Shooting of Pipeline Costs $20 Million
The cost of repairing the trans-Alaska pipeline and cleaning up a 286,000-gallon oil spill caused by a bullet hole has risen to $20 million, according to Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.
In October, Daniel Carson Lewis allegedly shot a hole in the pipeline north of Fairbanks with a .338-caliber rifle. He will stand trial in September.
The cleanup has almost been completed, officials said. Less than 1,000 gallons remain trapped in the gravel pad of the pipeline’s access road, said Kalu Kalu, Alyeska project manager.
About $6 million of the $20-million cleanup bill was for labor costs and another $6 million will go toward the treatment and recovery of crude collected from the contaminated soil, Kalu said. The rest went toward equipment and remote camp costs.
About 176,000 gallons have been recovered and injected back into the pipeline, Kalu said.
“I’m convinced that it is about as clean as it was before,” said Ed Meggert, supervisor of the Fairbanks Department of Environmental Conservation. Meggert was one of the first state workers on the scene.
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