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  BBC 11 Mar 06
Alaska hit by 'massive' oil spill

PlanetArk 13 Mar 06
Alaska's North Slope Sees its Biggest Oil Spill
Story by Yereth Rosen

ANCHORAGE - Alaska officials said on Friday that up to 267,000 gallons (6,357 barrels) of crude oil poured out of a pipeline at the Prudhoe Bay field, making it the largest oil spill ever recorded on the state's North Slope.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation estimated that a minimum of 201,000 gallons (4,785 barrels) spilled at Prudhoe Bay, the largest US oil field. The spilled oil spread over 1.9 acres of snow-covered tundra and the environmental impact remains unknown, according to Leslie Pearson, on-scene coordinator for the Department of Environmental Conservation.

The spill was discovered on March 2 on the west side of Prudhoe Bay by a worker for field operator BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. Officials expect the cleanup to take four to six weeks. So far, 52,920 gallons (1,260 barrels) of oil had been recovered, according to a news release issued by the state, federal and BP's joint emergency response team.

"Although it is a significant spill and it is a large volume, the footprint, being just under two acres, is small," said Pearson.

Alaska's biggest oil spill was the 11 million-gallon Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989. Crude oil from the grounded Exxon tanker spread to 1,300 miles (2,092 kilometres) of coastline, including sites in the Chugach National Forest and in three national park units.

The Prudhoe Bay spill forced BP to shut down operations at a gathering center, a facility that separates pumped oil from water and natural gas, and at the approximately 230 wells that feed into it. The shutdown caused BP to lose about 100,000 barrels of daily production, although the company has been able to divert production of about 5,000 of those barrels through a different pipeline, BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said. The Prudhoe Bay field normally produces about 470,000 barrels a day, a little more than half of all North Slope oil output. Other major owners of the field unit are ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil.

"Knowing the impact area and getting it cleaned up, to us, is in a sense the most important thing," said Beaudo, who added that restarting production is less of a priority.

Officials suspect corrosion created a quarter-inch hole in the transit line and the ensuing leak, even though BP said the area of the breach was not registered as vulnerable as part of the company's corrosion-monitoring program.

Opponents of Arctic National Wildlife Refuge oil development said the Prudhoe Bay spill weakens claims that drilling and other operations could be conducted safely. "By nature, the oil industry is a messy business," said Luci Beach, executive director of the Gwich'in Steering Committee, a group of Athabascan Indians opposed to oil development in the refuge.

Beach, who was in Washington, D.C., to campaign against Congressional attempts to allow drilling in the refuge, said she often encounters arguments that modern oil-field technology has eliminated environmental risks.

"Look at this huge spill. It kind of takes the air out of that argument," she said.

BBC 11 Mar 06
Alaska hit by 'massive' oil spill

An oil spill discovered at Prudhoe Bay field is the largest ever on Alaska's North Slope region, US officials say. They estimate that up to 267,000 gallons (one million litres) of crude leaked from a corroded transit pipeline at the state's northern tip. The spill was detected on 2 March and plugged.

Local environmentalists have described it as "a catastrophe".

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez shipping disaster spilled 11m gallons (42m litres) of oil onto the Alaskan coast.

'Painful reminder'

"I can confirm it's the largest spill of crude oil on the North Slope that we have record of," Linda Giguere, from Alaska's state department of environmental conservation, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency. The estimate is based on a survey conducted several days ago at the site where the leak was discovered, officials say. The spill covers about two acres (one hectare) of the snow-covered tundra in the sparsely populated region on Alaska's north coast, some 1,040km (650 miles) north of the state's biggest city, Anchorage.

The source of the spill was a hole caused by internal corrosion in the pipeline, officials say. It remains unclear when the leak started.

Environmentalists from Alaska Wilderness League said the spill was "a catastrophe for the environment". They said it was "a painful reminder of the reality of unchecked oil and gas development across Alaska's North Slope".

They also urged lawmakers to shelve a Republican-led project to allow drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Supporters of drilling in Alaska say it offers an alternative source of energy to the Middle East and so would improve national security.

Opponents warn oil exploration would harm a pristine wilderness and endanger a key habitat for migratory birds, polar bears, caribou and other animals.

1989 disaster

Alaska's worst-ever oil spill happened on 24 March 1989. The Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound, near Anchorage, contaminating around 1,300 miles (2,080km) of coastline. Its captain, Joseph Hazelwood, admitted drinking vodka before boarding the vessel, but was subsequently acquitted of operating a ship while intoxicated. The spill killed an estimated 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 Orca or killer whales, and an unknown number of salmon and herring.

In 2004, a federal judge in Alaska ordered Exxon to pay $6.75bn (£3.9bn) in damages and interest in relation to the spill.
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