Trans Alaska Pipeline Pump Station 01 Crude Oil Spill Earl - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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15th Annual OSC Readiness Training Program

Trans Alaska Pipeline Pump Station 01 Crude Oil Spill

Earl Liverman, Region 10

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Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS)

• Began service in 1977
• 800 miles in length; 48 inches

in diameter

• Transports average of

600,000 barrels of oil per day; 15% of Nation’s domestic oil production

• Operated by Alaska Pipeline

Service Company (APSC) and used by BP, ConocoPhillips, and ExxonMobil

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Deadhorse, Alaska

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Pump Station (PS01)

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PS01 - Location of Leak

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Incident Overview

• North Slope oil flows into PS01 before flowing through TAPS to the

Valdez Loading Facility.

• On 8 January 2011, a leak was detected in the Booster Pump

Building basement at PS01; TAPS was shut down within one hour

• f discovery of leak.
• Unified command was established and consisted of EPA, BLM,

Alaska Department of Environmental of Environmental Conservation, and APSC.

• A Joint Information Center was

also established consisting of EPA, ADEC, and APSC

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Incident Overview

(continued)

• The leak was confined to PS01 – specifically the Booster Pump

Building basement.

• R10 EPA and START contractor personnel respond from

Anchorage, Coeur d’Alene, Portland, and Seattle; arrived Fairbanks night of the incident and day after; FEOC staffed 24/7

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Incident Overview

(continued)

• Under interim Re-Start Plan, TAPS flow resumed on 11

January 2011

• TAPS is shut down again on 15 January 2011 to install

temporary bypass around the leaking segment of pipeline

• TAPS resumes normal operations on 17 January 2011

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Response Issues

• Issue No. 1: Control and

Contain the Discharge

• Issue No. 2: Contamination

Assessment

• Issue No. 3 Temporary

Pipeline Bypasses

• Issue No. 4: Restart TAPS

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Issue No. 1- Control and Contain the Discharge

• Discharge occurred in a “dead head” to a booster pump in an

inaccessible concrete vault which exacerbated corrosion potential

• An 800-gallon containment vault was constructed to contain

the oil

• On-site vacuum trucks recovered about 317 barrels of oil

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Issue No. 2 - Contamination Assessment

• Frequent perimeter

reconnaissance in vicinity of Booster Pump Building

• Installation of three boreholes
• Frequent inspection of pre-

existing sumps and boreholes

• No surface or subsurface

evidence of oil contamination

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Issue No. 3 – Temporary Pipeline Bypass

• Immediate repair of

leaking pipeline not possible

• Constructed a 24-inch,

157-foot temporary aboveground bypass

• Bypass pipeline was

built in Fairbanks and shipped to North Slope in nine segments

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Issue No. 4 – Restart TAPS

• Limited crude oil storage capacity on the North Slope; two bulk

storage tanks at PS01

• APSC limited producers to 5% normal production rate because

TAPS was shut down and limited storage capacity

• TAPS low flow concerns

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Issue No. 4 – Restart TAPS

(continued)

• Avoid stuck “cleaning pigs”

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2nd Bypass Line

• Section of pipe at Pump Station 8 where a

pig was trapped and the bypass line through which oil is being diverted around it

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Incident Challenges/Observations

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EPA HQ/Region insatiable appetite for information

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Leaning Forward

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Worldwide Interest

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Information Sharing

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Preparedness

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CWA 311(c) & (e) Unilateral Administrative Order for Removal Activities

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Questions?