Hello Everyone,
Two major events in Alaska history have been the completion of the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1977 and the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989. Both had a strong national impact.
PIPELINE HISTORY
Before the Trans-Alaska pipeline (TAPS) was constructed, various people knew about the oil on Alaska’s North Slope. Alaska Natives, known as the Iñupiats, had mined oil saturated peat for thousands of years. Calling the substance pitch, they used it as fuel for heat and light. Whalers at Point Barrow recognized it as petroleum. Studies were done to confirm seepages in Alaska’s far north as early as 1836.
Following the First World War, the United States Navy converted its ships from coal to fuel oil. President Warren G, Harding established by executive order a series of Naval Petroleum Reserves across the United States that were thought to be rich in oil. Navy Petroleum Reserve No. 4, encompassing 23 million acres, was at a site just south of Barrow. While the U.S. Geological Survey explored petroleum resources in this area from 1923 to 1925, it lay dormant until World War II. At that time, the U.S. Navy funded oil exploration north of the foothills of the Brooks Mountain Range. Surveyors from the U. S. Geological Survey worked to determine the extent of the preserve until 1953 when the Navy suspended funding for this project.
At that time, Richfield Oil Corporation (Now Arco) drilled a very successful oil well near the Swanson River in southern Alaska near Kenai. This was Alaska’s first commercial producing oil field which led to the exploration and development of many others. Five oil and 11 natural gas fields were developed by 1965. This and the Navy exploration led petroleum engineers to believe that the area north of the Brooks Range held massive amounts of oil and gas.
Arco started detailed survey work in the Prudhoe Bay area in 1967. Natural gas was discovered at a discovery well by January 1968, and an area oil well started flowing in March. By June, a second oil discovery well confirmed the existence of the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field.
The problem soon became how to develop the oil field and ship oil to U.S. markets. Several companies announced ideas on how to transport oil from this area. Boeing proposed gigantic 12-engine tanker aircraft. General Dynamics suggested a line of tanker submarines for travel beneath the Arctic ice cap. Another group came up with the idea of extending the Alaska Railroad to Prudhoe Bay. In 1969, Humble Oil and Refining Company sent the SS Manhattan, a specially fitted oil tanker, to see if ice-breaking tankers would work. That ship was not successful.
A pipeline was the only viable system to transport oil to Valdez, the nearest port free of pack-ice. It would be a route of 800 miles. No pipeline of this length had ever been constructed. In February, 1969, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) was created in a joint effort by Arco, BP, and Humble Oil. They asked the U.S. Department of the Interior to begin geological and engineering studies for a proposed pipeline from Prudoe Bay to Valdez. The government gave its permission. Substantial orders were placed for the 48 inch diameter pipeline. Since no American company manufactured pipe according to those specifications, it had to be ordered from Japan. TAPS also placed a $30 million order for the first of the pumps to push oil through the pipeline. Besides the right-of-way for the pipeline, TAPS requested a right-of-way to build a construction and maintenance road which paralleled the pipeline.
Problems ensued when the Interior Department sent personnel to analyze the proposed route and plan. A report said the hot oil carried by the pipeline would melt the underlying permafrost causing the pipeline to fail as its supports turned to mud. In addition, Secretary of the Interior Moe Udall imposed a freeze on any projects on Alaska Native land. This was overcome by obtaining waivers from the various Native villages that had claims to the land through which the pipeline passed. By the end of September, all the villages had waived their right-of-way claims and the new Secretary of the Interior, Wally Hickel, asked Congress to lift the land freeze for the entire project.
Before TAPS could build a “haul road” running the length of the pipeline route, several Alaska Native and conservation groups asked Judge George Luzerne Hart, Jr., a Washington D.C. district court judge, to issue an injunction against the project. Several tribal villages who had signed waivers reneged because TAPS had not chosen any Native contractors for the project. They feared the chosen contractors would not hire Native workers. The judge ordered the Interior Department to refuse to issue a construction permit for any section crossing any of the claims.
The Alaska Federation of Natives suggested that a settlement should include 40 million acres of land and a payment of $500 million since they believed the land was theirs. In October 1971, President Richard Nixon signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement. With this act, the Natives renounced their land claims in exchange for $962.5 million and 148.5 million acres of federal land. No Native allotments could be selected in the pipeline’s path.
Conservation groups complained that the TAPS project violated the Mineral Leasing Act and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 (NEPA). Hart issued an injunction halting the entire project. That year, TAPS was reorganized into Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. In 1971, the Wilderness Society, Friends of the Earth, and the Environmental Defense Fund forced a lawsuit.
A Court of Appeals said that the pipeline satisfied NEPA but not the Mineral Leasing Act. Alaska Senator Mike Gravel supported an amendment declaring the pipeline project fulfilled all of the NEPA and modified the Mineral Leasing Act to allow the larger right-of-way for the pipeline. The vote in the Senate for the amendment was 49-49 with Vice President Spiro Agnew, who supported the amendment, breaking the tie. The House passed a similar amendment on August 2, 1973.
One issue was the construction of the highway. A clause in Alyeska’s guidelines called for removal of the pipelines at a certain point but failed to mention the road’s removal. Another concern was that the pipeline would block caribou migration routes making their population smaller and easier to hunt. At the time, some opponents were quieted by the idea of raising the pipeline for crossings for caribou and other game. The fear proved unjustified because the caribou have thrived since the pipeline was built.
A major factor was when OPEC in October 1973 announced an oil embargo against the United States in retaliation of U.S. support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The price of gasoline shot up, gas was in short supply, and rationing was considered. In November, Congress passed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act. The law was signed November 16, 1973. Work that had been halted in 1970 could now proceed.
