Another Leak - a pipeline in Alaska's Cook Inlet

[Bob]

Signs of the times? Leaks everywhere, (where focus is ...)

A Natural gas pipeline has been leaking natural gas into the environment at least since February 7th, and it continues to leak.

The source of the natural gas from the well platforms in the Cook Inlet about 4 miles offshore have not been turned off.

Divers are not able to reach the leak area because of the ice in the area.

Cook Inlet's gas wells provide the natural gas supply for Anchorage Alaska.

The gas is bubbling from an 8-inch pipeline in 80 feet of water about four miles off shore. The pipeline belonging to Hilcorp Alaska, LLC, moves processed natural gas from shore to four drilling platforms in the inlet.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is investigating the leak. In an email response to questions, spokeswoman Candice Bressler said the agency is assessing public health and environmental risks.

"We believe the risk to public health and safety is small," the agency said. "Environmental risk is less easy to quantify since a monitoring and assessment program is not yet in place."

The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration also is investigating.

The U.S. Coast Guard warned mariners to stay at least 1,000 feet from the bubbling gas. Another federal agency expressed concern over possible adverse effects on marine mammals.

"Our greatest concern is for endangered Cook Inlet beluga whales and impacts to their critical habitat," said Julie Speegle, spokeswoman for the fisheries section of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, by email. The natural gas discharge is within the winter foraging area for the white whales, she said.

(above, oil/gas platform in the distance, beluga whale in the foreground)

"The cause of the leak is unknown. Stopping the leak is not as simple as shutting down the gas supply line, the state agency said.

"The pipeline is emitting 210,000 to 310,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation has not made an independent estimate.

"A Hilcorp helicopter flying to a drilling platform on Feb. 7 spotted gas bubbling to the surface. Hilcorp reported the leak to the National Response Center, the federal point of contact for all spills, and the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

"Processed "dry" natural gas is nearly 99 percent methane."

Environmental groups say the gas leak will harm the inlet.

Kristen Monsell, an attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, said natural gas spills are highly toxic to marine life, including the prey needed by beluga whales.

Cook Inletkeeper, a nonprofit group dedicated to protecting the Cook Inlet watershed, gave formal notice Wednesday that it intends to sue Hilcorp under provisions of the Clean Water Act.

The 60-day required notice said the discharge of methane is displacing oxygen in the water column and creating a "dead zone" of unknown expanse that could harm or kill fish and wildlife.

The group called for an immediate halt to illegal discharges of natural gas.

[Bob]

Leak Location:

The head of a watchdog group said on Tuesday he believes the size of the leak is larger than Hilcorp Alaska has suggested by its "bubbling" reference.

"It's not some tiny bubbles percolating to the surface," said Bob Shavelson, executive director of Cook Inletkeeper. "If you ran a vessel over that, you'd think it was a roiling cauldron."

The production platform, named "Platform A," is located about 5 miles offshore, northwest of Kenai.

A Coast Guard official said the leak is about 3½ miles off shore.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is worried about the risk to wildlife, an official said Tuesday.

[Bob]

Odd coincidence - Plane looses power, crashes, off Cook Inlet..

Methane in the air has been blamed as a potential source of aircraft going down in the Bermuda Triangle.

Methane is leaking from the A-C platform pipeline in Cook Inlet (see image in above post).

It is possible that the small plane that went down, flew through the METHANE CLOUD from the pipeline leak. (Conjecture)

The plane went down Sunday, and was found when the locator beacon signal was located on Monday about 6PM. It landed and then flipped in deep snow.

The flight was traveling from Lake Hood to Soldotna on Sunday.

source: http://www.alaskapublic.org/2017/01/...of-cook-inlet/

Conjecture - did the plane fly through the METHANE CLOUD? Loose power and a forced landing happen? It's been demonstrated that low methane levels will stall out airplane engines.

Possibly the methane leak has been venting to the atmosphere for much longer than February 7th - possibly it is more serious than we have been lead to believe.. (cut in theme to X-Files... )

[Axman]

Makes sense Bob and thanks for the heads up.
Carry on


The Axman

[Chester]

Perhaps this was sabotage too... certainly something to consider -

[Bob]

Posted by Sam Hunter (here)
Perhaps this was sabotage too... certainly something to consider -

Good question/observation there Sam.

