Face to Face
Meredith Buchman
Operations Control Center Supervisor

Monitoring and controlling operations along the 800-mile pipeline is no simple task. Meredith Buchman has a pretty good idea about what it takes to sustain a high TAPS reliability standard, with more than 22 years experience in maintenance and operations at many locations along the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). Meredith is one of four supervisors in the Operations Control Center (OCC) in Valdez. Controllers monitor more than 4,100 points along the pipeline and directly control 800 of those points. The OCC is the brain-center for pipeline and terminal operations.  From here, all the systems required to operate TAPS can be “seen” on monitors and controlled remotely.

Q: What is the most significant contributor to reliability along TAPS?

Teamwork. It takes communication, coordination and support between OCC and everyone in the field. From controllers to technicians, from powerhouse operators to berth operators and maintenance technicians.  Reliability is the result of hundreds of people in all different jobs. Alyeska’s 99.67 percent reliability rating for 2000 is the result of phenomenal teamwork.

Q: What does a controller in OCC do?

We monitor information coming in from the field and the status of the equipment along the pipeline – from Pump Station 1 to Valdez. We directly control oil movement from the time it’s received from the producers, until it’s loaded onto tankers in Valdez. We monitor pipeline leak detection and oversee the measurement and quality control of the oil for its owners. We monitor shipping and pipeline throughput forecasts to optimize TAPS.  We publish the vessel loading schedule and we’re responsible for the initial reporting of spills to agencies.

Q: What kind of decisions do controllers make and how do you base those decisions?

We make control decisions to move the oil in the safest, most reliable and efficient manner. The decisions are coordinated with the needs of operations and maintenance. A controller’s decision making is based on training and experience. We look for the best system configurations for pipeline and terminal operations and handle any upsets to minimize the impacts.

Q: How much training does it take to be a TAPS controller?

We prefer to hire people with a foundation in field operating experience. It takes approximately one year to complete our Qualification Development Program. The second year is supervised on-the-job training.  A controller is fully qualified after two years, but we continue using the training simulator to practice upset scenarios. After three to four years, controllers have been exposed to most of the possible configurations and upsets that can occur along the pipeline and at the terminal.