Wow, back to the basics for the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, snow-removal 101 and how to use a shovel, not for shoveling bull-shit but...Wow, 2-years after the time-scene of the crime, the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company management is still contesting the $404,602.00 fine for a considerable amount of OSHA violations, back from 2020, that which placed the workers at risk in Valdez at the “END” of the 800-mile long Trans-Alaska-Pipeline. Some 43-violations in total, with 38 categorized as “Serious”. For things like exposing the workers to cancer causing “Benzene” which is considered that “value added product” associated with North slope crude oil production. And that “Benzene” along with other nasty constituents like “Toluene”, it is due the fact the oil producers up north “spike” that crude oil with “natural gas liquids” in a $money$ making opportunity because it enhances the ”Quality Bank Account” of that oil by increasing the specific gravity. And the “slate” for evaluating that crude, as oil lubricity is different depending on what kind of dinosaur it originated from, it is based on the “gravity” of the situation. So instead of shoving that “NGL” byproduct back into the formation or “flaring” it off, send it south so what’s the problem with a little “Benzene” emission? It is all about the $money$! And that fine came on the heels of another OSHA enforcement action at the same damn place only a few months prior, in Valdez, which allowed the original $64,000.00 fine for that violation to be contested down to $27,000.00. See, when an OSHA fine is over $40k, violators get special mention attention on the OSHA site! Way to go Alyeska! Like who in hell would want to work here? But with the Alyeska lawyers trying to convince the OSHA regulators to be kind, to lower the “contested” fine so that it is below that $40k threshold they don’t want the publicized notoriety in recognition as a “Major Violator” or “Major Contributor” that which side-lines the Clean Air Act, well just a few months ago that company may have chastised any attempt for “regulator” leniency upon that “Big Fine”! See, contesting an environmental crime with some semblance of “leniency”, to get a break, it is based on Trust v. Trust, that you learn from your mistakes so Uncle Sam retreats – but don’t cross him mind you! And by God don’t become a repeat offender. So just when the “Pipeline People” were sitting down with the regulators, all hell came crashing down in Valdez. See, in the “low flow study” by the Alyeska engineers, because the “pipeline” is running on empty, that study said put away the snow shovels in Valdez. And then the snows came and with ice formation on the 60-foot tall tanks, the accompanying ice-shearing loads destroyed many of the mechanical control valves on the crude oil storage tanks, because free-fall from gravity is another thing we learned in kindergarten, which means more “Benzene” emission in an uncontrolled delivery. So not only were the workers cheated out by exposure to uncontrolled releases of cancer causing “stuff”, more then likely it got into the air we breath in Valdez! Way to go “low flow study” engineers! And who was in charge of that “study” that may have said no need for that snow shovel? Maybe the company should bring that individual back, as it surely did not get its money’s worth when on the payroll. Like in a money back guarantee. Hint: “like a big, frozen tube of ChapStick."
And this fancy footing around by outsiders, that maybe this atrocity was based
on the new owners of the pipeline – like Sillycorp? That is a lame excuse. Instead,
for many of us that came to find in understanding that Alyeska culture in its
corruptness maybe ineptness, it is just more of the same and it is but for the
same blame game just a different inning, the corrupt culture that has been at
the helm of that company Alyeska since the 1980s. Yes, over the years that
corruption has enjoyed “promotions” up into the reaches of the executive branch
wherein a shovelful of experience without such corruption would be a godsend. But
below is what the outside news media is broadcasting:
Lessons
learned, or ‘were they forgotten?’
Schantz said
her watchdog group, the citizens advisory council, will be looking into
Alyeska’s preparedness once the snow removal is finished. Given that similar
problems cropped up at the terminal a decade ago, Schantz said she wants to
know “what happened to all those lessons learned. Were they forgotten? Or was
this a different scenario?” she said. One essential question, Schantz said, is
whether any cost-cutting or efficiency measures from Alyeska affected the
company’s readiness. That’s especially relevant after the Hilcorp
affiliate acquired its 49% stake in Alyeska in 2020, she said, because of
the company’s reputation for efficiency and reducing expenses. “There’s a
higher level of concern with Hilcorp, and really it’s because they’ve been open
that that’s their business model,” Schantz said. “They have a different way of
managing things to cut costs.” In a report filed with federal
responders last week, provided to the Daily News by the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, an unnamed caller reported a release of an “unknown amount
of benzene and hydrocarbon from a tank farm” at the Valdez Marine Terminal. “The
cause of the release is due to negligence to maintenance of the tanks at the
tank farm,” the caller said, according to the report.
An EPA
spokeswoman said that federal regulators have not confirmed the report’s
details. The state is now the lead investigator on the incident, she said.
Egan, from
Alyeska, said there hasn’t been a “big change” in the way the company staffs
its snow removal crews. The number of available core crews and backup
contractors has been stable since 2019, she said, which is before the Hilcorp
transaction closed.
While this
year came with an “unusual” amount of snow and unprecedented impacts to
infrastructure, Egan said, the company is also reviewing its response. “As we
always do, we will identify and apply any lessons from this experience and
build them into our processes,” she said. “An investigation is underway so that
we can do just that.”
…and great
video!
https://weather.com/storms/winter/video/snow-damages-alaska-pipeline-companys-storage-tanks
