Here we go again....

Alaska hit by 'massive' oil spill  
Link

The spill covers two acres of the snow-covered tundra

An oil spill discovered at Prudhoe Bay field is the largest ever on Alaska's North Slope region, US officials say.
They estimate that up to 267,000 gallons (one million litres) of crude leaked from a corroded transit pipeline at the state's northern tip.

The spill was detected on 2 March and plugged. Local environmentalists have described it as "a catastrophe".

In 1989, the Exxon Valdez shipping disaster spilled 11m gallons (42m litres) of oil onto the Alaskan coast.

'Painful reminder'

"I can confirm it's the largest spill of crude oil on the North Slope that we have record of," Linda Giguere from Alaska's state department of environmental conservation was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.


The estimate is based on a survey conducted several days ago at the site where the leak was discovered, officials say.

The spill covers about two acres (one hectare) of the snow-covered tundra in the sparsely-populated region on Alaska's north coast, some 1,040km (650 miles) north of the state's biggest city, Anchorage.

The source of the spill was a hole caused by internal corrosion in the pipeline, officials say. It remains unclear when the leak started.

Environmentalists from Alaska Wilderness League said the spill was "a catastrophe for the environment".

They said it was "a painful reminder of the reality of unchecked oil and gas development across Alaska's North Slope".

They also urged lawmakers to shelve a Republican-led project to allow drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).

Supporters of drilling in Alaska say it offers an alternative source of energy to the Middle East and so would improve national security.

Opponents warn oil exploration would harm a pristine wilderness and endanger a key habitat for migratory birds, polar bears, caribou and other animals.

1989 disaster

Alaska's worst-ever oil spill happened on 24 March 1989.


The 1989 spill devastated miles of Alaskan coastline and wildlife

The Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground in Prince Edward Sound, near Anchorage, contaminating around 1,300 miles (2,080km) of coastline.

Its captain, Joseph Hazelwood, admitted drinking vodka before boarding the vessel, but was subsequently acquitted of operating a ship while intoxicated.

The spill killed an estimated 250,000 seabirds, 2,800 sea otters, 300 seals, 250 bald eagles, up to 22 Orca or killer whales, and an unknown number of salmon and herring.

In 2004, a federal judge in Alaska ordered Exxon to pay $6.75bn (£3.9bn) in damages and interest in relation to the spill.

I hate to sound callous, or anything, but I haven't gotten a lot of sleep tonight ....



"Environmentalists say ..." a lot of things, most of which are grossly exaggerated.

The '89 spill: A lot farther south, more prominant shores, more critters, more people, more eyes.  11,000,000 (11.000 million) gallons of oil.

This spill:  practically at the North Pole, less critters, less important shores, *way* farther from people, less eyes.  267,000 (00.267 million) gallons of oil.


Overall: not a big deal.

Big by Alaska slope standards, yes.  You have no idea how careful they are up there.  If a truck stands still on a gravel pad, you're supposed to put a little kiddie pool under the engine to catch any oil it may leak.  If you're responsible for some kind of spill, no matter how minor, even if it's crankcase oil. kiss your job goodbye.

When some drunk indian hunter shot the pipeline with his .338 win mag in October 2001 was much worse.

THE SKY IS FALLING. THE SKY IS FALLING. RUN FOR THE HILLS. GLOBAL WARMING IS CORRODING THE PIPELINES AND IT'S ALL GEORGE BUSH'S FAULT. AAAAAAAHHHHH....

Quick...raise the price of gasoline.

Quoted: Quick...raise the price of gasoline.

Heheheh. No sh*t. Just give 'em a minute, they will.

This is a catasrophe! Think of all that snow that was ruined!!
BAN DRILLING!! DO IT FOR THE SNOW!!!

The Exxon Valdez spill was "healed" a lot sooner and thouroghly than many thought
would happen.

They will clean this one up, someone will sue and the earth will heal.


