Worst
ever oil spill in Alaska's North Slope
AFP
LOS
ANGELES
Petroleumworld.com
03 15 06
Up to one million liters (267,000 gallons) of oil have leaked
from a damaged pipeline in Alaska's North Slope, the worst spill
in the region's history, authorities said Tuesday.
The leak, apparently caused by metal corrosion, was detected March
2 in the United States' largest oil field in Prudhoe Bay, which
lies about 1,040 kilometers (650 miles) north of Alaska's biggest
city, Anchorage.
In its latest report on the incident, the Alaska Department of
Environmental Conservation estimated that 760,000 to one million
liters (201,000 to 267,000 gallons) of oil have spilled into 0.8
hectare (1.93 acres) of tundra and frozen lake surface.
The previous estimate released last week said 220,000 liters (58,000
gallons) of crude had spewed onto the tundra.
The biggest crude leak on the North Slope until this month's spill
had been a 127,500-litre (39,850-gallon) spill in 1989.
The extreme cold weather has hampered the cleanup operation, the
environmental department said.
"The priorities are still to vacuum up the oil and collecting
the contaminated snow, to make sure the tundra is not contaminated,"
department spokeswoman Lynda Giguere told AFP.
"The project is going on very smoothly, it's just a matter
of having the weather cooperating with us," she said.
Alaska's worst ever oil spill took place after the Exxon Valdez
tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound, south of Anchorage,
on March 24, 1989.
The Exxon Valdez was laden with 11 million gallons (41.8 million
liters) of crude when it hit a reef at night, unleashing one of
the world's worst environmental disasters.
AFP 03 14 06
Copyright
© 2006 AFP. All Rights Reserved.
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