FAIRBANKS, AK –  SEPTEMBER 14, 2000 – The Trans-Alaska pipeline will be shut down as scheduled at 7:00 a.m., September 16, 2000.  The shutdown is scheduled to last approximately 27 hours. Work scheduled includes replacement of two valves (Check Valve 74 in North Pole and M2 - a valve inside the manifold building at PS 9), testing of approximately 32 mainline remote gate valves and check valves, and other maintenance work along the pipeline, at pump stations, and the Valdez Marine Terminal.   A total of 86 projects are scheduled during this shutdown.

A team of over 100 employees and contractors has worked since the middle of August to prepare for the Check Valve 74 project. The valve, located just outside of Fairbanks in the city of North Pole, is designed to seal tightly so that in the event of an emergency, oil cannot pass from one portion of the pipeline to another.  At the beginning of the shutdown, Check Valve 74 will be isolated from the rest of the pipeline using “stopple plugs.”  The valve will be drained of any remaining oil, cut out and then replaced. CKV 74 was damaged earlier this summer when an information-gathering device, called a pig, passed through the pipeline removing the seat ring from the valve. A team of Alyeska engineers will study the damaged valve to determine the underlying cause of its malfunction. The total cost of the Check Valve 74 replacement project is just under 6 million dollars.

A smaller, less expensive valve replacement job will take place at pump station 9 in Delta during the shutdown. A 48-inch ball valve used to bypass the main line when a pig comes through the station is not working properly and will be replaced with a new 75 thousand pound valve. The estimated cost of this valve replacement is just under one million dollars.

While the two major projects are occurring, a variety of smaller maintenance projects will take place at various locations along the 800-mile pipeline system.  Alyeska has coordinated the shutdown operation with the North Slope producers.  Oil flow into Pump Station 1 will be approximately 22 percent of the typical flow rate throughout the shutdown.  The pipeline is scheduled to be restarted at 11:00 a.m. Sunday.

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