GM

So...  how hard can it be to clean up oil that is laying on top of ice?
It didn't make it to water, did it?

This is  Bush's fault.

Quoted: This is  Bush's fault.

Quoted: This is  Bush's fault.

And Halliburton's, too.

Quoted: Quoted: This is  Bush's fault. And Halliburton's, too.

Lies I tell you!

Quoted: This is  Bush's fault.

slaughter
Member
Joined :: December 2005
Post Number :: 156


Hey noob, use or someone else will use this for you...

Quoted: Quoted: This is  Bush's fault. slaughter Member Joined :: December 2005 Post Number :: 156 Hey noob, use or someone else will use this for you...

He's a troll...he says trollish crap like that in all his posts.

Anybody ever notice how when Oil prices start to drop, something "BIG" always seems to happen "Accidently" and it goes back up?

Planned "Accidents" naw!! Go back to sleep, wake up when the fleecing is done.

Its on snow is it not?   It should not be that hard to clean it up and recover a lot of the oil.  Only the remote area would be a difficulty. I have seen worse spills in the news.

Quoted: Anybody ever notice how when Oil prices start to drop, something "BIG" always seems to happen "Accidently" and it goes back up? Planned "Accidents" naw!! Go back to sleep, wake up when the fleecing is done.

Conspiritude


Seriously, the whole freaking pipeline could blow, I doubt it'd nudge the price of oil.  And this was just a leak on a feeder pipeline to the trans-Alaska pipeline.  

Ehh who cares?

Reading through the news, this is an enormous spill.  200,000 gallons is huge, especially by North Slope standards, where I said they take massive precaution and are very strict and harsh if a spill is your fault. They should be able to operate bulldozers in -60f weather, and I'm sure it's only that with wind.  This is the best time of year this disaster could have happened, with the snow shielding the ground and the oil being thick and gummy.

Nice that we have "corroded" pipes and are spending how much to help rebuild everything in Iraq?

only about a quarter million dollars worth of oil.  

Quoted: Nice that we have "corroded" pipes and are spending how much to help rebuild everything in Iraq?

Dude WTF are you a fucking libtard democrat or just retarded?

They have maintance on the pipeline, this one just got away or someone fucked up.

Quoted: Nice that we have "corroded" pipes and are spending how much to help rebuild everything in Iraq?

Quoted: Nice that we have "corroded" pipes and are spending how much to help rebuild everything in Iraq?

Thats enough out of you!  You know very well getting our shit straight at home is far less important then rebuilding a 3rd world nation thats going to destroy itself as soon as we leave anyway!!!

Quoted: So...  how hard can it be to clean up oil that is laying on top of ice? It didn't make it to water, did it?

I doubt it since it's about -40 degrees up there right now.

I read today in the paper that it's pretty much contained and controllable.  The super cold weather has hampered cleanup efforts, but it's also massively slowed the movement of the spilled oil.

My bet is that a month from now, you'll be hard pressed to find evidence of this spill.  Any AK and/or oil experts care to comment on this?

Merlin

So how much will the price of gas go up over this?

Oil comes out of the fucking earth, it will go back.  I'm not saying oil spills are good but it's not the end of the world.

Quoted: Quoted: So...  how hard can it be to clean up oil that is laying on top of ice? It didn't make it to water, did it? I doubt it since it's about -40 degrees up there right now. I read today in the paper that it's pretty much contained and controllable.  The super cold weather has hampered cleanup efforts, but it's also massively slowed the movement of the spilled oil. My bet is that a month from now, you'll be hard pressed to find evidence of this spill.  Any AK and/or oil experts care to comment on this? Merlin

I'd say you are probably correct. When I was working up there, there was a little wind blown dilling mud on the snow covering a couple of acres and they had crews on it for 24 hours until not a speck was left.

WHY DIDN'T THEY MAKE IT WITH FIVE THOUSAND AND 1 HULLS! WHEN WILL THEY LEARN!