BP praised for prompt action on corroded pipeline

Oil production in Alaska has long been a concern for environmental campaigners although companies insist safety and the eco-issues are prioritised above profits.

Following the move by BP to shut down half the production on Alaska’s North Slope after finding severe corrosion in a Prudhoe Bay oil transit line, US politician John Harris, who speaks for Alaska in the House of Representatives, praised BP for taking immediate action.

“This state cannot afford to have another Exxon Valdez,” he said.

The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 was the largest in US history.

Some 11 million gallons of crude oil were emptied into Prince William Sound, near Anchorage, killing hundreds of thousands of birds and marine animals and soiling more than 1,900km of rocky beach in the nation’s largest oil spill.

An estimated 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 killer whales and an unknown number of salmon and herring were killed following the spill and Exxon was ordered to pay $6.75bn (€5.2bn) in damages and interest.

Earlier this year, BP came under fire following an oil spill in which up to 270,000 gallons of crude leaked into Prudhoe Bay. The oil giant faces a criminal investigation and environmentalists said the spill was “a catastrophe for the environment”.

Despite the obvious impact such disasters have on the environment, Republicans wish to drill for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) believing it offers an alternative and invaluable source of energy to the Middle East.

But campaigners are urging US lawmakers to shelve the project, warning oil exploration would harm a pristine wilderness and endanger a key habitat for migratory birds, polar bears and other animals.