Jason Leopold: Experience Shows Oil Spills Likely If ANWR Developed

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By Jason Leopold -- World News Trust

While the hacks working for mainstream news organizations were busy chasing the story about the Runaway Bride late last month, a real scandal was just beginning to unfold as Congress inched closer to approving a controversial measure to open up a couple thousand acres of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil exploration.

It was then, unbeknownst to the federal lawmakers who debated the merits of drilling in ANWR, that the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation started to lay the groundwork to pursue civil charges against UK oil and gas behemoth BP and the corporation's drilling contractor for failing to report massive oil spills at its Prudhoe Bay operation, just 60 miles west of the pristine wilderness area that would be ravaged by the very same company in its bid to drill for oil should ANWR truly be opened to further development.

BP has racked up some hefty fines over the years due to a number of mishaps at its Prudhoe Bay operations. In 2001, the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission found high failure rates on some Prudhoe wellhead safety valves. The company was put on federal criminal probation after one of its contractors dumped thousands of gallons of toxic material underground at BP's Endicott oil field in the 1990s. BP pleaded guilty to the charges in 2000, paid a $6.5 million fine and agreed to set up a nationwide environmental management program that has cost more than $20 million.

The latest charges against BP stem from claims made recently by BP whistleblowers who exposed their companys severe safety and maintenance problems that have caused at least a half-dozen oil spills at Prudhoe Bay -- North America's biggest oil field -- and other areas on Alaska's North Slope. The whistleblowers say the oil spills likely will spread to ANWR if the area is opened up to further oil and gas exploration.

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http://worldnewstrust.org/modules/AMS/article.php?storyid=700

[ibid]

1. well written - good new info - sad that our media cares not about our

environment.

:-(

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2. No, Not Much