Posted on 04/01/2009 8:31:56 AM PDT by thackney
The United States has filed a civil complaint against BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. (BPXA) alleging that the company violated federal clean air and water laws, the Justice Department, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and the U.S. Department of Transportation announced today.
According to the complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Anchorage, Alaska, BPXA illegally discharged more than 200,000 gallons of crude oil from its pipelines onto the North Slope of Alaska during two major oil spills in the spring and summer of 2006. The complaint alleges that BPXA failed to prepare and implement spill prevention, countermeasure and control plans in accordance with good engineering practices, and failed to implement certain required spill prevention measures pursuant to the Clean Water Act.
The complaint also alleges that BPXA violated the Clean Air Act by improperly removing asbestos-containing materials from its pipelines and failed to comply in a timely manner with a Corrective Action Order that the Department of Transportation-Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued to BPXA pursuant to federal pipeline safety laws. PHMSA's order required BPXA to conduct certain testing, inspection, maintenance and repair activities.
The lawsuit, filed by the Justice Department on behalf of EPA and PHMSA, asks the court to order BPXA to take all appropriate action to prevent spills in the future, including systemically inspecting its pipelines and associated facilities for corrosion. The United States also seeks civil penalties up to the maximum amount authorized by law.
This civil action follows a guilty plea by BPXA on Nov. 29, 2007, to one count of criminal negligent discharge of oil to the waters of the United States in violation of the Clean Water Act.
BPXA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BP America, conducts oil exploration, drilling, and production in Alaska. Both major spills that are the subject of this case happened in Prudhoe Bay, which is the largest oil field in North America and one of the oldest on the North Slope.
State, feds seek hefty fines for BP Alaska’s 2006 spill
http://www.adn.com/money/industries/oil/prudhoe/story/743678.html
The link above contains additional information and links to original stories on the spills.
They ‘need’ more money.
Did they or did they not clean it up? Was there any lasting damage done?
I ask this because I've seen oil spills around the oil fields and how quickly they leap through hoops to clean it up. They've got it down to an art-form and a science.
In short order you'd never know the difference.
Yes.
Was there any lasting damage done?
No.
Of course I might be considered a little biased...
I was working in Alaska at the time for one of the companies BP called on to fix the problems.
As I expected.
Its a non-problem but its something for the hyperventilators to hyperventilate about.
These people are like pavlov’s terriers. Just say the word “oil” and they start spinning around and snapping at people.
For all intents and purposes an oilfield is a wildlife reserve. Its a nature park, with passable roads.
But, to a liberal, an oilfield is a capitalist tool -- employed to enrich greedy corporations, rape the landscape, suppress the masses, abuse children and torture wildlife.
There is no more common ground with these people than with the Taliban.
200K seems a bit high.
Was it all oil or process water and oil?
That was part of the problem. As the fields age, the percent of produced water increases, so that if the pumping/lifting remains constant, the amount of produced oil decreases over time.
The pipes were sized for the maximum expected flow of oil. After decades of production the flow of oil from these older fields is greatly reduced. But the volume of pipe stays the same. Consequently the velocity through the pipe is greatly decreased.
This allowed minute amounts of water and crude to more easily fall out and accumulate in low points, where initial the flow rate helped “sweep” the pipes clean.
Not enough pigging was done, but then the slow flow rate makes pigging more difficult.
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