The spill is contained by natural and man-made snow berms. Snow and frozen conditions allow for working on the tundra and minimizing damage from workers and oil contamination.
Weather: Partly cloudy, lows 18°F below to 20°F below zero, east winds 15 to 20 mph, wind chill to 50 below.
RESPONSE ACTION: Incident response priorities and objectives are
• Ensure all personnel are safe
• Identify the source of the leak
• Mitigate potenial of further release
• Investigate the cause of the spill
• Protect wells from freezing
• Continue containment of the spill
• Implement a plan to restart the pipeline
Two vacuum trucks are currently on-site recovering oil. 453 barrels (19,026 gallons) of oil/water have been recovered as of 10:00 AM today. A 24-hour cleanup operation is in effect with 40 cleanup workers on site per 12 hour shift.
All recovered oil in the vacuum trucks is being transported to Flow Station 2 (FS-2) and offloaded into a 10,000 barrel (bbl) tank. This tank will allow for the recovered oil / water to settle so that the amount of recovered oil can be properly measured.
The Alaska Department of Natural Resources and the North Slope Borough Dept of Land Management have approved the construction of an ice pad to improve site access and stage response equipment. BPXA began construction of the ice pad this morning.
The BPXA Incident Management Team (IMT) at the Prudhoe Bay Operations Center (PBOC) and the Crisis Management Team (CMT) in Anchorage continue to be activated. ADEC has a staff liaison person coordinating with the CMT. The BPXA Environmental Unit is currently working on drafting a cleanup and disposal plan for agency review and approval.
EPA has a FOSC and START in the IMT at the PBOC.
EPA will also have a START at the CMT in the JIC.
ADEC has three staff on site with four additional staff arriving later this morning. ADEC is participating in the IMT and in the field. North Slope Borough has three personnel on scene and is particpating in the IMT.
GC-2 has been shut down. The damaged pipeline has been blocked at each end and depressured. The release has stopped. BPXA is providing freeze protection to wells connected to GC-2. Evacuation of oil in the line is on hold until the leak source is found. Insulation has been removed from the pipe but the source has not yet been identified.
A 24-hour cleanup operation is in effect with 40 cleanup workers on site per 12 hour shift.
Based upon the reconnaissance data provided by the FLIR overflight, the RP plans to remove snow from within a 3-5 acre area to determine the extent of the spill. Forward Looking Infra-Red (FLIR) technology uses an infrared detection system to identify oil heat signatures, and assist in delineating the spill area.
BPXA has developed, and submitted for ADEC approval, a cleanup and disposal plan. Additional response actions include determining the volume spilled and cause of the spill.
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