Editing Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (section)

== Incidents ==
<div style="margin-left: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; float: right; font-size:75%;">
{| class="wikitable collapsible collapsed"
|+Reported oil spills<ref name=SpillsByYear>2016 Fact Book, pp. 62–63</ref>
|-
! Year
! No. of spills
! Amount spilled (bbl)
|-
| 1977 || style="text-align:right;"| 34 || style="text-align:right;"| 1,932
|-
| 1978 || style="text-align:right;"| 24 || style="text-align:right;"| 16,013
|-
| 1979 || style="text-align:right;"| 43 || style="text-align:right;"| 5,566
|-
| 1980 || style="text-align:right;"| 55 || style="text-align:right;"| 3,531
|-
| 1981 || style="text-align:right;"| 32 || style="text-align:right;"| 1,508
|-
| 1982 || style="text-align:right;"| 30 || style="text-align:right;"| 39
|-
| 1983 || style="text-align:right;"| 17 || style="text-align:right;"| 4
|-
| 1984 || style="text-align:right;"| 32  || style="text-align:right;"| 78
|-
| 1985 || style="text-align:right;"| 31 || style="text-align:right;"| 27
|-
| 1986 || style="text-align:right;"| 40 || style="text-align:right;"| 38
|-
| 1987 || style="text-align:right;"| 37 || style="text-align:right;"| 4
|-
| 1988 || style="text-align:right;"| 35 || style="text-align:right;"| 14
|-
| 1989 || style="text-align:right;"| 26 || style="text-align:right;"| 251,712
|-
| 1990 || style="text-align:right;"| 31 || style="text-align:right;"| 6.06
|-
| 1991 || style="text-align:right;"| 54 || style="text-align:right;"| 11
|-
| 1992 || style="text-align:right;"| 55 || style="text-align:right;"| 19.5
|-
| 1993 || style="text-align:right;"| 65 || style="text-align:right;"| 8.6
|-
| 1994 || style="text-align:right;"| 44 || style="text-align:right;"| 324
|-
| 1995 || style="text-align:right;"| 6 || style="text-align:right;"| 2
|-
| 1996 || style="text-align:right;"| 12 || style="text-align:right;"| 814
|-
| 1997 || style="text-align:right;"| 5 || style="text-align:right;"| 2
|-
| 1998 || style="text-align:right;"| 5 || style="text-align:right;"| 0.5
|-
| 1999 || style="text-align:right;"| 4 || style="text-align:right;"| 0.07
|-
| 2000 || style="text-align:right;"| 3 || style="text-align:right;"| 3.9
|-
| 2001 || style="text-align:right;"| 11 || style="text-align:right;"| 6,857
|-
| 2002 || style="text-align:right;"| 9 || style="text-align:right;"| 0.1
|-
| 2003 || style="text-align:right;"| 3 || style="text-align:right;"| 0.31
|-
| 2004 || style="text-align:right;"| 0 || style="text-align:right;"| 0
|-
| 2005 || style="text-align:right;"| 0 || style="text-align:right;"| 0
|-
| 2006 || style="text-align:right;"| 3 || style="text-align:right;"| 1.33
|-
| 2007 || style="text-align:right;"| 4 || style="text-align:right;"| 21.64
|-
| 2008 || style="text-align:right;"| 1 || style="text-align:right;"| 0.10
|-
| 2009 || style="text-align:right;"| 2 || style="text-align:right;"| 0.93
|-
| 2010 || style="text-align:right;"| 2 || style="text-align:right;"| 2,580.12
|-
| 2011 || style="text-align:right;"| 4 || style="text-align:right;"| 308.39
|-
| 2012 || style="text-align:right;"| 4 || style="text-align:right;"| 5.92
|-
| 2013 || style="text-align:right;"| 5 || style="text-align:right;"| 1.26
|-
| 2014 || style="text-align:right;"| 0 || style="text-align:right;"| 0
|-
| 2015 || style="text-align:right;"| 5 || style="text-align:right;"| 5.33
|}
</div>
[[File:Trans-Alaska Pipeline System No Climbing Warning Sign.jpg|thumb|upright|right|The massive length and remoteness of the pipeline make it more or less impossible to secure]]
The pipeline has at times been damaged due to sabotage, human error, maintenance failures, and natural disasters. By law, Alyeska is required to report significant oil spills to regulatory authorities.<ref>Facts, p. 54</ref> The [[Exxon Valdez oil spill|''Exxon Valdez'' oil spill]] is the best-known accident involving Alaska oil, but it did not involve the pipeline itself.<ref>''Exxon Valdez'' Oil Spill Trustee Council. [http://www.evostc.state.ak.us/facts/qanda.cfm "Questions and Answers"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120224051448/http://www.evostc.state.ak.us/facts/qanda.cfm |date=February 24, 2012 }}, Evostc.state.ak.us. Accessed July 17, 2009.</ref> Following the spill, Alyeska created a rapid response force that is paid for by the oil companies,<ref>Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. [http://www.alyeska-pipe.com/Pipelinefacts/OilSpillPreventionAndResponse.html "Oil Spill Prevention and Response"], Alyeska-pipe.com. Accessed July 16, 2009. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527042244/http://www.alyeska-pipe.com/Pipelinefacts/OilSpillPreventionAndResponse.html |date=May 27, 2009 }}</ref> including [[ExxonMobil]], which was found liable for the spill.<ref>D'Oro, Rachel. [http://www.newsminer.com/news/2009/mar/24/twenty-years-later-exxon-valdez-disasters-effects-/ "Twenty years later, Exxon Valdez disaster's effects linger"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828063959/http://www.newsminer.com/news/2009/mar/24/twenty-years-later-exxon-valdez-disasters-effects-/ |date=August 28, 2009 }}, ''Fairbanks Daily News-Miner''. March 24, 2009. Accessed July 16, 2009.</ref>

