Alaska hit by 'massive' oil spill - 267,000 gallons of Crude Leaked

[kpete]

(Kpete - Why aren't we SCREAMING about this!)

Alaska hit by 'massive' oil spill

The spill covers two acres of the snow-covered tundra

An oil spill discovered at Prudhoe Bay field is the largest ever on Alaska's North Slope region, US officials say.

They estimate that up to 267,000 gallons (one million litres) of crude leaked from a corroded transit pipeline at the state's northern tip.

The spill was detected on 2 March and plugged. Local environmentalists have described it as "a catastrophe".

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez shipping disaster spilled 11m gallons (42m litres) of oil onto the Alaskan coast.

'Painful reminder'

"I can confirm it's the largest spill of crude oil on the North Slope that we have record of," Linda Giguere, from Alaska's state department of environmental conservation, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/4795866.stm

[Blue_In_AK]

1. This is not a good situation...

The only silver lining to this cloud is that it's winter and easier to clean up, although apparently too much winter the past couple of days with -60 wind chills making it difficult to work. BP has given assurances that they will clean the mess up totally -- the big question is why a worker's nose detected the spill instead of the high-tech spill detection equipment.

[Beelzebud]

2. See! Drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge won't have any impact on the

environment!

Just trust Big Oil and the Republicans!

[lonestarnot]

3. You said a choking mouthful.

[northofdenali]

4. And now, for spill number 2 - yep, same area

different oil company (Conoco Phillips)

<snip>
NORTH SLOPE: Trace of crude mixed with water leaks onto tundra.

By WESLEY LOY
Anchorage Daily News

Published: March 11, 2006
Last Modified: March 11, 2006 at 02:26 AM


State pollution regulators on Friday reported another North Slope pipeline leak, this time in the Kuparuk River oil field west of Prudhoe Bay.


The spill involved mainly water with only a trace of crude oil mixed in, they said. It leaked from a 24-inch pipeline near a drilling pad on the western edge of Kuparuk, the state's second-largest oil field.

Leslie Pearson, spill response coordinator for the state Department of Environmental Conservation, said the spill most likely involves less than 500 gallons of liquid, she said.

http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/story/7521430p-7433568c.html

It's too expensive for the poor little oil companies to be sure their pipes are in top condition. After all, they only made record profits in the billions in 2005 :sarcasm:

[Blue_In_AK]

5. My guess is we'll be seeing more and more of thes

"little spills" as the pipeline ages. Nothing lasts forever. I do find it amazing that a spill the size of BP's wasn't detected sooner.