Posted on 08/14/2006 8:48:08 AM PDT by PA Engineer
BP's board and London-based executives were informed of widespread corrosion at the UK oil giant's Alaska field two years before the company was forced to shut it this week, citing "unexpectedly severe corrosion".
On May 22 2004, Chuck Hamel, an advocate for BP workers in Alaska, took the charges directly to Walter E. Massey, chairman of the environment committee of BP's non-executive board of directors.
In the letter, Mr Hamel told Dr Massey that in the previous four years BP employees and contract workers had brought to him concerns about safety, health and threats to the environment at Prudhoe Bay, Alaska.
"They seek to see the corrosion problem addressed and corrective action undertaken without further delay and before any of their colleagues at Prudhoe are harmed," he wrote in the letter, a copy of which was given to the Financial Times.
Mr Hamel warned Dr Massey that, as a board member, he owed it to shareholders to investigate. He said he would facilitate interviews with the BP engineers and corrosion experts if his committee provided assurances they would not suffer retaliation.
On July 27, 2004, Dr Massey wrote to Mr Hamel urging him to provide BP management "sufficient specificity" but without offering the requested protection.
The workers told Mr Hamel that Vinson Elkins, BP's Houston lawyer, went to Alaska with questions that seemed aimed more at identifying whistleblowers than uncovering corrosion.
Dr Massey referred questions by the FT at the time to BP, which gave assurances that corrosion was under control.
On Tuesday, BP spokesman Ronnie Chappell said: "I know there have been concerns raised about adequate corrosion inspection program raised by Hamel over time. We have looked into those."
This is and industry wide problem (corrosion). I know some companies that have gone from quarterly to weekly statements.
For a quick sample from news feeds
Tuesday, May 25, 2004 Wear caused gas leak in Olympic pipeline But source of spark that triggered fire remains unknown
A pinhole-sized leak caused by wear unleashed thousands of gallons of gasoline that fueled the Olympic Pipe Line fire and explosion near Westfield Shoppingtown Southcenter early Sunday, investigators said yesterday. But the source of the spark that ignited the gas remained unknown
The Druzhba pipeline, a 2,500-mile-long steel straw leading from oil fields in Siberia to consumers in central and Eastern Europe, ruptured on Saturday toward the western end of its journey, in the Bryansk region, near the border with Belarus.
Oil multinationals in Nigeria have shut off 210,000 barrels of daily crude production after an unexplained leak on a shared pipeline, oil industry officials said Tuesday.
Then again - some headlines are outright wrong
Oil Gushes into Arctic Ocean from BP Pipeline (http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0321-06.htm)
OTOH - other than crude opipelines leak as well:
DONNER SUMMIT, Calif., April 5, 2005 The California Department of Fish and Games Office of Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR), in cooperation with Kinder Morgan Energy Partners (KMP), the United States Forest Service (USFS) and county fire and emergency services, announced today that a section of KMPs 8-inch diameter pipeline that transports gasoline, jet fuel and diesel from Rocklin, Calif., to Reno, Nev., has been repaired and is expected to resume service Tuesday afternoon.
KMP shut down the pipeline as a precautionary measure April 1, following a report of gasoline odors, and the product inside the pipeline was drained. Investigators found evidence of a petroleum sheen in the area, but no actual accumulation of gasoline. There was no fire or injuries and OSPR representatives have reported no instances of damage to wildlife
Anyway, I could go on. The news folks have thier own agenda, the polititions have their own agenda.
SO long as you have deep pockets, you had better be better than perfect, or at least have good lawyers : )
I don't doubt that the corrosion is industry wide, I just don't trust BP to fix the problem in the best way possible, that will cause the least damage to the consumer. They will be more interested in their own bottom line, trying to make the repairs with as few workers as possible. You have no idea of the problems that are ahead on the west coast, even if the pipeline was reopened tomorrow. Instead of loading two tankers a day, they have been loading one every three days. The ships are sitting at docks in the Puget Sound with no where to go, and no more empty docks.
The other thing that struck me was the miles and miles of aluminum wire left laying about on the ground. IF one could get the salvage rights....
The oil flow from Alaska has not decreased anywhere near this amount. Prior to this TAPS was flowing ~820,000 barrels per day. Prudhoe Bay has gone from 400,00 BPD to 150,000 BPD as of yesterday. 140,000 BPD is the lowest the flow went to. The flow out of Alaska has not reduced by the amount you imply.
Well, I don't know where the oil is going, because they aren't loading it onto tankers. If the oil is still flowing the way you say, CONOCO is being cheated.
Pump, pump, pump while gas prices are high, right?
thanks...great explanation...
Where is our absolutely useless Energy Dept. in all this? They have no rules for pipeline polution in Alaska? Let one oil rig in the Gulf dump 10 barrels of oil and the EPA is on them like a duck on a June bug. BP, which also has the most poluting refinery on the Gulf Coast, should be fined millions for not only dumping petroleum onto that "pristine" environment that we can't drill on, but for those lying TV ads that brag about how "green" they are.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.