Environment

The Next BP Disaster

Pipelines severely corroded in Alaska.

Looks like BP CEO Bob Dudley has more messes to clean up than just the one in the Gulf of Mexico: A ProPublica investigation revealed that at least 148 of BP’s pipelines in Alaska were given an F-ranking and warned that the pipes were so corroded and damaged, they could burst, releasing toxic and flammable substances. BP employees have gone on the record to say the company has not funded repairs properly. Marc Kovac, a mechanic and welder for BP, said the pipes have hundreds of patches, "They're going to run this out as far as they can without leaving one dollar on the table when they leave," Kovac said. In 2006, BP shut down their transmission in Alaska after two spills from corroded pipes. That cut off 8 percent of the nation’s oil and brought national attention to the company’s maintenance policies. In addition to the pipes, ProPublica discovered that the turbines pushing the gas through the pipelines are at-risk of collapsing under loose sediment. Several of the 120 turbines “have been modified to run at higher stress levels and higher temperatures than they were originally designed to handle.”