Trans-Alaska pipeline operator gets federal OK to restart line after contained spill

Alaska pipeline company OK to restart oil flow

JUNEAU, Alaska — The operator of the trans-Alaska pipeline system said late Friday that it had received federal approval to restart the 800-mile line idled after a contained spill this week.

Michelle Egan, a spokeswoman for Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., characterized the flow of oil as “imminent” Friday afternoon.

Alyeska had been working to address questions and concerns raised by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration. The agency on Thursday issued Alyeska a corrective action order, seeking documentation and other details surrounding its plans to restart and mandating specific steps — including having personnel present 24-7 at the pump station where power was lost — once the line is back up.

Egan said the shutdown became the pipeline’s longest in at least a decade, surpassing the more than 66 hours it was down in November 2002 due to an earthquake.

The line has been down since Tuesday, when Alyeska said a power failure during a planned shutdown allowed several thousand barrels of oil to spill into a partially filled storage tank. The tank, in turn, overflowed into a containment yard.

Alyeska had ordered production levels drastically cut — eventually to 8 percent of normal output — to keep from filling storage facilities before the line could be restarted safely. The company estimated this bought it time until noon Friday, but after that deadline passed, unmet, Egan said there remained a “little margin” and no immediate need to order further cutbacks.

Damon Hill, a spokesman for the pipeline agency, described the corrective action order as routine for these types of incidents.

The letter requires certain actions surrounding the restart and mandates monitoring of and reporting on the spill area after the line is back up. An agency official, in issuing the order, found that a failure to require such steps, in light of factors such as the hazardous nature of oil, the age of the infrastructure and investigations into the cause “would result in likely serious harm to life, property and the environment.”

Both the pipeline agency and the state Department of Environmental Conservation are investigating the cause of the spill.

The trans-Alaska pipeline carries oil from the state’s North Slope to Valdez, where tankers pick it up and deliver it to refineries. Last month, the pipeline moved 645,113 barrels of oil per day, on average. Average crude oil production in the U.S. is about 5.5 million barrels a day.

Tom DeRuyter, an on-scene coordinator for the Department of Environmental Conservation, said the company’s latest estimate for the spill volume was between 4,975 barrels and 5,060 barrels.

The system is owned by a consortium of companies. The largest, with a nearly 47 percent stake, is BP Pipelines (Alaska) Inc. Its parent company, BP PLC, has been dealing with the massive oil slick that resulted when a rig it leased in the Gulf of Mexico exploded last month. BP’s work in Alaska has drawn attention since 2006 when 200,000 gallons of oil spilled at Prudhoe Bay.

The other major owners of the pipeline are subsidiaries of the North Slope’s other main players, Exxon Mobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips.