Barge runs aground, leaks fuel on Alaska's North Slope
SMALL LEAK: No injuries to 4 crew after wheelhouse partially falls off.
By RACHEL D'ORO
The Associated Press
Published: September 15th, 2010 09:17 PM
Last Modified: September 15th, 2010 10:53 PM
An ocean barge carrying oil-field equipment ran aground along the North Slope, and responders
State environmental regulators said the vessel has more than 1,700 gallons of diesel fuel on board.
The Stryker grounded after a section of the barge holding the wheelhouse lost connecting pins and fell partly into the water.
The mishap occurred Tuesday between Oliktok Point and Oooguruk, a field that pumps oil from an artificial island.
No one was injured, but a small amount of fuel leaked from a tank, according to Tom DeRuyter of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Valves on all the tanks were closed and the sheen dissipated, he said. The Coast Guard also responded.
The barge ran aground about 40 miles west of Prudhoe Bay, the nation's largest oil field. The cause is under investigation and immediate plans call for placing booms around the barge, removing the fuel and salvaging the vessel.
The Stryker is owned by Bowhead Transportation Co. and is under contract with the Oooguruk operator, Pioneer Natural Resources, an independent oil and gas company based in Irving, Texas.
At the time of the grounding, seas were choppy and winds were gusting at 40 mph. The barge has operated in the area for several years in rough conditions, said Amanda Henry, a spokeswoman for Bowhead.
"We are not aware at this time what actually caused this," she said.
The barge is attached in segments, with the wheelhouse held in place by pins on top of the stern, Henry said. The design allows the barge to be expanded for larger loads.
Henry said two of the wheelhouse pins failed for unknown reasons, leading to the grounding. The four people on board were safely removed from the craft, which was transporting three flatbed trailers and a vacuum truck from Oooguruk to a dock at Oliktok eight miles away.
Todd Owens, an Alaska spokesman for Pioneer, said oil production has not been affected. Oooguruk produces as much as 588,000 gallons a day.
Pioneer is already under scrutiny by the state, which hired an independent investigator in June to review allegations from a former worker at the small field. The whistleblower, Mike Kelley, claims Pioneer covered up spills, improperly disposed of waste, created unsafe work conditions and injured wildlife.
The grounding is irrelevant to any concerns raised by the whistleblower, Owens said.
"This is not a Pioneer-operated asset," he said of the barge.
Rob Shoaf, a private attorney looking into Kelley's claims, said the grounding is "not within the scope of this investigation." He hopes to submit his report next week to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission, the state agency that regulates oil wells.
For Our Environment ~ Uncovering Public Trust Doctrine Violators on Alaska's Frontier
THIS SITE HISTORICAL:
In 2008 through 2010, an "Independent mom & pop" oil company violated the "Alaskan Public Trust" doctrine, allowing malfeasance and environmental atrocities upon the "Last Frontier". This "blog" is dedicated to follow the outcome of the illegal activities that have now become front and center attention before the regulators in charge of making sure the "Public Trust" is upheld, as a centralized forum to make sure Alaskans and others are kept abreast of penalties and fines upon those that feel Alaska is the "Last Frontier Dumping Grounds".
The above image depicts a crude oil well flow-back test, wherein for days hydrocarbon saturated "wet" natural gas was allowed to vent to the atmosphere out a safety relief valve, with temperatures and ambient conditions such that the "wet" vapors most likely condensed and fell upon the pristine waters of Harrison Bay of the Colville River delta, a place so far removed from man-made pollution. This image is also the cover photo of the report called "Alaska's Deadliest Sin", a culmination of malfeasance and environmental corruption evidence upon this Independent, collected by an ex-employee who has made it a personal "mission" to make sure this kind of irresponsible behavior is stopped and never again repeated on this "Frontier". To date, the company – Pioneer Natural Resources - has attempted to deny all allegations, but the evidence allowing denial is too strong. With that, the company has started to admit true so serious these violations. They have admitted their actions are indeed a violation of "Public Trust". With a 3rd party ongoing investigation following the submittal of the "Sin", the end result should be stiff fines and penalties upon the perpetrators, that which sends a message to those that want to "Go North" for oil exploration and exploitation.
"Drill Baby Drill" is upon us, thanks to Sarah Palin and others, and we must stand up against this all out blitzkrieg assault upon the ecosystem, to protect the environment from continued malfeasance and environmental atrocities, as it is not worth another Love Canal!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In 2008 through 2010, an "Independent mom & pop" oil company violated the "Alaskan Public Trust" doctrine, allowing malfeasance and environmental atrocities upon the "Last Frontier". This "blog" is dedicated to follow the outcome of the illegal activities that have now become front and center attention before the regulators in charge of making sure the "Public Trust" is upheld, as a centralized forum to make sure Alaskans and others are kept abreast of penalties and fines upon those that feel Alaska is the "Last Frontier Dumping Grounds".
The above image depicts a crude oil well flow-back test, wherein for days hydrocarbon saturated "wet" natural gas was allowed to vent to the atmosphere out a safety relief valve, with temperatures and ambient conditions such that the "wet" vapors most likely condensed and fell upon the pristine waters of Harrison Bay of the Colville River delta, a place so far removed from man-made pollution. This image is also the cover photo of the report called "Alaska's Deadliest Sin", a culmination of malfeasance and environmental corruption evidence upon this Independent, collected by an ex-employee who has made it a personal "mission" to make sure this kind of irresponsible behavior is stopped and never again repeated on this "Frontier". To date, the company – Pioneer Natural Resources - has attempted to deny all allegations, but the evidence allowing denial is too strong. With that, the company has started to admit true so serious these violations. They have admitted their actions are indeed a violation of "Public Trust". With a 3rd party ongoing investigation following the submittal of the "Sin", the end result should be stiff fines and penalties upon the perpetrators, that which sends a message to those that want to "Go North" for oil exploration and exploitation.
"Drill Baby Drill" is upon us, thanks to Sarah Palin and others, and we must stand up against this all out blitzkrieg assault upon the ecosystem, to protect the environment from continued malfeasance and environmental atrocities, as it is not worth another Love Canal!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