CONDITIONS OF WORKERS WHILE BUILDING
Workers endured hardships - long hours, cold temperatures, and difficult terrain. A human toll cost 32 Alyeska and contract employees their lives during construction.
Anchorage, Valdez, and Fairbanks became boom towns. However, many adverse effects resulted from these increases in populations. Housing was in short supply allowing for prices to skyrocket. High salaries paid to pipeline workers caused a corresponding demand for high salaries overall resulting in massive job turnover. Goods and services were in short supply. Crime increased as did illicit activity in towns along the pipeline route. Police became pipeline security guards because of the higher wages. Thievery on the pipeline was a major problem since poor accounting and record-keeping allowed large numbers of tools and equipment to be taken.
CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION
Work did not begin on the pipeline until March 27, 1975. At the same time, work was started on pump stations, the pipeline work pads, and the Valdez Terminal.
At its peak, in August of 1975, approximately 21,600 people worked on the project. By May 31, 1977, all 800 miles had been installed and tested. Oil first entered the pipeline at Pump Station One at Prudhoe Bay on June 20,1977 reaching Valdez July 28. On August 1, 1977, the tanker Arco Juneau left with the first load of North Slope crude oil.
The pipeline cost $8 billion to build. It was the largest privately constructed project at the time.
Besides following forests and plains, the pipeline crosses three mountain ranges, three major earthquake faults, more than 500 river and stream crossings, and more than 550 crossings for wildlife. At these crossings, the pipe bridges the waterway or is buried beneath it. More than half of the line, about 420 miles, is elevated. These sections range from 30 miles to a few hundred feet. The other 380 miles is buried underground. At 150 points, valves have been installed to stop the oil flow if necessary. These are found near key stream crossings, popular areas, and major uphill sections.
Besides wildlife crossings, the decision to bury it underground depended on avoidance of rock slides or avalanches, the soil conditions, and the effect of the pipeline heat on the soil. It’s buried where the ground is well-drained, gravel or solid rock, and permafrost thawing isn’t a problem. There are also 44 buried road crossings to accommodate vehicular traffic. Where it is buried, zinc and sometimes magnesium ribbons were laid alongside the pipeline to prevent its corrosion.
Where there is permafrost, it is raised since heat from the pipeline’s oil might cause the ground to thaw and become unstable. Thermal pipes in the pipeline supports carry heat to radiators on top of their supports. These heat pipes, containing gasses, transfer ground heat into the air when the air temperature is cooler than the ground. This “super chills” the ground preventing thawing around the aboveground supports and ensuring the unstable soils remain frozen year round.
Aboveground sections sit on top of 78,000 above-ground supports in a zigzag path. This allows for the pipe to expand or contract due to temperature changes. It also permits for pipe movement, laterally or vertically, in case of an earthquake at major fault lines. These are spaced 60 feet apart and are insulated.
Mechanical devices called “pigs” improve the oil flow and monitor the pipeline’s condition. They are launched and retrieved at the pump station. As they travel with the oil through the pipeline, they perform various operations on it without stopping the oil flow. Scraper pigs, also known as dumb pigs, clear accumulated deposits and enhance the pipeline flow as they travel. Smart pigs measure the pipeline’s wall thickness and shape, inspect for corrosion, and handle other problems requiring maintenance or repair.
The original pipeline called for 12 pump stations but only 11 were built. Crude oil, for most of the pipeline’s life, was transported by 10 pump stations. In 1988, the pipeline peaked at 2.1 million barrels a day taking 4.5 days to travel to Valdez.
Today’s decreased amounts of oil require fewer pump stations. It is now moved down the line by six bypassing some pumps originally used. In 2016, 517,868 barrels of oil per day moved taking 15-16 days to reach Valdez. Pumps can be brought on and off the line as needed.
In 2011, Alyeska completed a low flow impact study since decreased flow lowers oil temperatures with potential for pipeline water and wax to settle and ice to form. Alyeska is implementing measures to compensate though not necessarily solve these issues.
The pump stations include surge relief tanks and booster pumps to move oil from the relief tanks to the mainline pipe. They also serve other purposes such as being headquarters for maintenance work along the TAPS right-of-way and as spill prevention and response bases.
The terminal has 18 crude oil storage tanks. Only the 14 at the East Tank farm are used as the West Tank Farm was taken out of service in 2013.. Each can hold 510,000 barrels. A concrete dike, which can hold 110% of the oil in the tanks, surrounds every tank.
The Operations Control Center is located in Anchorage. The controllers at this center can start or stop the entire pipeline or begin or end functions at any part of the line. Pumps can also be operated independently at each pump station. Other shore facilities include a vapor recovery system, a ballast water treatment plant, power plant, warehouses, shop buildings, water treatment and sewage systems, oil spill contingency equipment, and fire-fighting systems.
Tankers arrive almost daily at Valdez at berths 4 and 5. These are fixed and can accommodate tankers up to 265,000 deadweight tons or larger. Deadweight tons are the amounts ships can safely carry. They can load up to 110,000 barrels an hour. Turnaround time for tankers, including berthing, is around 18 hours. To avoid accidents, they are escorted by tugboats or other vessels through the Prince William Sound to Hinchinbrook Entrance.
Oil reaches the ships via gravity-feed through four hydraulically controlled metal arms. These same arms also transfer the ship’s ballast water to the ballast water treatment plant for processing. Then oil is removed from the water then discharged 700 feet into Port Valdez at a depth of 200 feet or more.
