Last March, a worker was driving around Prudhoe Bay when he saw the frozen tundra drenched with several thousand barrels of oil. Unbeknownst to BP management, one of the company's transit pipelines had become corroded and had been leaking for days. What resulted was the biggest spill ever recorded in an Alaska oil field. Then, after another corroded pipeline caused a small spill this month, BP temporarily shut down Prudhoe Bay. BP has been slowly restoring oil production to the 400,000-barrel-a-day field.
The oil industry has been fighting rusting machinery for decades in northern Alaska. Until this year's spill, state regulators often lauded BP for running an exceptional program to monitor and prevent corrosion. In general, the company has combated rust by flushing pipes with inhibitors, using ultrasonic testing to look for weak spots in the pipeline walls, and by sometimes running what are called "pigs"—bullet-shaped machines—through the lines to remove sludge and to check for corrosion.
In the summer, caribou often saunter amidst Prudhoe Bays maze of pipes
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But after the most recent spill, BP leaders acknowledged their program wasn't up to snuff. They admitted the company hadn't "pigged" the corroded pipeline since 1992. They believe an acid-producing bacteria ate holes in the steel. "We realize our [corrosion] monitoring program wasn't good enough, and we will adjust the program to make it better," says BP spokesperson Neil Chapman.
Not surprisingly, Hamel believes BP could have prevented the spills and presents correspondence with BP executives, in which he warned the company in 2004 that corrosion was out of control at Prudhoe Bay. In one letter, Hamel tells Dr. Walter E. Massey, chairman of BP's environmental committee, that workers were worried that corrosion and cutbacks would lead to a "catastrophic event." Massey and other BP officials pressed Hamel for specifics, but Hamel claims all they wanted were the names of his informants. When asked whether BP looked into Hamel's claims, Chapman responds, "It's not about individuals, it's about safely producing energy and protecting the environment." Last year, Hamel took his whistle-blowers' accusations to the EPA, which, he says, has launched an ongoing probe. EPA officials neither confirm nor deny the investigation. Federal pipeline regulators are also looking into BP's practices, and the Justice Department is conducting its own grand-jury investigation.
Hamel's opponents are hobbled and embarrassed. BP shareholders have sued company leaders, alleging they knew corrosion was out of hand. Some workers are openly criticizing their employer. "They were playing Russian roulette," said Marc Kovac, a longtime BP employee who lives in Alaska, in an e-mail last week. "They increased the risk to our workers. They damaged BP's business. America's greatest energy asset was managed into the ground, literally." Even U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska—a staunch supporter of oil drilling in ANWR—is infuriated, publicly demanding that BP executives explain themselves.
Hamel, meanwhile, is delighted. He says 60 Minutes and Good Morning America have been hounding him: "60 Minutes wants to do two shows on me. Two shows! Can you believe that?" Recharged after a few days of rest, Hamel's ready to drop another bomb on BP, but he isn't ready to share details. "You'll find out soon enough," he snickers.
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