yahoo.com Oct r, 2001

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Oil Spilling From Alaska Pipeline

By MAUREEN CLARK, Associated Press Writer

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - Crews were slowed by explosive vapors as they tried to plug a leak in the trans-Alaska Oil Pipeline that spewed nearly 300,000 gallons of oil into the wilderness.

In what the governor called ``a hare-brained act of violence,'' a man who had been drinking caused the leak when he shot the pipeline with a big-game rifle that has the power to kill animals like elk and bear.

Crews were trying to fix the hole, but the work was proceeding slowly because of flammable vapors that made the operation dangerous, said Brad Hahn of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., which operates the line, was giving consideration to using a crane to install a hydraulic clamp over the line to cover the hole.

``There's concern about the safety of the workers there. It is a very delicate operation with large machinery in a volatile environment,'' Alyeska spokesman Tim Woolston said.

Oil under high pressure sprayed through a small hole onto about two acres of trees, brush and tundra. Regulators said there was no evidence that any wildlife has been oiled by the spill.

Workers had built a series of dikes to contain the spilled oil and keep it away from the Tolovana River, about a mile away.

The shooting occurred Thursday afternoon about 75 miles north of Fairbanks. The pipeline was quickly shut down, but oil remained under high pressure in the section of the line that was pierced by the bullet.

The suspect, Daniel Carson Lewis, 37, was arraigned Friday in Fairbanks Superior Court and was being held on $1.5 million bail.

According to documents, Lewis, who has an extensive criminal background, had been drinking before shooting the pipeline with a .338-caliber rifle. He is charged with driving while intoxicated, weapons misconduct, felony assault and criminal mischief.

When the bullet penetrated the pipe, Lewis fled on an all-terrain vehicle, according to the documents. His brother, Randolph Lewis, remained at the scene and explained to pipeline security officers what had happened.

Daniel Lewis told Alaska State Troopers he was asleep at his home at the time of the shooting and had not been with his brother.

Gov. Tony Knowles said state officials would be taking another look at security along the 800-mile pipeline. Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. had beefed up security in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

``Clearly the fact that one person with a rifle can do this much damage is a point of concern in terms of vulnerability,'' Knowles said.

The pipeline carries about 1 million barrels of oil a day, or 17 percent of domestic oil production. Oil companies on the North Slope were asked to reduce their production by 95 percent during the shutdown.

Indentations from bullets have been found in the line over the years. Woolston said people have shot at the pipeline more than 50 times but never caused enough damage to produce a spill.

In 1978, about 670,000 gallons of oil spilled after a hole was blasted with explosives near Fairbanks. No one has been arrested in that case.

In 1999, a Canadian man was charged with plotting to blow up the pipeline in an attempt to drive up oil prices and reap a profit. He is fighting extradition to the United States on explosives and terrorism charges.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), October 06, 2001

Answers

The environmental implications are bad enough but I had no idea that this national resource was so vulnerable to sabotage. Another wake-up call?

Living in the North Country can make you a trifle strange.

-- Lars (lars@indy.net), October 06, 2001.

Didn't the magazine 'Popular Mechanics' many years ago detail how to paralyze the United States by damaging key infrastructure points across the USA? I wonder if that had changed now or are key points still just sitting ducks?

-- Gary (gcphelps@yahoo.com), October 06, 2001.

QUAAAAAAAAACK QUAAAAAAAAAACK

-- al-d. (dogs@zianet.com), October 06, 2001.

I would guess that those "key infrastructure points" are still vulnerable to attack, given the right weapons to do the job. The bigger question is what weapons do the few terrorist cells in the USA who might attack them possess?

For example, a car bomb probably can't take out a dam, but a suitcase nuke delivered by small airplane certainly could. OTOH, any Interstate highway is vulnerable to a sufficiently large car bomb, but there would always be a detour available around the damage, so the economic damage would be contained.

-- Little Nipper (canis@minor.net), October 06, 2001.

Hey Osama, leez blow up a nuke power plant. Spread radiation downwind, geef infidels much canser. Glory to Allah.

-- (Mohamed @tta.boy), October 06, 2001.