Alyeska is responsible for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the pipeline. It is comprised of a consortium of oil companies with the largest involvement being BP. It also includes ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Unocal. Headquarters is in Anchorage.
WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE PIPELINE
Milepost 8.4, on Steese Highway, 10 miles north of Fairbanks, is one place to see pigs and the pipeline. This rest area also has signs about those who were predominant in building the pipeline. If you go to the Gold Dredge 8 site, one of the highlights of that tour is that the guide provides information about the pipeline. It’s also an opportunity to read signs covering the pipeline’s basic facts, its construction, and area wildlife.
At the rest area, one pig on exhibit scraped wax from the pipe’s interior walls when the pipeline started in 1977. Once the system warmed up from the oil’s constant flow, buildup ceased and the pig was replaced by a polyurethane version, the other pig on display. That pig reduced turbulence making the oil easier to pump. It is 1,000 pounds lighter than the scraper pig.
You will also see two plaques. One describes James A. Maple, a structural engineer and the principal designer of TAPS. He pioneered the use of sophisticated structural analysis for pipelines, now used on Arctic pipelines worldwide. He also provided engineering expertise to the pipeline until his death in 2001. The second marker notes that Alyeska received in November 2002 the American Welding Society Outstanding Development in Welded Fabrication Award because of the pipeline’s advanced technology and high quality of welding.
Portions of the pipeline are also visible along the Richardson Highway between Fairbanks and Valdez. It can be seen from the town of Valdez. Tours of the terminal aren't allowed since 9/11. However, you can see and photograph the terminal from the water. Our Stan Stephens day cruise, followed by our ferry ride to Seward, allowed us to accomplish that.
EXXON VALDEZ
When the oil tanker, the Exxon Valdez, departed from TAPS terminal at 9:12 p.m. on March 23, 1989, no one suspected that one of the world’s most horrific environmental tragedies would occur the next day. The ship left carrying 53,094,510 US gallons of oil. Over the next few days, about 10.8 million US gallons of these would be spilled into Prince William Sound when the ship ran aground on Bligh Reef. The oil eventually covered 1,300 miles of coastline.
The Exxon Valdez was owned by Exxon Shipping Company and bound for Long Beach, California. It was 987 feet long, 166 feet wide, and had a depth of 88 feet. It was built in 1986 by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego. It was the first of two Alaska-class vessels designed for Exxon and the largest ship, at that time, on the West Coast.
WHAT HAPPENED
When the Exxon Valdez left the terminal, William Murphy, an expert ship’s pilot, was in control of the wheelhouse through the Valdez Narrows. Captain Joe Hazelwood, and Helmsman Harry Claar, who was steering, were at his side. Murphy left the ship after they passed the Narrows with Captain Hazelwood taking over the ship’s wheelhouse. Icebergs were encountered in the shipping lanes so Captain Hazelwood ordered Claar to take the ship out of these lanes and go around the icebergs. The captain turned over the wheelhouse after 11:00 p.m. to Third Mate Gregory Cousins with instructions to return into the shipping lanes when the ship reached a specific point. At that time, Claar was replaced by Helmsman Roger Kagan. It still isn’t clear why Cousins and Kagan didn’t make the turn back into the shipping lanes. The ship ran aground at Bligh Reef at 12:04 a.m.
There was a question whether Captain Hazelwood had been drunk. He was seen in a local bar having drinks and a blood test showed alcohol in his blood several hours after the accident. Alaska charged him with operating a vessel while under the influence of alcohol. However, a jury found him innocent of that charge but guilty of negligent discharge of oil, a misdemeanor. He was fined $50,000 and sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service in Alaska. He completed that service by picking up trash along the Seward Highway and working at a “soup kitchen” for the homeless in Anchorage.
The major reason for the accident was that the Exxon Valdez was sailing outside the normal sea lane to avoid small icebergs and failed to switch back properly into its designated shipping lane. However, other factors led to a perfect storm of mishaps and improper handling. They included:
1. Exxon Shipping Company failed to supervise the Captain and provide a rested and sufficient crew for the Exxon Valdez. The tanker crew was half the size of a normal size crew. They worked 12 to 14 hour shifts plus overtime.
2. Exxon blamed Captain Hazelwood for grounding the tanker as he failed to provide a proper navigation watch. As the senior officer, he was in command of his ship.
3. The third mate failed to properly maneuver the vessel.
4. Exxon Shipping Company failed to properly maintain the Raytheon Collision Avoidance System (RAYCAS) radar. If it had operated properly, it would have warned the third mate of the impending collision with the reef. It had been left broken and disabled for more than a year before the accident. Exxon management knew about it but felt it was too expensive to fix.
5. The Coast Guard was partly responsible. They failed to perform vessel inspections and their number of staff was reduced. They did not inform ships that they no longer tracked ships out to Bligh Reef.
6. Exxon compounded the problem by not initiating clean-up operations right away.
CLEAN-UP
A number of means were involved with clean-up. Using a helicopter, chemical dispersants were applied to the slick on March 24. However, since there was not enough wave action to mix it with the oil in the water, this was discontinued. A Test-in-situ burn of oil was conducted where 15,000 to 30,000 gallons of oil were collected. It used a floating boom behind two fishing vessels. After the oil burned for 75 minutes, the oil was reduced to around 300 gallons of burned residue. This method was eliminated when a storm on March 26 spread the surface slick over a wide distance.
High pressure cold water and hot water treatments involved spraying the beaches with fire hoses. Dozens of people helped. The water moved the floating oil to the shore where it was trapped by a boom. It was then either scooped up, sucked up, or gathered by special-absorbent materials.
