Alaska to fine BP for pipeline spill

Fuel giant BP could face a fine of more than £1.2m (€1.7m) over a pipeline spill in Alaska, environmental watchdogs said today.

An investigation by BP and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation into the spill in the Prudhoe Bay oil field has not finished, but ADEC commissioner Kurt Fredriksson said the state would be pursuing penalties and fines against BP Exploration (Alaska), which operates the oil field.

A pipeline between two gathering centres leaked between 130,000 and 270,000 gallons of crude over an estimated five-day period before it was discovered on March 2.

Gathering centres separate oil from water and other materials that come out of the ground during drilling before shipping the oil down the main trans-Alaska pipeline.

The potential fine is $8 (€6.50) per gallon spilled, but there are other factors that could change that amount, said Larry Dietrick, ADEC director of spill prevention and response.

Fredriksson said regulators believed the corrosion that caused the leak was an isolated incident.

A contributing factor to the corrosion is believed to be a chemical put into that section of the line by an emulsion breaker.

Lori Epstein, senior engineer for pollution watchdog group Cook Inlet Keeper, said the chemical reaction caused by the emulsion breaker should have been anticipated beforehand by BP.

“Not having done that, I think the state has to look at whether they were in compliance with all the corrosion-prevention protocol they needed to be,” Epstein said.

“If this mistake in this one line caused increased corrosion, what about the downstream line?”

BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said the company was still inspecting the line that leaked and was digging up other portions of the line that were buried at caribou crossings to see if corrosion escaped detection there, too.

A bypass line has started operating and is now producing about 45,000 barrels per day. The usual daily production from the line had been about 100,000 barrels per day, Beaudo said.

He said the clean-up of the spill had progressed well.

“We’ll be out there as long as it takes to clean it up as thoroughly as we can,” Beaudo said.