An explosion on July 8, 1977, Pump Station No. 8, killed one worker, injured five others, and destroyed a pump station.<ref name=exprup>{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=s6NVAAAAIBAJ&pg=6475%2C1892372 |work=Eugene Register-Guard |location=(Oregon) |agency=wire services |title=Explosion ruptures trans-Alaska pipeline |date=July 9, 1977 |page=1A}}</ref><ref name=byobhp>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=zMISAAAAIBAJ&pg=4821%2C1842953 |work=Spokane Daily Chronicle |location=(Washington) |title=Bypass of break held possible |agency=Associated Press |date=July 9, 1977 |page=1}}</ref> A [[95th United States Congress|Congressional]] committee later announced the cause was workers not following the proper procedures, causing crude oil to flow into a pump under repair at the time.<ref>
{{cite news
 | title = Probers Blame Workers for Pipeline Explosion
 | agency = Associated Press
 | newspaper = Herald Journal
 | date = July 20, 1977
 | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=hWQsAAAAIBAJ&pg=7084,3305419&dq=pipeline-explosion&hl=en
 | access-date = November 24, 2012}}
</ref> In its first two months of operation, from June 20 to August 15, 1977, seven incidents and accidents caused the pipeline to be shut down periodically. The NTSB investigated the system, and made recommendations.<ref>{{cite web|title=Safety Recommendation(s) |work=[[National Transportation Safety Board]]|date=December 13, 1977 |url=https://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/recletters/1977/P77_37.pdf |access-date=November 24, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121008010413/https://www.ntsb.gov/doclib/recletters/1977/P77_37.pdf |archive-date=October 8, 2012 }}
</ref><ref>
{{cite news
 | title = Report Faults Pipeline Fire System
 | first = Rosemary | last = Shinohara
 | newspaper = Anchorage Daily News
 | date = August 25, 1977
 | url = https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=biweAAAAIBAJ&pg=1995,2906758&dq=pipeline-fire&hl=en
 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120717040558/http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=biweAAAAIBAJ&sjid=a74EAAAAIBAJ&pg=1995,2906758&dq=pipeline-fire&hl=en
 | url-status = dead
 | archive-date = July 17, 2012
 | access-date = November 24, 2012}}
</ref>

