This section contains news about Alyeska. Click on the links below to get informed about these operational stories.

• January 2012
  • Legislative citation presented to TAPS
    Alaska State Representative Eric Feige (R-District 12) visited Pump Station 1 to commemorate the anniversary of the January 2011 shutdown and to deliver a legislative citation to the crew there.

• December 2011
  • Anchorage headquarters move
    Alyeska Pipeline Service Company is moving its Anchorage offices to the Centerpoint West building, located in midtown Anchorage. The move begins in January 2012 and should wrap up in mid February 2012.
  • Alyeska President visits northern pump stations
    Alyeska President Tom Barrett spent two of the shortest days of the year north of the Arctic Circle, visiting TAPS employees at Pump Stations 1, 3 and 4.
  • Alyeska supports Valdez High School's Marine Tech program
    Each year, the Valdez High School holds a Marine Tech class, with significant support from Alyeska.
• October 2011
  • Tom Barrett addresses Pipeline Training Academy graduates
    On Oct. 28, Alyeska President Tom Barrett gave the keynote address at the Tenth Alaska Pipeline Training Academy graduation.
• September 2011
  • Alyeska Fire/Rescue honors 9/11 firefighters
    Alyeska Fire/Rescue held a remembrance ceremony at the Valdez Marine Terminal for the firefighters who died in the Twin Towers on Sept. 11, 2001.
• August 2011
  • Alyeska's rising stars, Internships on TAPS
    Alyeska's Interns wrap up end of year presentations in Valdez.
• June 2011
  • Rescued baby musk ox arrives at Alaska Zoo
    Katie, the baby musk ox rescued by TAPS employees, has arrived at the Alaska Zoo.
• May 2011
  • TAPS employees rescue baby musk ox
    In early May, travelers on Alaska’s Dalton Highway encountered a heart-wrenching sight: A baby musk ox, huddled against an Alyeska fence between pump stations 2 and 3, apparently abandoned.
  May 2011
  • TAPS employees rescue baby musk ox
    In early May, travelers on Alaska’s Dalton Highway encountered a heart-wrenching sight: A baby musk ox, huddled against an Alyeska fence between pump stations 2 and 3, apparently abandoned.
• February 2011
  • Alyeska attends UAA Spring Career Fair
    Alyeska’s Human Resources and Engineering Departments represented the company at the University of Alaska-Anchorage School of Engineering and Construction Management Career Fair on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

   

• November 2010
  • Barrett to lead Alyeska Pipeline
    Vice Admiral Thomas Barrett, USCG (Ret.) will become President of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company on January 1, 2011. The selection was announced today (November 16, 2010) at a meeting of the TAPS Owners Committee.
• July 2010
  • Alyeska summer interns share experiences working on TAPS
    Every year Alyeska selects college students to work in various positions on the Trans Alaska Pipeline System as part of a 12-week internship program. This year’s crop of interns arrived at their worksites in late-May to begin their assignments.
  • Alyeska restarts pipeline after scheduled pipeline shutdown
    The Trans Alaska Pipeline System was safely restarted at approximately 1:35 p.m. Sunday, August 1, following a successful pipeline maintenance shutdown. All work was performed safely during the shutdown which involved over 250 people in planned maintenance tasks. Key work activities included replacement of a 36-inch valve at Pump Station 9, replacement of the gas supply lines to the Pump Station 3 and Pump Station 4 turbine generators, and replacement of the six-inch bypass piping on a check valve near Pump Station 1.
  • Alyeska prepares for second pipeline maintenance shutdown
    Alyeska crews are preparing for this summer's second major shutdown, scheduled to begin at 6 a.m. Saturday, July 31, and run through Sunday, August 1, lasting up to 36 hours. The major maintenance shutdowns are a significant part of Alyeska’s ongoing pipeline integrity management program, and a significant investment of resources dedicated to operating and maintaining the Trans Alaska Pipeline System.
  • Alyeska CEO sets retirement date
    Kevin Hostler, President and Chief Executive Officer of Alyeska Pipeline, has announced that he will retire September 30, 2010. Hostler previously told employees he planned to leave the company by the end of 2010.
• June 2010
  • Alyeska safely restarts pipeline after scheduled shutdown
    Alyeska safely restarted the Trans Alaska Pipeline System at approximately 4 p.m. Sunday, June 20, following a successful scheduled maintenance shutdown. The pipeline shut down at approximately 6 a.m. Saturday, June 19, for a scheduled 36-hour period.
• May 2010
  • Status of DOT Enforcement Actions
    On Sunday, May 30, the Anchorage Daily News published a story about a series of enforcement actions the U.S. Department of Transportation, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Administration (DOT) has taken against Alyeska in recent years. Alyeska takes these enforcement actions very seriously and the company works collaboratively with the DOT and State regulators to ensure it is maintaining the highest standards of integrity on TAPS.
• April 2010
  • Alyeska supports spill response efforts in Gulf of Mexico
    Alyeska Pipeline Service is supporting ongoing spill response activities in the Gulf of Mexico, committing more than 70,000 gallons of dispersant and sending an employee who specializes in environmental regulations and contingency planning.
  • API names Alyeska for top environmental performance in 2009
    The American Petroleum Institute (API) presented its annual awards on April 21 at its 61st Pipeline Conference in New Orleans. During the conference, Alyeska was recognized with API's 2009 Environmental Performance Award in the large operator category.
• March 2010
  • Senior Vice President Kristi Acuff announces retirement plans
    Alyeska Pipeline’s Senior Vice President of Employee and External Relations Kristi Acuff has announced plans to retire in July. Acuff joined Alyeska in 2003 and has served on Alyeska's Executive Team since 2004.
     