It was hoped the high-pressure hot water treatment would displace the oil from the rocky coves. However, this also cooked such organisms as plankton, which was the base of the coastal marine food chain, and certain bacteria and fungi, which helped in oil biodegradation. This stopped the hot water treatment.
Booms and skimmers were used. Unfortunately, the skimmers weren’t available until after the first 24 hours of the spill. Thick oil and kelp clogged the equipment. Backhoes and other heavy equipment were used on some beaches. They exposed the oil so it could be washed out.
One problem with cleanup was that virtually every mitigation technique that was suggested was opposed for one reason or another. For example, dispersants and burning off the oil were touted as being environmentally harmful.
After four years of strenuous efforts at clean-up, less than 10% of the oil was recovered. Not all the beaches were cleaned, and some remain oiled today. It’s estimated that between 16,000 and 21,000 gallons of oil remain on Prince William Sound beaches and up to 450 miles away. That is despite the efforts, at its peak, of 10,000 workers, 1,000 boats, and approximately 100 airplanes and helicopters. It is now widely believed that wave action did a better job of cleaning the beaches than human effort. Exxon estimated it spent $2.1 billion on clean-up.
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECT
No one knows exactly how many animals were killed by the disaster. The best estimates are 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, and up to 22 killer whales. Billions of salmon and herring eggs were destroyed.
Recovery has varied by species. Pacific herring, Killer Whales Pod AT1, Marbled Murrelets, and the Pigeon Guillemots haven’t improved. NOAA has determined that the ones making progress are the clams, Black Oystercatchers, mussels, Killer Whale Pod AB, Barrow’s Goldeye, and the intertidal communities.
Several species have recovered. Between 1992 to 2002, these include the bald eagles, Common murre, Sockeye salmon, and Pink salmon. More recent recoveries have included Cormorants, harbor seals, Dolly Varden trout, Common Loon, Rockfish, Cutthroat trout, and Harlequin ducks. Otters have been the last to recover.
The incident also had a devastating economic effect on tourism, recreational sports, and fisheries. It destroyed the value of a pristine Prince William Sound.
AFTER EFFECT
After several court battles, a settlement was reached between the state of Alaska, the United States government, and Exxon. It was approved by the U.S. District Court on October 9, 1991. In a criminal plea agreement, Exxon was fined $150 million but the court forgave $125 million of that fine due to Exxon’s cooperation in cleaning up the spill and paying certain private claims. Exxon also paid $100 million in restitution for the injuries caused to the fish, wildlife, and lands of the spill region. In a civil settlement, Exxon agreed to pay $900 million over a 10-year period.
The Exxon Valdez was dry docked after the spill in San Diego. It was banned permanently from returning to Alaska. Its ownership and name was changed several times. Eventually, it was sold to a Hong Kong based shipping company and renamed Dong Fang Ocean. On November 29, 2010, it collided with another bulk carrier, the Aali, in the Yellow Sea off of China. Both vessels were severely damaged. In March 2011, it was sold for scrap to Global Marketing Systems, a U.S. company, then to Chinese-owned Best Oasis, Ltd. On August 2, 2012, it was reportedly beached to be dismantled in India under the name Oriental Nicety.
Legislation was passed because of this tragedy. George Bush signed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) resulting in the phase-out of all single-hull tankers from U.S. waters. In 2015, Congress passed legislation requiring all tankers to be double-hulled. It is estimated a double hull would have cut the amount of oil 60 percent that was lost by the Exxon Valdez.
This Act also has a clause prohibiting any vessel after March 22,1989 that causes an oil spill of more than one million U.S. gallons, in any marine area, from operating in Prince William Sound.
New regulations require an appropriate number of people on the ship’s bridge during transit and the use of knowledgeable pilots. Those responsible for oil spills must pay the bill for cleaning up the oil and for any economic and natural resource damages they cause.
One problem that was addressed with this legislation was that Exxon had misreported the amount of cleanup equipment. They failed to have it readily available as they were supposed to. For example, they didn’t have enough booms to fully enclose the tanker. Under this law, oil storage facilities and vessels must submit to the Federal government detailed plans on how they will respond to large discharges.
Oil companies are required to pay into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. This fund helps the Coast Guard and NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration to pay up-front costs of responding to hazardous marine accidents, such as oil spills, and of assessing their environmental and cultural impacts.
The OPA also requires the development of Area Contingency Plans to prepare and plan for oil spill response on a regional scale. For Valdez, the Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council provides oversight..
After the Exxon Valdez spill, Governor Steve Cowper issued an executive order requiring two tugboats to escort every loaded tanker from Valdez through the Sound to Hinchinbrook Entrance. In the 1990s, one of the tugs was replaced with a 210-foot Escort Response Vehicle.
To learn more about the Exxon Valdez incident and the Trans-Alaska pipeline,while you are in Seward, visit the Valdez Museum and Historical Archive. It has superb exhibits on these two subjects.
Two major events in Alaska history have been the completion of the Trans-Alaska pipeline in 1977 and the Exxon Valdez disaster of 1989. Both had a strong national impact.
PIPELINE HISTORY
Before the Trans-Alaska pipeline (TAPS) was constructed, various people knew about the oil on Alaska’s North Slope. Alaska Natives, known as the Iñupiats, had mined oil saturated peat for thousands of years. Calling the substance pitch, they used it as fuel for heat and light. Whalers at Point Barrow recognized it as petroleum. Studies were done to confirm seepages in Alaska’s far north as early as 1836.