These lines are from the 60's-80's and could be old enough that corrosion was happening... (Typical pipelines require adequate maintenance and should be replaced after 15 or so years of operation).

Maritime Hazard - a bottom trolling fishing boat, possibly looking for winter shrimp, may have accidentally injured the pipeline.. An anchor accidentally or deliberately dragged over a pipeline area, possibly.. (trenches are supposed to safely contain a bottom lain pipeline, with 3 feet of overburden) ... However, the Hilcorp pipeline operator noted that they were wanting to get divers down to inspect the pipeline.. so that is curious if it is buried how would they inspect it? A bottom surface lain pipeline could then be subject to more corrosion, or accidents, or potentially deliberate sabotage.

Just seems something should be looked at with this incident. There are numerous surface exposed pipelines in the area, curious that it was an 80 foot down (in the water) pipeline (see image post 2 above). Getting to the land pipelines verses the underwater ones.. Which would create the most environmental damage? Seems a monkey-wrenched underwater pipeline (think water) could then potential damage fisheries, and feed sources for whales, and other fish.. Sabotaging shrimping, and other economies could happen from an underwater sabotage.. Interesting conjectures here..

[Bob]

For 50 years the wells have been producing in the Cook Inlet area, and have the pipelines been maintained?

(15 years is the maximum lifespan of a production pipeline before large maintenance operations must be performed (such as replacing valves, connectors, and corroded pipe)..

Is the pipeline industry infrastructure falling apart? Quite possibly.. Similar old and aged pipeline issues exist in Nigeria (Rivers and Delta States) where original Royal Dutch Shell pipelines have been leaking, lines which were put in over 50 or more years ago.

Points - Money income and cashflow outlay to replace aged infrastructure verses environmental safety, human and animal life safety.. Destroying an ecosystem for "profit". Where is the oversight? Where is the industry guideline establishing what needs to be worked-over?

ALASKA DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION - Division of Spill Prevention and Response published a brief - http://peninsulaclarion.com/sites/de...n%20Report.pdf

INCIDENT LOCATION:  Cook Inlet between Platform A and Nikiski. (Lat/Long: 60.776367, ‐151.43365) with an incident date as "UNKNOWN" (they don't know for how long this has been leaking)

TYPE/AMOUNT OF PRODUCT SPILLED:  The natural gas being released is not natural gas from the platform.  The gas is processed dry natural gas (98.67% Methane), providing fuel gas to four platforms: Platform A, Platform C, Dillon Platform and Bakers Platform.  The exact amount of gas released to water is unknown at this time.

Source: https://youtube.com/watch?v=ORkCV4RBPuk

  
Hilcorp reported the line pressure up to February 13 was approximately 195 psi.  As of February 14, Hilcorp reported the line pressure was reduced to 185 psi with an estimated leak rate between 225,000 to 325,000 cubic feet per day.

RISKS - Those in the Environment affected by this "release"

• Marine Mammals ‐  Species likely to be present in upper Cook Inlet include Cook Inlet beluga whale (Endangered Species Act [ESA]‐listed as endangered), western Distinct Population Segment (DPS) Steller sea lion (ESA‐listed as endangered), Mexico DPS humpback whale (ESA‐listed as threatened), harbor seals, killer whales, Hawaii DPS humpback whales, harbor porpoise, and Dall’s porpoise. The Southwest Alaska DPS Northern sea otter (ESA‐listed as threatened) is known to occur in lower Cook Inlet. The discharge location is within designated Critical Habitat for Cook Inlet beluga whales. Cook Inlet beluga whales are likely utilizing offshore waters in upper Cook Inlet during winter and will concentrate near forage fish locations as those populations arrive.
  
• Birds ‐ Steller’s eiders are ESA‐listed as threatened and are known to overwinter south of the gas release along both the eastern and western shores of lower Cook Inlet; however, a small portion of this species has been known to overwinter in the Nikiski area. Waterfowl and shorebirds are overwintering in upper Cook Inlet. Notably, rock sandpipers are known to overwinter in upper Cook Inlet feeding on bivalves, including almost the entire population of the subspecies Calidris ptilocnemis ptilocnemis. Bald and golden eagles are also present in Cook Inlet year round. Migratory birds, including waterfowl, seabirds, and shorebirds will likely begin arriving in high numbers in the Cook Inlet area in late March to early April.
  