The largest oil spill involving the main pipeline took place on February 15, 1978, when an unknown individual blew a 1-inch (2.54-centimeter) hole in it at Steele Creek, just east of Fairbanks.<ref>The Associated Press. ["Pipeline sabotage investigated"], Ocala Star-Banner. February 16, 1978. Accessed July 16, 2009.</ref> Approximately {{convert|16000|oilbbl}} of oil leaked out of the hole before the pipeline was shut down.<ref name="SpillsByYear"/> After more than 21 hours, it was restarted.<ref>Facts, p. 92</ref>

The [[steel]] pipe is resistant to [[gun]]shots and has resisted them on several occasions, but on October 4, 2001, a drunken gunman named Daniel Carson Lewis shot a hole into a weld near [[Livengood, Alaska|Livengood]], causing the second-largest mainline oil spill in pipeline history.<ref>Clark, Maureen. [http://www.juneauempire.com/stories/100501/sta_pipeline.shtml "Pipeline pierced by bullet"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306170325/http://juneauempire.com/stories/100501/sta_pipeline.shtml |date=March 6, 2016 }}, ''Juneau Empire''. October 5, 2001. Accessed July 16, 2009.</ref> Approximately {{convert|6144|oilbbl|m3}} leaked from the pipeline; {{convert|4238|oilbbl|m3}} were recovered and reinjected into the pipeline.<ref>Facts, p. 84</ref> Nearly {{convert|2|acre|m2}} of tundra were soiled and were removed in the cleanup.<ref>BBC News. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1584553.stm "Alaska clean-up 'could take years'"], news.bbc.co.uk. October 7, 2001. Accessed July 16, 2009.</ref> The pipeline was repaired and was restarted more than 60 hours later.<ref name="Facts97">Facts, p. 97</ref> Lewis was found guilty in December 2002 of criminal mischief, assault, drunken driving, oil pollution, and misconduct.<ref>Staff report. [https://web.archive.org/web/20110928163029/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article1057703.ece "A drunk, a gun and a pipeline with a hole"], ''The Times''. April 9, 2004. Accessed July 16, 2009.</ref>

The pipeline was built to withstand earthquakes, forest fires, and other natural disasters. The [[2002 Denali earthquake]] occurred along a fault line that passed directly underneath the pipeline.<ref>Facts, p. 90</ref> The slider supports in that particular 1,900-foot section of the pipeline, right over the fault line, were designed to accommodate the ground slipping 20 feet horizontally and 5 vertically. In this 7.9 magnitude earthquake, the ground shifted 14 feet horizontally and 2.5 vertically. The pipeline did not break, but some slider supports were damaged, and the pipeline shut down for more than 66 hours as a precaution.<ref name="Facts97"/><ref>{{cite web |last1=Patowary |first1=Kaushik |title=How The Trans-Alaska Pipeline Survived The 2002 Denali Earthquake |url=https://www.amusingplanet.com/2014/08/how-trans-alaska-pipeline-survived-2002.html}}</ref> In 2004, wildfires overran portions of the pipeline, but it was not damaged and did not shut down.<ref>McMillan, Mike. [http://www.smokejumpers.com/gallery/v/Alaska-Fire-Season-2004/album19/124_G.jpg.html "Wildfire overruns Alaska Pipeline at the Yukon Crossing"], smokejumpers.com. December 5, 2004. Accessed July 16, 2009. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061124220624/http://www.smokejumpers.com/gallery/v/Alaska-Fire-Season-2004/album19/124_G.jpg.html |date=November 24, 2006 }}</ref><ref>Facts, p. 98</ref>

