Conoco reports big oily water spill at Alaska field - Reuters

[Eugene]

Source: Reuters

Conoco reports big oily water spill at Alaska field
Tue Jan 13, 2009 6:48pm EST

ANCHORAGE (Reuters) - A corroded pipeline ruptured
on Christmas Day at ConocoPhillips' Kuparuk oil field
in Alaska, causing one of the biggest-ever spills of
oil-laced water on the North Slope, the Alaska
Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) said
on Tuesday.

The 94,920-gallon spill from a corroded water-injection
pipeline had little effect on production from North
America's second-biggest field and was mostly
cleaned up by Tuesday, department officials said.

One well was shut in after the spill was discovered,
said Ed Meggert, the Fairbanks-based on-scene spill
response coordinator for the DEC.

-snip-

The December 25 incident was reminiscent of a
200,000-gallon crude oil spill at BP Plc's nearby
Prudhoe Bay oil field in 2006 -- the worst oil spill
on Alaska's North Slope -- which was also caused
by corrosion of a pipeline.

-snip-

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE50C6LD20090113