Feds to permit delayed testing of Prudhoe Bay transit lines

COMMENT:The fact that this much sediment has built up in the lines is indictment enough of BP's negligence with inspection of the pipelines.

By MATT VOLZ
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
Seattle Post Intelligencer
July 6, 2006

JUNEAU, Alaska -- Too much sediment had built up inside two Prudhoe Bay transit pipelines for BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. to safely run sensors to detect corrosion levels within an ordered timeline, the head of the federal agency demanding the tests said Friday.

The head of the the U.S. Transportation Department's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration says he will permit a delay of the tests for an undetermined length of time.

"We would not allow it to continue to operate if we didn't think it was safe," said Administrator Thomas Barrett. "In the long term, it's not a good solution. We've got to get the sensors through there."

The agency in March ordered that three low-pressure transit pipelines in Prudhoe Bay be inspected with an internal sensing device known as a "smart pig" within three months, putting the deadline at June 15.

The order came as a result of the largest oil spill in North Slope history, in which an estimated 201,000 gallons of oil and liquids leaked over several days and was not discovered until March 2.

BP, which operates the nation's largest oil field, last month asked to postpone the tests; the request was denied.

One of the three transit lines was cleaned with an internal scraper pig last month and then inspected with the smart pig, in compliance with the order. But the other two lines, one containing the source of the leak and which is not operational, hold too many accumulated solids to run the scraper pig so the smart pig can get through.

The danger is that the scraper pig could push high levels of sediment into the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System downstream of the transit lines, possibly affecting the operations of Prudhoe Bay and the main pipeline.

Complicating the cleaning and testing of the line that leaked is a federal Justice Department subpoena requiring BP remove a 6-foot section of the pipeline intact.

"We are trying to work through that," BP spokesman Daren Beaudo said.

A federal grand jury is investigating the spill.

Barrett was in Anchorage and Prudhoe Bay this week to inspect the oil field's pipeline system and meet with BP officials about the agency's safety orders.

He would not address whether the accumulated gunk in the pipelines was the result of a negligent or ineffective maintenance system, saying he did not want to impede the Justice Department investigation.

The agency's orders to inject more corrosion inhibitor into the pipelines and conduct multiple external testing along the line still stand, Barrett said.

Beaudo said the company's inspection and monitoring programs met all regulatory requirements before the spill.

"In hindsight, we would have liked to have had a more aggressive" program, he said.