Alaska pipeline company restarts pipeline

[IScreamSundays]

Source: WaPo

JUNEAU, Alaska -- The operator of the trans-Alaska pipeline system said late Friday it has restarted the 800-mile line idled after a contained spill this week.

The pipeline was shut down for 79 hours and 40 minutes, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. spokeswoman Michelle Egan said. That's its longest shutdown in at least a decade, surpassing the more than 66 hours it was down in November 2002 due to an earthquake.

The line from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez has been down since Tuesday, when Alyeska said a power failure during a planned shutdown allowed about 5,000 barrels of oil to spill into a containment area at Pump Station 9, about 100 miles south of Fairbanks.

"New oil has successfully been pumped through Pump Station 9 and we're doing that now steadily," Egan said Friday night. "That's a significant milestone after a shutdown."

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Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/28/AR2010052800767.html?hpid=topnews

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