trans alaska pipeline pump station 01 crude oil spill alyeska... · 2012-02-08 · trans alaska...

www.oscreadiness.org

15th Annual OSC Readiness Training Program

Trans Alaska Pipeline Pump Station 01 Crude Oil Spill

Earl Liverman, Region 10

15th Annual OSC Readiness Training Program www.oscreadiness.org 1

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


Deadhorse, Alaska


Pump Station (PS01)


PS01 - Location of Leak


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 of 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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


Issue No. 4 – Restart TAPS(continued)

• Avoid stuck “cleaning pigs”


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


Incident Challenges/Observations


EPA HQ/Region insatiable appetite for information


Leaning Forward


Worldwide Interest


Information Sharing


Preparedness


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


Questions?

trans alaska pipeline pump station 01 crude oil spill alyeska... · 2012-02-08 · trans alaska...

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