WASHINGTON - Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), the top Democrat on the Natural Resources Committee, today asked the operator of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System to quantify how much oil may leak from the potentially still-damaged pipeline now that the company has restarted pipeline operations. Rep. Markey also reveals in the letter sent to the president of Alyeska that his company had touted in 2006 Congressional testimony improvements made at the exact location of the current leak, Pump Station #1, following a major rupture in a BP pipeline in March of that year in the same region of Alaska.
"Among the many tragic lessons learned from the BP disaster in the Gulf is that the public's right to transparent and complete information regarding the causes and consequences of a failure of this type is paramount," Rep. Markey writes to Alyeska President Vice Admiral Thomas Barrett, USCG (Ret.) "Given the enormity of what is at stake - not only the continued operation of the pipeline, but also impacts to fragile natural resources - your cooperation in providing the public the necessary information will be critical."
The full letter text is pasted below.
In the letter, Rep. Markey notes that this incident "is reminiscent of a March 2006 leak from a BP pipeline which released 267,000 gallons of oil at Prudhoe Bay. At a 2006 hearing before the Energy and Commerce Committee, on which I also serve, Alyeska testified under oath that accelerated corrosion posed no threat to TAPS integrity and trumpeted 'several new corrosion monitoring locations at Pump Station One.'" Rep. Markey also notes that Vice Admiral Barrett testified that day in his capacity as Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
The full testimony from that 2006 hearing can be found HERE. The assertions regarding the current leak site begin on page 93, and questions from Rep. Markey to Alyeska regarding the maintenance of the pipeline begin on page 480.
Rep. Markey asks for details regarding the detection of the current leak, the use of pipeline "pigs" which maintain the system, answers on who will be responsible for the cleanup, and an update on workplace conditions, which were found after the 2006 incident to be hostile regarding the effective upkeep and oversight of the pipeline system.
Downloads
* 2011-01-12_Letter_Barrett.pdf »
