ANCHORAGE, AK. September 9, 1996. -- Alyeska Pipeline Service Company announced today that they are nearing completion of the first year of a two year project to replace carbon steel pipe in the Valdez Marine Terminal Vapor Recovery System with corrosion resistant stainless steel pipe. The program was accelerated from a three-year project to a two year project after a series of pin-hole leaks were discovered in the high pressure vapor recovery piping last fall. Approximately 3,600 feet of pipe were replaced on the high pressure and low pressure lines to the East Tank Farm during an August shutdown of the system. Approximately 1,100 more feet of pipe will be replaced during a second shutdown of the Vapor Recovery System, scheduled for October. The Vapor Recovery pipe replacement work will be completed in 1997 with approximately 99 percent of the high pressure vapor recovery piping being replaced with stainless steel.

During the system shutdown, work was also done to modify the Vapor Recovery System to accommodate the tanker vapor control system which is being installed on the tanker berths and to complete annual corrosion inspections on selected sections of pipe.

The Vapor Recovery System is designed to provide pressure balancing of the Terminal’s 18 crude storage tanks during tanker loading to ensure that the tank are not vented to the atmosphere when oil flows into the tank, and to keep oxygen from being drawn into the tanks during tanker loading.