• Fish ‐ Several species and different life stages of fish are likely present in Cook Inlet near the vicinity of the gas release, including all five species of Pacific salmon (Chinook, coho, sockeye, chum, and pink salmon), Dolly Varden, rainbow trout, Pacific eulachon, Pacific halibut (spawning and hatching occurs in winter months), Pacific herring, Bering cisco, Humpback whitefish, American shad, Walleye pollock, sablefish (adults spawn in winter in deep waters, larvae are present at the water surface, and juveniles are found in nearshore waters), Pacific and saffron cod, yellowfin sole, and smelt. This area is Essential Fish Habitat for all five species of Pacific salmon.

Unknowns then remain in the acquiring of old fields, their refurbishment, and in this case, pressurizing an old oil pipeline with natural gas to feed platform rigs.

[Bob]

OK, what is Hilcorp? The pipeline owner and well/rig owner..

http://seekingalpha.com/instablog/65...nlet-of-alaska

So who owns Hilcorp?

The uber-private Jeff Hildebrand, 53 of Houston, TX, is worth an estimated $5.5 billion at Forbes' most recent reckoning and he is the sole shareholder of Hilcorp.

He is the 56th richest American citizen. He was worth $1.9 billion in 2010. Other than the fact he lives in Houston, he is rich and he used to work for Exxon.

Hilcorp is the second largest privately held oil and gas company in the U.S. The company has achieved steady growth, averaging 15 percent yearly, through a strategy of revitalizing old producing fields.

Looking at the new players in the Cook Inlet you cannot help but run smack dab into Hilcorp. This is a private company and one that none of us had really heard about until earlier this year when they up and bought the Chevron Assets and recently the FTC decided to look into their proposed purchase of Marathon.

So who are these guys and does anyone really think that trading the sleepy little Marathon oil for a highly untransparent Hilcorp is a good idea? And what is the FTC focusing on? If these guys are going to be controlling the majority of the gas that Enstar is selling to us, I thought I would do a little poking around.

With its purchase of nearly 165,000 acres in the Cook Inlet from Chevron (CVX) earlier this year, including ten offshore platforms and two onshore fields, Hilcorp became one of the largest Cook Inlet operators virtually overnight.

"Hilcorp would account for between 60% and 80% of the Alaskan gas market, depending on the season, if it completes the acquisition," said Joe Balash, Alaska's deputy commissioner of Natural Resources. The volume of gas on the market in Alaska fluctuates because some is exported via a ConocoPhillips-owned liquefied natural gas terminal during summer when local demand for the heating fuel declines. Mr. Balash said that he supports Hilcorp's acquisition because he believes the company will invest money to increase production on the fields it acquires.

Hilcorp is already spending major dollars. The company has a $206 million 2012 budget and plans to spend $150 million per year in both 2013 and 2014. The goal is increasing production from the 14,000 barrels per day produced by Chevron in 2011 to 25,000 barrels per day by 2015. That's a lot of oil and that is on top of controlling our natural gas.

Hilcorp is the second largest privately held oil and gas company in the U.S. The company has achieved steady growth, averaging 15 percent yearly, through a strategy of revitalizing old producing fields.

Carlyle Participations -

Dec 18, 2015 | 9:53pm IST
Hilcorp, Carlyle form oil and gas partnership
Dec 18 Hilcorp Energy Co, a closely held U.S. independent exploration and production company, on Friday said it had formed a partnership with private equity firm Carlyle Group LP to acquire and develop North American oil and gas properties.

Carlyle's Energy Mezzanine Opportunities Fund, LP and Carlyle Energy Mezzanine Opportunities Fund II, LP have agreed to invest up to $1.24 billion in the newly formed partnership called Hilcorp Energy Development LP.

Houston-based Hilcorp, founded by Jeffrey Hildebrand in 1989, has operations in the Gulf Coast of Texas and Louisiana, the U.S. Northeast and Alaska.

[Bob]

Is or has there been any unusual die-off of sea life (fish birds mammals) in the Cook Inlet area of Alaska?