Following the First World War, the United States Navy converted its ships from coal to fuel oil. President Warren G, Harding established by executive order a series of Naval Petroleum Reserves across the United States that were thought to be rich in oil. Navy Petroleum Reserve No. 4, encompassing 23 million acres, was at a site just south of Barrow. While the U.S. Geological Survey explored petroleum resources in this area from 1923 to 1925, it lay dormant until World War II. At that time, the U.S. Navy funded oil exploration north of the foothills of the Brooks Mountain Range. Surveyors from the U. S. Geological Survey worked to determine the extent of the preserve until 1953 when the Navy suspended funding for this project.
At that time, Richfield Oil Corporation (Now Arco) drilled a very successful oil well near the Swanson River in southern Alaska near Kenai. This was Alaska’s first commercial producing oil field which led to the exploration and development of many others. Five oil and 11 natural gas fields were developed by 1965. This and the Navy exploration led petroleum engineers to believe that the area north of the Brooks Range held massive amounts of oil and gas.
Arco started detailed survey work in the Prudhoe Bay area in 1967. Natural gas was discovered at a discovery well by January 1968, and an area oil well started flowing in March. By June, a second oil discovery well confirmed the existence of the Prudhoe Bay Oil Field.
The problem soon became how to develop the oil field and ship oil to U.S. markets. Several companies announced ideas on how to transport oil from this area. Boeing proposed gigantic 12-engine tanker aircraft. General Dynamics suggested a line of tanker submarines for travel beneath the Arctic ice cap. Another group came up with the idea of extending the Alaska Railroad to Prudhoe Bay. In 1969, Humble Oil and Refining Company sent the SS Manhattan, a specially fitted oil tanker, to see if ice-breaking tankers would work. That ship was not successful.
A pipeline was the only viable system to transport oil to Valdez, the nearest port free of pack-ice. It would be a route of 800 miles. No pipeline of this length had ever been constructed. In February, 1969, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) was created in a joint effort by Arco, BP, and Humble Oil. They asked the U.S. Department of the Interior to begin geological and engineering studies for a proposed pipeline from Prudoe Bay to Valdez. The government gave its permission. Substantial orders were placed for the 48 inch diameter pipeline. Since no American company manufactured pipe according to those specifications, it had to be ordered from Japan. TAPS also placed a $30 million order for the first of the pumps to push oil through the pipeline. Besides the right-of-way for the pipeline, TAPS requested a right-of-way to build a construction and maintenance road which paralleled the pipeline.
Problems ensued when the Interior Department sent personnel to analyze the proposed route and plan. A report said the hot oil carried by the pipeline would melt the underlying permafrost causing the pipeline to fail as its supports turned to mud. In addition, Secretary of the Interior Moe Udall imposed a freeze on any projects on Alaska Native land. This was overcome by obtaining waivers from the various Native villages that had claims to the land through which the pipeline passed. By the end of September, all the villages had waived their right-of-way claims and the new Secretary of the Interior, Wally Hickel, asked Congress to lift the land freeze for the entire project.
Before TAPS could build a “haul road” running the length of the pipeline route, several Alaska Native and conservation groups asked Judge George Luzerne Hart, Jr., a Washington D.C. district court judge, to issue an injunction against the project. Several tribal villages who had signed waivers reneged because TAPS had not chosen any Native contractors for the project. They feared the chosen contractors would not hire Native workers. The judge ordered the Interior Department to refuse to issue a construction permit for any section crossing any of the claims.
The Alaska Federation of Natives suggested that a settlement should include 40 million acres of land and a payment of $500 million since they believed the land was theirs. In October 1971, President Richard Nixon signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement. With this act, the Natives renounced their land claims in exchange for $962.5 million and 148.5 million acres of federal land. No Native allotments could be selected in the pipeline’s path.
Conservation groups complained that the TAPS project violated the Mineral Leasing Act and the National Environmental Policy Act of 1970 (NEPA). Hart issued an injunction halting the entire project. That year, TAPS was reorganized into Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. In 1971, the Wilderness Society, Friends of the Earth, and the Environmental Defense Fund forced a lawsuit.
A Court of Appeals said that the pipeline satisfied NEPA but not the Mineral Leasing Act. Alaska Senator Mike Gravel supported an amendment declaring the pipeline project fulfilled all of the NEPA and modified the Mineral Leasing Act to allow the larger right-of-way for the pipeline. The vote in the Senate for the amendment was 49-49 with Vice President Spiro Agnew, who supported the amendment, breaking the tie. The House passed a similar amendment on August 2, 1973.
One issue was the construction of the highway. A clause in Alyeska’s guidelines called for removal of the pipelines at a certain point but failed to mention the road’s removal. Another concern was that the pipeline would block caribou migration routes making their population smaller and easier to hunt. At the time, some opponents were quieted by the idea of raising the pipeline for crossings for caribou and other game. The fear proved unjustified because the caribou have thrived since the pipeline was built.
A major factor was when OPEC in October 1973 announced an oil embargo against the United States in retaliation of U.S. support for Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The price of gasoline shot up, gas was in short supply, and rationing was considered. In November, Congress passed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act. The law was signed November 16, 1973. Work that had been halted in 1970 could now proceed.
CONDITIONS OF WORKERS WHILE BUILDING
Workers endured hardships - long hours, cold temperatures, and difficult terrain. A human toll cost 32 Alyeska and contract employees their lives during construction.
