BP-owned Alaska oil pipeline shut after spill

[RWebb]

UPDATE 1-BP-owned Alaska oil pipeline shut after spill | Reuters

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Of course, they need to restrict supply and keep prices up.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

Of course, they need to restrict supply and keep prices up.

That's supposed to be in green, right?
they were testing safety system. A complicated system.
They experienced a power outage.
Other safety systems did exactly what they were supposed to do and some of the oil was transfered to a containment device to prevent a spill. If that hadn't happened it would be possible for the pipe to exceed it's rated pressure. Pressure relief devices and safety valves prevented that from happening. Just like on your water heater in your house.
IT WASN'T A SPILL!

BUT>>>> the tree huggers and sensationalistic media like to call it a spill because it furthers their agenda.

[dd74]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

BUT>>>> the tree huggers and sensationalistic media like to call it a spill because it furthers their agenda.

What's their agenda?

[lane912]

agenda for bi weekly tree hugger meting-
-start 20min late due to none of membership drives, everyone takes mass transit or rides bicycle
-take roll call
- roll joints and pass them around the room
-go over minutes from last meting and what should be in the newsletter
-discuss corporate terrorism plots
-roll joints and pass them around the room
-new actions, "can we blow up a oil rig and make it look like a cooperate environmental tragedy?" "how can we take this global warming thing to the next level" "reworking old campaigns the spotted owl and nuclear energy"
-roll joints and pass them around the room
-roll joints and pass them around the room
-guest speaker: Rush Limbaugh

[RWebb]

not sure what sammy is responding to, but the article points out several issues -- not one safety test

[dafischer]

Originally Posted by RWebb

not sure what sammy is responding to, but the article points out several issues -- not one safety test

I dunno webb, but fire-command sytem test = safety test in my book. By the way, how's that reading comprehension coming along?

Copied directly from the above article...

The shutdown followed a series of mishaps that resulted from a scheduled fire-command system test at Pump Station 9, about 100 miles (161 km) south of Fairbanks, said Alyeska Pipeline Service Co, the operator of the 800-mile oil line.

The power outage triggered opening of relief valves, causing an unspecified volume of crude oil to overflow a storage tank into a secondary containment. There were no injuries, but the approximately 40 people at the work site were evacuated, Alyeska spokeswoman Michele Egan said.

And you posted it.

[RWebb]

right, I posted it. Now go back and re-read. I feel certain you'll figure it out.

[jyl]

It does not sound like a big deal, but it also doesn't sound like a routine test in which everything worked right, either.

Routine testing is not supposed to cause:
- North Slope oil producers to cut flow into the pipeline's Prudhoe Bay intake station to 16 percent of normal rates
- BP has to say it will "take as long as we need to make sure the site is safe before we start back up"
- The storage tank that overflowed is now described as "damaged".
- And today the Alaska pipeline is largely shut down for a second day, cutting supply to the US by half a million barrels/day.

Sounds like an unexpected accident during testing, not a normal or expected result of testing. Backup power systems failed. Apparently it was not caught in time for the oil to stay in the storage tank, oil came out of the tank's vents, but it was caught before oil overflowed the "containment area" which is basically a large pond with a liner.

A description from WSJ may be a bit clearer about the failure of backup power systems:

"On Tuesday, Alyeska had shut down the Alaska pipeline to do routine maintenance, including testing the fire-command and valve-leak systems at Pump Station 9, about 100 miles south of Fairbanks, when the accident occurred. As part of the fire test, the pump station was taken offline from the electrical grid, and was supposed to continue running on backup power provided by a battery and a diesel generator, Egan said. The backup power system failed, however, and as a result a valve on the pipeline automatically opened to relieve pressure on the pipeline. Oil flowed through the valve into a release tank--set up for such contingencies--but the tank quickly filled up, overflowed and oil seeped out into an outer containment area. "