Whistleblowers, tread carefully.

Article raises suspicions about Alyeska official being let go
Joy Mapaye, ktuu.com, 17-Sep-2005
WSJ article questions Alyeska firing
webcenter11.com, 19-Sep-2005

Joy Mapaye
ktuu.com
Saturday, September 17, 2005

Article raises suspicions about Alyeska official being let go

Anchorage, Alaska - Was Alyeska Pipeline Service Company’s number two executive fired because of his warnings about the pipeline? A Wall Street Journal article Saturday raised the question, and a long-time critic says that's exactly what happened.

The Wall Street Journal says last month, the former chief operating officer of the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, Dan Hisey, warned of 101 risks in the oil pipeline's integrity. The article says in an Aug. 16 memo, Hisey warned a consortium of the pipeline's owners that a plan to fully automate the line will be in trouble because of lack of staff, delayed maintenance, insufficient funding and other problems.

These are all issues that have been discussed in the past, but one critic says what's significant about this is that Hisey was the number two executive at APSC and he is intimately familiar with operations. The article goes on to say that one week after Hisey sent the memo out, he was told his position had been eliminated.

The Wall Street Journal quotes APSC officials as saying Hisey's job was eliminated as part of a restructuring and was unrelated to the memo. However, long time oil-industry critic Chuck Hamel says this is exactly why Hisey was fired. Hamel says with chief executive David Wight retiring, Hisey saw an opportunity.

“He's going to be the fall guy, so he realized that with Mr. Wright leaving, he can approach the owners and say, 'Look, here's what the problems are.' Hoping that they would agree, they would together fix it with money, and instead he got fired,” said Hamel (right).

The article also mentioned that in the memo Hisey (below) wrote about replacing a leaking valve, Check Valve 109, near the Klutina River. Experts say a failed valve in this area could trigger an oil spill.

“I think the oil companies should be proper with the people of Alaska and release that document to everybody,” said Hamel.

Chuck Hamel says it's likely the Wall Street Journal will continue to look at this story. Hamel has since written a memo to U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici and Alaska Gov. Frank Murkowski, asking them to improve oversight of the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company owners.

KTUU-TV did attempt to contact APSC for comment, but officials did not return the calls.

The governor's press secretary, Becky Hultberg, says they have not had the opportunity to review Hamel's letter. She says the same thing goes for the Wall Street Journal article. So at this point, she says, they have no comment until they get a chance to review the documents in question.

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webcenter11.com
September 19, 2005

(September 19, 2005) An article appearing in the Wall Street Journal is calling a firing at Alyeska into question.

Alaska Pipeline COO Dan Hisey wrote a memo that warned of 101 risks in the pipeline's integrity.

The article says Hisey warned the pipeline's owners that the plan to fully automate will be in trouble because of lack of staff, delayed maintenance, insufficient funding and other problems.

The pipeline is currently undergoing a $250 million dollar upgrade, called the strategic reconfiguration project.

However, one week after Hisey sent the memo out, he was told his position had been eliminated. Alyeska officials say Hisey's job was eliminated as part of a restructuring and was unrelated to his memo.

Alyeska is reviewing the merits of the recommendations contain in the memo from Hisey. A spokesman for the pipeline company says they are taking the actions necessary to keep the line safe and efficient.

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