Looks like it - January 7, 2016 09:36 pm - Updated January 7, 2016 09:36 pm - http://peninsulaclarion.com/news/201...-inlet-beaches

Almost all the dead birds are murres, seabirds that in the summer swim in huge rafts near Gull Island or offshore. On a still summer evening, huge flocks can be seen flying just feet above the ocean surface. With big, duck-like feet, black backs and white breasts, they look like penguins. On land they’re helpless, but on sea they can swim and dive deep.

Bird experts advise beach walkers to leave carcasses alone.

Many of the murres appear emaciated and have starved to death, but scientists studying the die off don’t yet know what’s causing the murres to starve.

Not only are murres starving, they’re not breeding. Surveys of breeding colonies in Kachemak Bay and on the Barren Islands last summer showed no murres set up nests. Murres usually have a breeding success rate of 50 to 60 percent.

“We had complete reproductive failure, which is really rare for murres,” said Heather Renner, a bird biologist with the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge.

"On New Year’s Day, a retired U.S. Fish and Wildlife Biologist counted 8,000 dead murres on a 1-mile stretch of beach in Whittier.


(source -http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/common-murre-deaths-alaska-1.3400500)

“That number is totally off the charts,” Renner said. “This whole region is having through-the-roof numbers in the last couple of days.”

"Parrish said the recent numbers are 10 to 100 times the normal amounts. The average numbers for Alaska are 2-4 birds per kilometer — and continuing."

Coincidence with the start-up operations of the old fields and pipelines? A residual from the Exxon Valdez spill? Unknown..


(Above reference map of the region)

[Bob]

Still leaking natural gas into the waters of Cook Inlet, Alaska, south of Anchorage.

Another group intends to and has given the 60 days required "notice to sue" HilCorp who owns the defective pipeline and the oil/gas rigs that this pipeline connects. HilCorp says it has to wait until the seas are free of ice before it can safely put divers down to evaluate and/or repair the leak.

What is bizarre is the HilCorp REFUSES to shut off the gas claiming that residual oil in the pipeline may leak out, or that seawater may leak in..

Apparently they have NO CLUE that that is such a LAME EXCUSE, and the authorities are going along with that excuse. All it takes to SAFE the LINE is to PUMP AIR instead of NATURAL GAS into the line, and the AIR will keep the line pressurized.. and thereby save the environment from contamination from dissolved methane in the seawater.. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this solution, but apparently the HilCorp people want to keep running their NATURAL GAS heating systems on the PLATFORMS and continue to pollute the environment.. instead of shutting down the facilities and SAFEING the LINE (putting compressed air in instead of Natural Gas)..

This is a travesty - lack of common sense, lack of simple science understanding in how to maintain a defective undersea gas line.. (sigh)..

source - http://www.crossroadstoday.com/story...d-group-to-sue

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - A second environmental group has given formal notice that it will sue the owner of an underwater pipeline spewing natural gas into Alaska's Cook Inlet.

The inlet is home to endangered beluga whales, salmon and other fish. Gas since at least Feb. 7 has bubbled from an 8-inch pipeline owned by Hilcorp Alaska LLC. The pipeline moves processed natural gas from onshore to four drilling platforms.

The company in a statement said its modeling consultants conclude that only tiny amounts of natural gas likely are dissolving into the water and that there likely is minimal effect on marine life. Hilcorp says the leak will be repaired when it's safe to dive.

However, the Center for Biological Diversity in a letter to the company and the Environmental Protection Agency said the leaking gas is a threat to belugas. The Tucson, Arizona-based group said Hilcorp is violating four federal laws: the Clean Air and Clean Water acts, the Endangered Species Act and the Pipeline Safety Act. A lawsuit requires a 60-day notice.

"Belugas and their prey are being harmed every day this leak continues," said Miyoko Saka****a, the group's oceans program director, in a statement. "We can't wait another month or more for the sea ice to clear before plugging the leak."

The leak is about four miles off shore in 80 feet of water. A Hilcorp helicopter crew Feb. 7 spotted gas bubbling to the surface. The company estimates the pipeline is emitting 210,000 to 310,000 cubic feet of gas per day. The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation and the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration are investigating.

The pipeline formerly moved crude oil. Shutting off gas could allow seawater to infiltrate and possibly allow residual crude oil to leak into the inlet, according to Hilcorp.

