President's Message
Kevin Hostler, President and CEO

Unified Plan developed to improve safety, integrity management on TAPS

Safety and environmental performance are two of Alyeska’s most vital concerns in operating the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). Over the past year and a half, several operational incidents occurred that could have indicated a departure from Alyeska policies, standards, and the company’s safety culture. These incidents have significantly impacted Alyeska’s relationship with our regulators. I am happy to say we are on a solid path leading us in the right direction with the introduction of Alyeska’s Unified Plan.

In April of last year, Alyeska management determined that a “Unified Plan” would provide assurance that TAPS is maintained and operated in accordance with the company’s policies, in full regulatory compliance while ensuring the protection of public health and safety, the environment and system integrity.

To ensure we meet and exceed these expectations, and those of our regulators and owners, Alyeska put together the Unified Plan Project Team and fully developed the plan, targeting higher standards in safety procedures, integrity management and risk management across all areas of the company. Over the past several months, this team has supported, tracked and reported on the progress of this work.

The Unified Plan specifically covers three areas: people, operational facilities and processes. The people component is comprised of training, code of conduct, regulatory interaction and compliance, and a reevaluation of operator qualification programs. Operational facilities revolves around facility investment and plans for the next 30 years of pipeline operations, and the process section calls for improving the compliance program; revising the integrity management plan in accordance with DOT protocols; adjusting enterprise risk management and process safety management practices; revising the Quality Improvement Plan; and improving key performance indicators for the company.

In an effort to effectuate an objective, forward-looking assessment of these programs and processes, an independent consulting firm conducted an evaluation of existing programs and processes on TAPS related to the key target areas. They gathered feedback through interviews with TAPS personnel in Anchorage, Fairbanks Valdez and along the pipeline.

The consulting firm, ABS Consulting, provided a total of 60 recommendations, many with common themes such as improving or emphasizing hazard recognition and situational awareness, and energy isolation procedures and practices. A key observation was the emphasis on effective translation of the Alyeska Management System process requirements into the documents that people use either on a daily basis, or consult for reference when needed.

Overall the study found Alyeska’s processes and the Integrity Management program description to be sound and concluded that current risk assessment tools are effective and meet compliance needs.

As we move forward in implementing the action plans outlined in the Unified Plan, I ask you to please take a moment to reflect on the significance of such a huge, all-encompassing endeavor. This Plan requires the contribution of each and every one of our Alyeska employees and contractors—the pipeline people—to help maintain the integrity of TAPS for the next 30 years and beyond.