  January 2010
  • Unions preserve jobs, achieve cost savings
    Alaska unions working together have developed a plan that will allow them to preserve union jobs on the Trans Alaska Pipeline System while still delivering significant cost savings to Alyeska Pipeline Service Company, which operates and maintains the pipeline.
     
• November 2009
  • Alyeska's smart pig run is successful despite challenges
    Alyeska’s Integrity Management team recently overcame low throughput challenges to complete a successful 800 mile run with a sophisticated Inline Inspection Tool (ILI), also known as a smart pig.
• October 2009
  • Alyeska's chief of staff addresses Alaska Federation of Natives Convention
    Kim Reitmeier discussed the importance of Alyeska's relationship with the Alaska Native community and the emerging challenges Alyeska faces with declining throughput. Click here to see the video.
  • VMT Fire & Rescue Team wins state title, tackles training
    For the 11th consecutive year, Alyeska’s Valdez Marine Terminal Fire Brigade won the Alaska Firefighter Competition Governor’s Trophy at the 2009 Statewide Firefighting Conference. To see a video with scenes from the event, click here.
• July 2009
  • Pipeline restarted after scheduled maintenance shutdown
    Various projects were completed along the 800-mile pipeline system during the shutdown, including one major project at Pump Station 8. Crews installed a pig launcher at the station, located 40 miles south of Fairbanks. A pig is a mechanical device that is pushed through the pipeline by the oil to perform various operations on the pipeline without stopping the flow of oil. 
  • Abercrombie Creek receives upgrades to stream embankments
    As part of Alyeska’s River and Flood Plains project, Abercrombie Creek stands to receive flood-mitigation repair work this year. In 2006, massive flooding occurred in Valdez and all along the southern portion of the TAPS corridor. Abercrombie Creek — typically a small stream that weaves a gentle path through the Chugach Mountains to the Port of Valdez — overran its banks, breached a containment bank, and threatened Alyeska’s metering facility that supplies North Slope crude oil to the Petro Star refinery.
• June 2009
  • Trans Alaska Pipeline System maintenance shutdown set for June 20-21
    Alyeska Pipeline Service Company crews are preparing for this summer’s first major maintenance shutdown on the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, set to run from Saturday, June 20 to Sunday, June 21. The event is designed to last up to 36 hours and begins Saturday morning.
  • TAPS project, people featured on "World’s Toughest Fixes"
    TAPS takes center stage on Thursday, June 11 with the much-anticipated premier of National Geographic’s World’s Toughest Fixes episode about the Remote Gate Valve 72 replacement that took place in June 2008.
• April 2009
  • Alyeska wins API's Distinguished Operator Award
    The award is among the oil industry’s top honors and is reserved for pipeline operators that demonstrate excellence in safety, environment and integrity.
     