Anchorage, Valdez, and Fairbanks became boom towns. However, many adverse effects resulted from these increases in populations. Housing was in short supply allowing for prices to skyrocket. High salaries paid to pipeline workers caused a corresponding demand for high salaries overall resulting in massive job turnover. Goods and services were in short supply. Crime increased as did illicit activity in towns along the pipeline route. Police became pipeline security guards because of the higher wages. Thievery on the pipeline was a major problem since poor accounting and record-keeping allowed large numbers of tools and equipment to be taken.
CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION
Work did not begin on the pipeline until March 27, 1975. At the same time, work was started on pump stations, the pipeline work pads, and the Valdez Terminal.
At its peak, in August of 1975, approximately 21,600 people worked on the project. By May 31, 1977, all 800 miles had been installed and tested. Oil first entered the pipeline at Pump Station One at Prudhoe Bay on June 20,1977 reaching Valdez July 28. On August 1, 1977, the tanker Arco Juneau left with the first load of North Slope crude oil.
The pipeline cost $8 billion to build. It was the largest privately constructed project at the time.
Besides following forests and plains, the pipeline crosses three mountain ranges, three major earthquake faults, more than 500 river and stream crossings, and more than 550 crossings for wildlife. At these crossings, the pipe bridges the waterway or is buried beneath it. More than half of the line, about 420 miles, is elevated. These sections range from 30 miles to a few hundred feet. The other 380 miles is buried underground. At 150 points, valves have been installed to stop the oil flow if necessary. These are found near key stream crossings, popular areas, and major uphill sections.
Besides wildlife crossings, the decision to bury it underground depended on avoidance of rock slides or avalanches, the soil conditions, and the effect of the pipeline heat on the soil. It’s buried where the ground is well-drained, gravel or solid rock, and permafrost thawing isn’t a problem. There are also 44 buried road crossings to accommodate vehicular traffic. Where it is buried, zinc and sometimes magnesium ribbons were laid alongside the pipeline to prevent its corrosion.
Where there is permafrost, it is raised since heat from the pipeline’s oil might cause the ground to thaw and become unstable. Thermal pipes in the pipeline supports carry heat to radiators on top of their supports. These heat pipes, containing gasses, transfer ground heat into the air when the air temperature is cooler than the ground. This “super chills” the ground preventing thawing around the aboveground supports and ensuring the unstable soils remain frozen year round.
Aboveground sections sit on top of 78,000 above-ground supports in a zigzag path. This allows for the pipe to expand or contract due to temperature changes. It also permits for pipe movement, laterally or vertically, in case of an earthquake at major fault lines. These are spaced 60 feet apart and are insulated.
Mechanical devices called “pigs” improve the oil flow and monitor the pipeline’s condition. They are launched and retrieved at the pump station. As they travel with the oil through the pipeline, they perform various operations on it without stopping the oil flow. Scraper pigs, also known as dumb pigs, clear accumulated deposits and enhance the pipeline flow as they travel. Smart pigs measure the pipeline’s wall thickness and shape, inspect for corrosion, and handle other problems requiring maintenance or repair.
The original pipeline called for 12 pump stations but only 11 were built. Crude oil, for most of the pipeline’s life, was transported by 10 pump stations. In 1988, the pipeline peaked at 2.1 million barrels a day taking 4.5 days to travel to Valdez.
Today’s decreased amounts of oil require fewer pump stations. It is now moved down the line by six bypassing some pumps originally used. In 2016, 517,868 barrels of oil per day moved taking 15-16 days to reach Valdez. Pumps can be brought on and off the line as needed.
In 2011, Alyeska completed a low flow impact study since decreased flow lowers oil temperatures with potential for pipeline water and wax to settle and ice to form. Alyeska is implementing measures to compensate though not necessarily solve these issues.
The pump stations include surge relief tanks and booster pumps to move oil from the relief tanks to the mainline pipe. They also serve other purposes such as being headquarters for maintenance work along the TAPS right-of-way and as spill prevention and response bases.
The terminal has 18 crude oil storage tanks. Only the 14 at the East Tank farm are used as the West Tank Farm was taken out of service in 2013.. Each can hold 510,000 barrels. A concrete dike, which can hold 110% of the oil in the tanks, surrounds every tank.
The Operations Control Center is located in Anchorage. The controllers at this center can start or stop the entire pipeline or begin or end functions at any part of the line. Pumps can also be operated independently at each pump station. Other shore facilities include a vapor recovery system, a ballast water treatment plant, power plant, warehouses, shop buildings, water treatment and sewage systems, oil spill contingency equipment, and fire-fighting systems.
Tankers arrive almost daily at Valdez at berths 4 and 5. These are fixed and can accommodate tankers up to 265,000 deadweight tons or larger. Deadweight tons are the amounts ships can safely carry. They can load up to 110,000 barrels an hour. Turnaround time for tankers, including berthing, is around 18 hours. To avoid accidents, they are escorted by tugboats or other vessels through the Prince William Sound to Hinchinbrook Entrance.
Oil reaches the ships via gravity-feed through four hydraulically controlled metal arms. These same arms also transfer the ship’s ballast water to the ballast water treatment plant for processing. Then oil is removed from the water then discharged 700 feet into Port Valdez at a depth of 200 feet or more.
Alyeska is responsible for the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the pipeline. It is comprised of a consortium of oil companies with the largest involvement being BP. It also includes ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, and Unocal. Headquarters is in Anchorage.
WHERE YOU CAN SEE THE PIPELINE
Milepost 8.4, on Steese Highway, 10 miles north of Fairbanks, is one place to see pigs and the pipeline. This rest area also has signs about those who were predominant in building the pipeline. If you go to the Gold Dredge 8 site, one of the highlights of that tour is that the guide provides information about the pipeline. It’s also an opportunity to read signs covering the pipeline’s basic facts, its construction, and area wildlife.
