BP has no shortage of leaky or corroded pipes in its Alaskan oil fields.

 

Over the weekend one of its eight-inch pipelines burst open at the Lisburne Production Centre, spilling thousands of gallons of methanol and oily water. When ProPublica reported the spill, it identified the leak as coming from a decaying pipeline that the investigative website wrote about last year.

 

A BP official then contacted ProPublica to inform them that the accident had taken place at yet another faulty pipeline.

 

It’s understandable about the confusion, given that BP has found severe corrosion (80%) on parts of 148 of the company’s pipelines on Alaska’s North Slope. BP gave the pipelines an “F-rank,” which means the metal walls are within a few thousandths of an inch of bursting. That could result in explosion or fire.

 

But BP apparently applies a reverse form of grade inflation to its rankings. Spokesman Steve Rinehart said while an F-rank is serious, it does not mean there is a safety risk. “We will not operate equipment or facilities that we believe are unsafe,” he said.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Corrected: BP’s Broken Alaska Pipeline Not the Same as Corroded Line Identified Last Year (by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica)

Oil Spilled at BP Alaskan Field (All Headline News)