In May 2010, as much as several thousands of barrels were spilled from a pump station near Fort Greely during a scheduled shutdown. A relief valve control circuit failed during a test of the fire control system, and oil poured into a tank and overflowed onto a secondary containment area.<ref>{{cite news | author=AP News/Huffington Post | title = Alaska Oil Spill: Trans-Alaska Pipeline Shuts Down 800 Mile Area In North Slope | url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/05/26/alaska-oil-spill-trans-al_n_589974.html | work=AP/Huffington Post | date=May 26, 2010 | access-date=July 29, 2010}}</ref>

A leak was discovered on January 8, 2011, in the basement of the booster pump at Pump Station 1. For more than 80 hours, pipeline flow was reduced to 5 percent of normal. An oil collection system was put in place, and full flow resumed until the pipeline was again shut down while a bypass was installed to avoid the leaking section.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dec.alaska.gov/spar/perp/response/sum_fy11/110108301/110108301_index.htm|title=Unified Command – Pump Station 1 Booster Incident|author=Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation|access-date=January 16, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721032717/http://dec.alaska.gov/spar/perp/response/sum_fy11/110108301/110108301_index.htm|archive-date=July 21, 2011|url-status=dead|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.alyeska-pipe.com/Inthenews/LatestNews/2011/PS1incident/Fact%20Sheet%20006.pdf |title=Pump Station 1 Booster Pump Piping Incident |author=The Unified Command consisting of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and Alyeska Pipeline Service Company |date=January 13, 2011 |access-date=January 16, 2011}}{{dead link|date=October 2017|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Cold forces temporary restart of trans-Alaska oil pipeline |author=Lisa Demer |url=http://www.adn.com/2011/01/11/1643546/temporary-pipeline-restart-under.html |newspaper=Anchorage Daily News |date=January 12, 2011 |access-date=January 16, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119195518/http://www.adn.com/2011/01/11/1643546/temporary-pipeline-restart-under.html |archive-date=January 19, 2011 }}</ref>

Heavy rains in Alaska have brought flooding uncomfortably close to the pipeline in recent years. In May 2019, the Dietrich River flooded north of [[Coldfoot, Alaska|Coldfoot]], eroding 25–50 feet of riverbank, necessitating emergency work that left only an 80-foot buffer between the river and the pipeline. A few months later, in August, the [[Sagavanirktok River]] flooded, eroding 100 feet of river bank, and leaving only a 30-foot buffer between the river and the pipeline. The [[Lowe River]] also flooded near the pipeline in March 2019, and again in June 2020. Although Alyeska appears to be responding by stockpiling construction and emergency response materials, and has installed ground chillers beneath a stretch of pipeline 57 miles northwest of Fairbanks, comprehensive information on plans for addressing pipeline breaks in "high consequence areas" is not readily available.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Hasemyer|first=David|date=2021-10-12|title=Raging Flood Waters Driven by Climate Change Threaten the Trans-Alaska Pipeline|url=https://insideclimatenews.org/news/12102021/trans-alaska-pipeline-climate-change-floods/|access-date=2021-11-25|website=Inside Climate News|language=en-US}}</ref>

In 2021, the pipeline was damaged due to thawing permafrost for the first time.  Permafrost, which is ground that has been frozen for more than two years, is essential to the integrity of the pipeline.  About 57 miles northwest of Fairbanks, thawing permafrost caused slope creep, which in turn caused the supports of the pipeline to twist and bend.  Alyeska Corporation had to petition the Alaska Department of Natural Resources to conduct emergency defensive work to keep the permafrost stable.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Hasemyer |first=David |date=2021-07-14 |title=Trans-Alaska pipeline under threat from thawing permafrost |url=https://www.hcn.org/articles/climate-change-trans-alaska-pipeline-under-threat-from-thawing-permafrost |access-date=2025-04-22 |magazine=High Country News|language=en-us}}</ref>