American Petroleum Institute Honors Alyeska
Trans Alaska Pipeline System reached 100 percent reliability in 2003

Alyeska Pipeline Service Company won the American Petroleum Institute’s (API) Large Operator Environmental Award for 2003. This is the second year in a row Alyeska received this honor for companies with the best spill prevention and containment performance records.

“This recognition reflects our continued commitment to protecting Alaska’s health, safety and environment,” said Dan Hisey, Alyeska chief operating officer. “We are working hard to improve our performance and this award validates that Alyeska is moving in the right direction.”

The award is based on API spill data and considers both the numbers of spills per mile of pipeline and the volume of the spills. The 800-mile-long Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) had only one spill of approximately 10 gallons of Alaska North Slope crude oil in 2003. This particular spill was located outside of a building at the Valdez Marine Terminal. The source was quickly identified and cleanup was initiated immediately with the removal of contaminated soil and backfill.

For the first time in TAPS history, Alyeska also achieved 100 percent reliability for an entire year in 2003. The company managed all of the oil it received from North Slope producers without impacting their production schedules. TAPS’ average throughput in 2003 was 993,000 barrels per day for a total of 362,554,000 barrels. API also awarded Alyeska a certificate of recognition for Most Improved Safety Performance over three years, because of TAPS’ 47 percent reduction in Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) total recordable incident rate.

The API pipeline awards program started in 2000 to recognize liquid pipeline companies that make the greatest strides in ensuring worker safety and outstanding environmental performance. To be eligible, companies must participate in API performance tracking programs and meet baseline measures of operational safety.