At the rest area, one pig on exhibit scraped wax from the pipe’s interior walls when the pipeline started in 1977. Once the system warmed up from the oil’s constant flow, buildup ceased and the pig was replaced by a polyurethane version, the other pig on display. That pig reduced turbulence making the oil easier to pump. It is 1,000 pounds lighter than the scraper pig.
You will also see two plaques. One describes James A. Maple, a structural engineer and the principal designer of TAPS. He pioneered the use of sophisticated structural analysis for pipelines, now used on Arctic pipelines worldwide. He also provided engineering expertise to the pipeline until his death in 2001. The second marker notes that Alyeska received in November 2002 the American Welding Society Outstanding Development in Welded Fabrication Award because of the pipeline’s advanced technology and high quality of welding.
Portions of the pipeline are also visible along the Richardson Highway between Fairbanks and Valdez. It can be seen from the town of Valdez. Tours of the terminal aren't allowed since 9/11. However, you can see and photograph the terminal from the water. Our Stan Stephens day cruise, followed by our ferry ride to Seward, allowed us to accomplish that.
EXXON VALDEZ
When the oil tanker, the Exxon Valdez, departed from TAPS terminal at 9:12 p.m. on March 23, 1989, no one suspected that one of the world’s most horrific environmental tragedies would occur the next day. The ship left carrying 53,094,510 US gallons of oil. Over the next few days, about 10.8 million US gallons of these would be spilled into Prince William Sound when the ship ran aground on Bligh Reef. The oil eventually covered 1,300 miles of coastline.
The Exxon Valdez was owned by Exxon Shipping Company and bound for Long Beach, California. It was 987 feet long, 166 feet wide, and had a depth of 88 feet. It was built in 1986 by the National Steel and Shipbuilding Company in San Diego. It was the first of two Alaska-class vessels designed for Exxon and the largest ship, at that time, on the West Coast.
WHAT HAPPENED
When the Exxon Valdez left the terminal, William Murphy, an expert ship’s pilot, was in control of the wheelhouse through the Valdez Narrows. Captain Joe Hazelwood, and Helmsman Harry Claar, who was steering, were at his side. Murphy left the ship after they passed the Narrows with Captain Hazelwood taking over the ship’s wheelhouse. Icebergs were encountered in the shipping lanes so Captain Hazelwood ordered Claar to take the ship out of these lanes and go around the icebergs. The captain turned over the wheelhouse after 11:00 p.m. to Third Mate Gregory Cousins with instructions to return into the shipping lanes when the ship reached a specific point. At that time, Claar was replaced by Helmsman Roger Kagan. It still isn’t clear why Cousins and Kagan didn’t make the turn back into the shipping lanes. The ship ran aground at Bligh Reef at 12:04 a.m.
There was a question whether Captain Hazelwood had been drunk. He was seen in a local bar having drinks and a blood test showed alcohol in his blood several hours after the accident. Alaska charged him with operating a vessel while under the influence of alcohol. However, a jury found him innocent of that charge but guilty of negligent discharge of oil, a misdemeanor. He was fined $50,000 and sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service in Alaska. He completed that service by picking up trash along the Seward Highway and working at a “soup kitchen” for the homeless in Anchorage.
The major reason for the accident was that the Exxon Valdez was sailing outside the normal sea lane to avoid small icebergs and failed to switch back properly into its designated shipping lane. However, other factors led to a perfect storm of mishaps and improper handling. They included:
1. Exxon Shipping Company failed to supervise the Captain and provide a rested and sufficient crew for the Exxon Valdez. The tanker crew was half the size of a normal size crew. They worked 12 to 14 hour shifts plus overtime.
2. Exxon blamed Captain Hazelwood for grounding the tanker as he failed to provide a proper navigation watch. As the senior officer, he was in command of his ship.
3. The third mate failed to properly maneuver the vessel.
4. Exxon Shipping Company failed to properly maintain the Raytheon Collision Avoidance System (RAYCAS) radar. If it had operated properly, it would have warned the third mate of the impending collision with the reef. It had been left broken and disabled for more than a year before the accident. Exxon management knew about it but felt it was too expensive to fix.
5. The Coast Guard was partly responsible. They failed to perform vessel inspections and their number of staff was reduced. They did not inform ships that they no longer tracked ships out to Bligh Reef.
6. Exxon compounded the problem by not initiating clean-up operations right away.
CLEAN-UP
A number of means were involved with clean-up. Using a helicopter, chemical dispersants were applied to the slick on March 24. However, since there was not enough wave action to mix it with the oil in the water, this was discontinued. A Test-in-situ burn of oil was conducted where 15,000 to 30,000 gallons of oil were collected. It used a floating boom behind two fishing vessels. After the oil burned for 75 minutes, the oil was reduced to around 300 gallons of burned residue. This method was eliminated when a storm on March 26 spread the surface slick over a wide distance.
High pressure cold water and hot water treatments involved spraying the beaches with fire hoses. Dozens of people helped. The water moved the floating oil to the shore where it was trapped by a boom. It was then either scooped up, sucked up, or gathered by special-absorbent materials.
It was hoped the high-pressure hot water treatment would displace the oil from the rocky coves. However, this also cooked such organisms as plankton, which was the base of the coastal marine food chain, and certain bacteria and fungi, which helped in oil biodegradation. This stopped the hot water treatment.
Booms and skimmers were used. Unfortunately, the skimmers weren’t available until after the first 24 hours of the spill. Thick oil and kelp clogged the equipment. Backhoes and other heavy equipment were used on some beaches. They exposed the oil so it could be washed out.
