whistleblowers estimates 800,000 gallons in spill

[auracat]

march 3rd, an oil spill was discovered on alaska's north slope and 36 hours later the leak was found.
BP has been tightlipped about the spill, and the state has stepped in to try to get more accurate estimates.
as of today, BP admits at least 21,000 gallons have spilled, and the cleanup continues.

however, whistleblowers who have access to meters which monitor flow into and out of the pipeline, say the meters show there are about 800,000 gallons missing, which will make it the second largest spill in alaska.

the spill is at prudhoe bay, near pump station 1, between a (frozen) lake and a caribou crossing, and on larger scale, between the national petroleum reserve-alaska, and the arctic national wildlife refuge (anwr), near barrow and the sea.

the story is being partially supressed, you probably won't find it on your normal news, if you have a blog, or access to media, please push this story. it will be useful in trying to stop the next attempt to drill anwr.
thanks

<http://www.adn.com/money/story/7510267p-7421918c.html>
<http://www.spinwatch.org/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=267>
<http://www.dec.state.ak.us/spar/perp/response/sum_fy06/060302301/060302301_index.htm>

[MadMaddie]

1. I guess the * cabal will prosecute this whistleblower...

for divulging national secrets....(well they will make the law and then they will prosecute)

[auracat]

2. well,

well, alyeska does try to stop moles, but there are some very brave and dedicated people willing to take risks here. they make the effort to get the info out, it's up to us to make sure it gets to the public.

[MadMaddie]

3. Agreed...

I keep asking myself when did the good, honest truth telling people in America become the enemy!! Careers ruined, lifes ruined...by the * Cabal....all for greed and power....

You are right we do have to help these good people.....

[Skink]

4. That's probably more than is in the wild life refuge.

[OKNancy]

5. auracat, Please change the subject line

of your post to:

Slope oil spill likely to keep growing


From LBN rules pinned at the top of this forum
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x87249

4. When posting articles, always use the published title of the article as the title of the discussion thread. Additional information may be included in a thread title (in parentheses) if it helps to make the title more clear.


Thank You
OKNancy
LBN moderator

[auracat]

8. perhaps this?

dear oknancy,

my purpose in posting is to give information from the whistleblowers.
obviously, there's not going to be a headline news story with the true and correct information about what's happening, which is why i used other stories as a lead-in. i'm not sure what to do in a case like this and still abide by the rules.

this article <http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11696601/> does mention the 'controversy',

"The amount spilled is far greater than BP and government officials are saying, according to oil industry critic Chuck Hamel. Hamel, of Alexandria, Va., said he learned from onsite personnel that the spill volume is closer to 798,000 gallons, which would make it the second largest oil spill in Alaska, second only to the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill of 11 million gallons in Prince William Sound.

Hamel said meters record the volume flowing into the pipe as well as the amount leaving it.

"There's a 798,000 gallon discrepancy," he said in a phone interview. He declined to provide documentation of the discrepancy, however."

i hope this helps.

~auracat

[tridim]

6. Not to mention the massive spills in the Gulf

due to Katrina that were mentioned the day they happened and then completely ignored.

[KoKo]

9. Yep...not a word about environmental impact on the Gulf...Shrimping

crawfish, all those other fish that supported our restaurants. I guess most of it's coming from the "fish farms" in Thailand these days...Who would know the difference.. Unless you had tasted Gulf Shrip pre-building boom days.

[auracat]

10. yes,

i was logging the communications during those awful days.
i first heard them mention a spill early on.
later, i heard some people 'discover' the spill again.
that made me so angry, if i'd had a way to get the info about that out, they would not have had to 'discover' the spill again and again.

and,
it seems oil was not the only thing that spilled.

[cyberpj]

7. K&R. Can't some conscientious Dem senator demand info?!? WTF? nt

[TX-RAT]

11. Good thing the soils frozen, will make it easier to clean up

Hope it was all crude, with no salt water. Would be far more damaging with high concentrate of salt water.

[auracat]

12. it was finished crude

and ya, temps w/ chill around -50 or colder, -65.
good thing this didn't happen mid-feb, when barrow had record high of 30 above, and record winds of 70mph.

[TX-RAT]

14. Good, shouldn't take much to clean up.

My place has 22 wells on it, all drilled before 1970. There are oil spills all over the place. Most are in the 15 to 30 barrel range ( 42 gallons = 1 barrel) most just soak in and it takes about a year for them to clear up, 3 years to completely dissipate. The salt water is what really does the long term damage, kills the soil completely for 20 to 40 years. I've got 2 salt scalds on my place that are over 25 years old, and their still dead.

[seafan]

13. Gulf of Mexico 3 million gallon/$35 Million cleanup post Katrina:

This story was buried, never to see the light of day. Except for here at DU, of course.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x242968#243152
So did you hear about the oil spill in the gulf?

[WhiteTara]

15. this is important news

I hope that it is widely disseminated.

[auracat]

16. 9:22pm update

workers have recovered more than 56,000 gallons, or 1,335 barrels, of crude oil and snowmelt.
BP spokesmen now say that the material recovered will be mostly oil.
BP still denies that they know how much has spilled, despite the fact that there are meters which monitor oil going into and out of the pipeline, to the gallon.

sixty spill responders are involved in the round-the-clock clean-up effort. mats have been laid to protect the delicate tundra from the heavy equipment, oil pumps and vacuum trucks.

the spill now covers about two acres, although i am not sure yet how deep: i should have those numbers by sometime tomorrow.

BP does admit that it's possible this leak was a slow leak, which developed over time due to internal corrosion.
that would seem to indicate that the leaked oil, which ran under the snow, has had plenty of time to sit on tundra and seep into nearby lake before the leak was 'discovered'.

[auracat]

17. 9:15 pm update mar. 8

clean up slows to a crawl as bitter cold and heavy windchill require workers to make frequent visits to warm up area. 58,590 gallons -- or 1,395 barrels - have been recovered so far, with just over 2,500 recovered in the last 24 hours.

no word yet on 'actual' amounts spilled, it's just too cold, but word is that this will be the largest spill on the slope ever.

[auracat]

18. another spill at kuparuk, today!

the state has released some numbers of the barrow spill size: estimate between 201,000 and 267,000 gallons.
this is about 1/4 of what was in that part of the pipe, and there is also evidence it was a slow leak.
as the spill is mostly contained, that means much of the hot oil may have soaked in to the ground before it was discovered.

the cleanup has nearly halted due to extreme cold. but will pick up again as the weather warms.



meanwhile, today at the kuparuk field, another spill was identified.
it's water and oil.
more updates later.

[Clara T]

19. kick for truth

Post in GD?