BP Pipeline Spill, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

The Prudhoe Bay, Alaska oil spill was discovered on March 2, 2006 at a pipeline owned by BP Exploration, Alaska. The spill occurred in Alaska’s North Slope region between Brooks Range and the Arctic Ocean. This region boasts not only rich wildlife, but also most of Alaska’s petroleum reserves. It was determined that 212,252 gallons of oil had spilled from the pipe line.

Soon after the discovery of the leak, the US Department of Transportation ordered BP to test its pipelines using an internal probe called a smart pig. Some of these lines had not been smart-pigged since 1992. In July 2006, BP sent a smart pig through its eastern pipelines, detecting extensive corrosion at several places. Soon after that BP began temporary production shut down of the eastern side, citing the discovery of “unexpectedly severe corrosion.”

Prior to the Prudhoe Bay spill, BP had ignored various red flags and warnings raised about pipeline corrosion on several occasions. The 1992 tests on the eastern line had indicated the presence of calcium in the line, but nothing was done about it. In a 2004 email to a company lawyer, a union leader had expressed concern over the lowering of the number of staff on the corrosion monitoring team from eight to six. A company report in 2005 said BP based its corrosion-fighting on a limited budget instead of needs.