wells have injectors on them through which we inject corrosion inhibitor to protect this piping, he said.
“This particular well was one of a handful that had the injector lower on the S riser than it is on most wells and the well line failed above the injection point.”
Chappell said BP will be moving the injection point on that well and on about two dozen others in the western operating area. Oil on snow surface DEC said the automatic shut-in valve on well 21 activated after the release and stopped the flow of oil.
The oil is contained on the snow surface, DEC said, allowing for easy recovery operations. Seventy cubic yards of contaminated snow had been removed April 18 and the well house was to be dismantled and removed to a wash bay for cleaning and the well head and pipeline cleaned by hand, DEC said.
Both the well house and the well head were damaged in the release.
DEC said cleanup continues and an investigation team has been assembled to determine the root cause of the release.
High winds spread the aerosol type release over the gravel pad and tundra and approximately 1.5 acres in the vicinity of the well house were lightly oiled, while a larger area was contaminated with sporadic traces of oil. Contaminated snow is being melted for reinjection.
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