• December 2008
  • Governor Sarah Palin appoints two Alyeska employees to state boards
    Governor Sarah Palin has appointed Alyeska employees Gay Dunham and Bonnie Jo Savland to the Alaska Seismic Hazards Safety Commission and the Alaska Workforce Investment Board, respectively.
  • Alyeska responds to corrosion concerns raised in internet blog
• November 2008
  • Kim Harb named to Alyeska Washington, DC office
    In this role, Harb will act as liaison between Alyeska Pipeline and the Federal Government, Congress, Executive Branch and Federal Government Regulators.
  November 2008
  • Alyeska pledges $500,000 for University of Alaska's science and engineering program
    Alyeska is the first donor to step up to the $2 million Rasmuson Foundation challenge grant for the endowed chair for the engineering program, commonly called “ANSEP.” Story
     
  • Alyeska's Alaska Native Program a commitment to minority hire, diversity
    Prior to the construction of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, Alyeska made a commitment to the Alaska Native community to recruit, train, employ and promote Alaska Natives. Story | Video | Facts
  • TAPS crews tackle Chandalar Lake drill
    Late this summer, on the morning of August 26, Oil Spill Response Crews from Pump Station 4 and Pump Station 5 came together for a drill of a simulated spill on the Chandalar Shelf, a region just south of Atigun Pass in the Brooks Range. Story | Video
     
  • Phelan Creek site of TAPS oil spill drill
    Alyeska Pipeline holds more than 70 spill exercises a year to test and practice its oil spill contingency plan to ensure that well-trained personnel and appropriate equipment are ready to respond to emergencies along the entire length of the 800-mile-long pipeline. In early September, spill responders tested their response capabilities at a location near Phelan Creek. Hear Alyeska's Greg Campbell explain the logistics of this drill. "We take a lot of pride in being able to protect TAPS and the environment," Campbell said.
     
• August 2008
  • Cathodic protection project wraps up near Valdez
    Alyeska civil project teams this summer have worked along some of the pipeline’s steepest terrain, upgrading the cathodic protection system that combats external corrosion on the 48-inch mainline pipe. The project covers some 20 miles of the Right of Way near Valdez. Most recently, the group is tackling the third, final and most difficult segment of the project, in Keystone Canyon.
  • Pipeline shutdown for routine maintenance
    Work crews completed two major projects during a scheduled maintenance shutdown on August 16-17 on opposite sides of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). The event lasted approximately 35 hours with over 350 TAPS employees working at various locations completing nearly 40 additional work tasks.
     
• May 2008
  • Loading tankers at the Valdez Marine Terminal
    Since the pipeline first started in 1977, over 19,000 tankers have been loaded from the Valdez Marine Terminal. In total, more than 15 billion barrels of oil have passed through the pipeline. Learn more about the process of safely loading the massive tankers that dock at the Valdez Marine Terminal in this video featuring Tammy Holmes, Berth Operator. Story | Video
     
• April 2008
  • TAPS teams bring health & safety lessons to remote communities
    The name of this philanthropic quest is a mouthful. The event itself is ambitious. But the goal of the “Prince William Sound Traveling Health and Safety Fair & Events" is simple: TAPS employees and health care volunteers visit some of the region's most remote communities to deliver health and safety messages and lessons to the people who live there.
     
• February 2008
  • Reconfigured pumps at PS 9 reach one-year milestone
    It has been over a year since Alyeska started moving oil at Pump Station 9 with the new equipment installed as part of Strategic Reconfiguration (SR). The SR project involves installing electrically driven crude oil pumps at four critical pump stations (1, 3, 4 and 9) combined with increased automation and upgraded control systems
     
• September 2007
  • Strategic Reconfiguration work unfolding at Pump Station 3
    Alyeska crews recently passed another Strategic Reconfiguration Project milestone, with this summer’s startup of the 2.25 megawatt Diesel Generator at Pump Station 3 (PS 3). The first fire of that generator at 9:15 a.m. on July 30 started the clock ticking, giving crews 270 days to meet provisions for the pump station’s new air permit and separate the station from the existing legacy equipment
     
• February 2007
  • Alyeska continues to evaluate maintenance "pigging" practices
    late December, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. sent a scraper pig down the 800-mile-long trans-Alaska pipeline to remove the wax that builds up on the inside walls of the pipe. During the course of transit, the pig encountered resistance that caused it to come apart as it is designed
  • Integrity digs help monitor and mitigate pipeline corrosion
    Alyeska has plenty of tools in the toolbox to help detect, prevent and repair corrosion on the trans-Alaska pipeline. Two key components of our program to monitor and manage the integrity of the pipeline are pigging and digging
  • Pipeline Restarted After Leak on Bypass Piping Stopped
    The source of a leak at Remote Gate Valve (RGV) 32 has been identified as a loose fitting on a valve on a secondary piece of piping that bypasses RGV 32