-Caveat Lector-
>From NewsUnlimited (TheGuardian)
> Oil pipeline disaster 'imminent'
>
> Michael Sean Gillard, Andrew Rowell and Melissa Jones
> Monday July 12, 1999
>
> An ecological disaster far worse than the Exxon Valdez
> catastrophe in Alaska 10 years ago could happen at any moment,
> according to six senior employees of the company that runs the
> 800-mile Alaskan oil pipeline.
>
> The six whistleblowers have written to BP Amoco's chief
> executive, Sir John Browne, and three US congressmen warning of
> an imminent threat to human life and the Alaskan environment from
> irresponsible oil operations there.
>
> The letter contains evidence of compliance failures, falsified
> safety and inspection records, intimidation of workers and
> persistent violations of procedures and government regulations.
>
> The whistleblowers fear a possible rupture of the ageing pipeline
> or an explosion at the Valdez oil tanker terminal. BP Amoco owns
> 50% of the company, Alyeska, which operates both installations on
> its behalf.
>
> The Exxon Valdez disaster was one of the most ecologically
> destructive spills ever. The Alaska state government blamed oil
> industry complacency and broken promises.
>
> The whistleblowers, all senior employees on the 22-year-old
> Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (Taps), believe conditions exist
> today for an even worse disaster. "It's not a matter of if it is
> going to happen, it's when it is going to happen," said one. The
> group provided the Guardian with evidence of compliance failures,
> illegalities and mismanagement:
>
> • Alyeska's quality assurance programme, vital to the safe
> operation of Taps, is being deliberately undermined by middle
> management.
>
> • Alyeska executives turn a blind eye to "the culture of
> harassment, intimidation, retaliation and discrimination".
>
> • Alyeska executive management instructed middle managers not to
> issue critical audit reports of Taps safety and quality
> compliance because it could "negatively influence" their
> employment prospects.
>
> • Alyeska executive management instructed middle managers "to
> disregard and/or circumvent" compliance manuals and codes of
> conduct and to "tone down, alter or delete negative reports
> including internal audits and surveillance reports".
>
> • Maintenance and inspection records before 1996 are lost and
> audit results were falsified to make it seem otherwise.
>
> • Record keeping is "totally dysfunctional" and Alyeska executive
> management is hiding the problem from government regulators.
>
> The six whistleblowers are risking their careers. They say they
> represent a much bigger group of concerned employees who are too
> afraid to speak out because of an embedded "shoot the messenger"
> culture in the Alaskan oil industry.
>
> The scandal is a blow to Sir John, who has spent two years
> repositioning BP as the leading "green" oil and gas company. The
> letter demands "immediate intervention" by the chief executive
> and the US government to "send credible and qualified auditors to
> verify the evidence" that the whistleblowers are willing to
> provide.
>
> The Guardian has established that senior executives in Alaska
> were made aware of many of these problems. But the group says
> Alyeska is gambling with people's lives and the environment by
> not addressing the problems. "It's more dangerous now than it
> ever was because Alyeska is being run by spin doctors," said one
> whistleblower.
>
> The last time senior Taps inspectors blew the whistle, in 1993,
> there was a congressional investigation in Washington. An audit
> questioned the integrity and safety of the pipeline, which
> carries 1m barrels of oil a day. BP Amoco and Alyeska's other
> main owners, Exxon and Arco, were told to address the many
> "imminent threats" identified by the auditors. Six years later,
> the whistleblowers say these safety issues have been
> "consistently disregarded".
>
> Last night no one from BP Amoco was available to comment.
>
> This latest scandal could threaten BP Amoco's proposed merger
> with the US oil giant Arco, announced last April. The $26bn deal
> would give the company a near monopoly in Alaska with 74% of the
> oil fields and 72% of the pipeline.
>
> However, the merger is under anti-trust investigation by the
> European Commission - with a decision due in October - and by the
> US senate.
>
> Environmental and safety considerations could now be used by
> political and environmental lobbyists to frustrate the merger.
> This is especially so in Alaska, where Alyeska's licence to
> operate the pipeline is also under government review.
>
> In Britain, safety concerns have been raised in the North Sea,
> where BP Amoco is the largest producer. Charles Woolfson, a
> senior lecturer in industrial relations at Glasgow University,
> said cost-cutting across the oil industry was creating the
> conditions for another Piper Alpha disaster.
>
> "Testimony from offshore workers suggests they feel safety is
> being compromised," he said. "The Exxon Valdez didn't happen out
> of the blue. There were serious indications of potentiality for
> an incident. We are living through the same period here, now, and
> the question is will those reports and testimony be heeded."
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