One problem with cleanup was that virtually every mitigation technique that was suggested was opposed for one reason or another. For example, dispersants and burning off the oil were touted as being environmentally harmful.
After four years of strenuous efforts at clean-up, less than 10% of the oil was recovered. Not all the beaches were cleaned, and some remain oiled today. It’s estimated that between 16,000 and 21,000 gallons of oil remain on Prince William Sound beaches and up to 450 miles away. That is despite the efforts, at its peak, of 10,000 workers, 1,000 boats, and approximately 100 airplanes and helicopters. It is now widely believed that wave action did a better job of cleaning the beaches than human effort. Exxon estimated it spent $2.1 billion on clean-up.
ENVIRONMENTAL EFFECT
No one knows exactly how many animals were killed by the disaster. The best estimates are 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles, and up to 22 killer whales. Billions of salmon and herring eggs were destroyed.
Recovery has varied by species. Pacific herring, Killer Whales Pod AT1, Marbled Murrelets, and the Pigeon Guillemots haven’t improved. NOAA has determined that the ones making progress are the clams, Black Oystercatchers, mussels, Killer Whale Pod AB, Barrow’s Goldeye, and the intertidal communities.
Several species have recovered. Between 1992 to 2002, these include the bald eagles, Common murre, Sockeye salmon, and Pink salmon. More recent recoveries have included Cormorants, harbor seals, Dolly Varden trout, Common Loon, Rockfish, Cutthroat trout, and Harlequin ducks. Otters have been the last to recover.
The incident also had a devastating economic effect on tourism, recreational sports, and fisheries. It destroyed the value of a pristine Prince William Sound.
AFTER EFFECT
After several court battles, a settlement was reached between the state of Alaska, the United States government, and Exxon. It was approved by the U.S. District Court on October 9, 1991. In a criminal plea agreement, Exxon was fined $150 million but the court forgave $125 million of that fine due to Exxon’s cooperation in cleaning up the spill and paying certain private claims. Exxon also paid $100 million in restitution for the injuries caused to the fish, wildlife, and lands of the spill region. In a civil settlement, Exxon agreed to pay $900 million over a 10-year period.
The Exxon Valdez was dry docked after the spill in San Diego. It was banned permanently from returning to Alaska. Its ownership and name was changed several times. Eventually, it was sold to a Hong Kong based shipping company and renamed Dong Fang Ocean. On November 29, 2010, it collided with another bulk carrier, the Aali, in the Yellow Sea off of China. Both vessels were severely damaged. In March 2011, it was sold for scrap to Global Marketing Systems, a U.S. company, then to Chinese-owned Best Oasis, Ltd. On August 2, 2012, it was reportedly beached to be dismantled in India under the name Oriental Nicety.
Legislation was passed because of this tragedy. George Bush signed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) resulting in the phase-out of all single-hull tankers from U.S. waters. In 2015, Congress passed legislation requiring all tankers to be double-hulled. It is estimated a double hull would have cut the amount of oil 60 percent that was lost by the Exxon Valdez.
This Act also has a clause prohibiting any vessel after March 22,1989 that causes an oil spill of more than one million U.S. gallons, in any marine area, from operating in Prince William Sound.
New regulations require an appropriate number of people on the ship’s bridge during transit and the use of knowledgeable pilots. Those responsible for oil spills must pay the bill for cleaning up the oil and for any economic and natural resource damages they cause.
One problem that was addressed with this legislation was that Exxon had misreported the amount of cleanup equipment. They failed to have it readily available as they were supposed to. For example, they didn’t have enough booms to fully enclose the tanker. Under this law, oil storage facilities and vessels must submit to the Federal government detailed plans on how they will respond to large discharges.
Oil companies are required to pay into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. This fund helps the Coast Guard and NOAA’s Office of Response and Restoration to pay up-front costs of responding to hazardous marine accidents, such as oil spills, and of assessing their environmental and cultural impacts.
The OPA also requires the development of Area Contingency Plans to prepare and plan for oil spill response on a regional scale. For Valdez, the Regional Citizens’ Advisory Council provides oversight..
After the Exxon Valdez spill, Governor Steve Cowper issued an executive order requiring two tugboats to escort every loaded tanker from Valdez through the Sound to Hinchinbrook Entrance. In the 1990s, one of the tugs was replaced with a 210-foot Escort Response Vehicle.
To learn more about the Exxon Valdez incident and the Trans-Alaska pipeline,while you are in Seward, visit the Valdez Museum and Historical Archive. It has superb exhibits on these two subjects.
View of the Terminal
West Tank Farm Discontinued in 2013
East Tank Farm Still in Use
Oil Tanker Taking on Oil
View of the Whole Complex from the Ferry
View of the Pipeline from Milepost 8.4
Showing the Pipeline's Radiators on Top of the Supports
Close-up View of the Supports
1977 Pig That Scraped the Wax from the Pipe's Interior Walls
Polyurethane Version of the Pig
Signs About Maple and About Winning the Award
Sign at Gold Dredge 8 Showing the Pipeline Route
Sign at Gold Dredge 8 About the Pipeline's Construction and History
Sign About ZigZag of Pipeline at Gold Dredge 8
Pipeline's Interior and Exterior at Gold Dredge 8
Pipeline's Interior Showing Pig at Gold Dredge 8
Exxon Valdez Model at the Valdez Museum and Historical Archive on Long-term Loan from the State of Alaska Attorney General's Office
Celebrating the First Barrel of Oil - On Exhibit at Valdez Museum and Historical Archive