Contaminants and pollution
Cleanup continues after Prudhoe Bay pipeline spill 
(Mary Pemberton/Anchorage Daily News, 24 December 2009) -- Crews on Wednesday were continuing to remove snow contaminated with oil from an area around a well house where a pipe broke in the Prudhoe Bay oil field. Tom DeRuyter, the state's on-scene spill coordinator, said the area around the well house is misted with oil. He said 72 cubic yards of contaminated snow -- most of it from the well house's gravel pad -- have been removed, but there is more to go. The spill was discovered Monday morning by a BP oil field operator doing a routine inspection. The break in the 6-inch line occurred where the production line left the well house. The cause of the break is not yet known, DeRuyter said. "The case is going to be under investigation as to why the line parted," he said. BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said the well line broke at a weld and released an estimated 3 gallons of oil and 131 gallons of water. The estimation was reached by considering how much oil and water the pipe normally carried and how quickly the automatic shut-off valve worked, he said.
Posted 24 December 2009; 11:55:58 AM. Permalink
Tagged: Alaska, Circumpolar News, Contaminants and Pollution, December09, North America, Oil, gas, non-renewable resources, United States
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