Spokeswoman Lori Nelson in a statement said the company has shut down non-essential equipment on production platforms. Divers remain the best option for repairs, she said, but the risk is too great.

"Current ice conditions prevent divers from accessing and repairing the line safely," she said. "Hilcorp is ready to proceed once ice conditions allow for safe repair operations to begin."

Cook Inletkeeper, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting the Cook Inlet watershed, previously gave 60-day formal notice that it intends to sue Hilcorp under provisions of the Clean Water Act.

[Bob]

The first leak reported in the OP post #1 has been temporarily repaired with a clamped on patch installed by divers.

The 8-inch (20-centimeter) diameter pipeline supplies gas for power to four Hilcorp Alaska, LLC production platforms.

A spokeswoman said Monday that divers over the weekend discovered a 2-inch (5-centimeter) hole at bottom of the pipeline where it rests on a boulder in the sea floor.

A pipeline should never rest on a boulder embedded in the sea floor. Such would provide extra mechanical stress. The pipelines are OLD and should have been replaced 15 years ago.

A company originated analysis of gas flow indicated the pipeline probably started leaking in mid-December.

The permanent repair of the leaky natural gas pipeline has been ordered by the safety Agency to be accomplished by May 1, 2017, else it must be shut down.

===========================

HilCorp's Alaska pipeline problems are not over though in the Cook Inlet region.

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — A federal agency investigating an underwater pipeline leaking natural gas in Alaska's Cook Inlet is expanding its review to a nearby Hilcorp Alaska, LLC oil pipeline.

In a proposed safety order issued Friday, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said the 8-inch oil pipeline owned by Hilcorp Alaska LLC is subject to the same stresses as Hilcorp's 8-inch natural gas pipeline and must be quickly inspected.

Hilcorp purchased the pipeline and other oil and gas facilities from XTO Energy, Inc., in September 2015.

Divers had previously repaired two leaks for XTO Energy in the same line in summer 2014, about 3 years ago.

The safety agency, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in its new proposed order said the leaking HilCorp Alaska crude oil pipeline is subject to the same threats as the previously leaking gas line: vibration, excessive bending in pipe that's not supported by the sea bed, and contact with rocks.

A rupture of the oil pipeline could cause far greater environmental damage than the gas leak, the safety agency said.

The proposed safety order calls for high-resolution side-scan sonar inspection.

For areas where the oil pipe is not supported by the ocean floor or more than 10 feet, the safety order calls for inspection by divers or their equivalent.

The Oil Leak - how it started

The mystery is "where did the oil come from" - here is the story as relayed by HilCorp..

The company also is investigating an oil spill April 1. Workers on the Anna Platform "felt an impact" and spotted an oil sheen and gas bubbling near one of the platform's legs.

Hilcorp Alaska shut down production on the platform. Based on the size of sheens, Hilcorp estimates less than three gallons of oil spilled.

The source was announced as an 8-inch (20-centimeter) pipeline that runs between the Anna Platform and another platform.

Nelson, however, said Friday that Hilcorp believes the pipeline did not leak the oil. "Hilcorp's in-line inspection of the line in June of 2016 as well as recent onsite visual inspections showed the line to be in good working condition," she said.

The low volume of oil is another indication it did not come from the pipeline. Hilcorp does not have an alternative theory for the source.

"It's under investigation," HilCorp's spokeswoman Lori Nelson said.

So, apparently now taking a closer look at the pipeline issue, the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration on Thursday issued a corrections order for the oil pipeline and said it cannot be reactivated without authorization from the agency.

The agency called for a pressure test, visual examination and a restart plan.

The agency strongly urged, but it did not require, that Hilcorp develop a safety management system for all of its pipeline infrastructure in Cook Inlet within a year.

Environmental groups responded that the incidents show Hilcorp does not have good control over its pipeline system.

A "metering discrepancy" is a euphemism for a probable leak, said Lois Epstein, Arctic program director for The Wilderness Society.

"And why are we hearing about this problem from Hilcorp today when they started addressing the discrepancy on Saturday?" she said by email. "Are there other Cook Inlet problems they haven't told the public about?"

The Center for Biological Diversity on Thursday formally petitioned federal and state regulators to inspect all offshore pipelines in Cook Inlet for corrosion and other damage.