After a serious oil spill last November and other mishaps, the BP employees fingered a long list of safety issues that have not been adequately addressed, making the Prudhoe Bay oilfield vulnerable to a devastating accident that potentially could rival the havoc in the Gulf.
"The condition of the [Prudhoe Bay] field is a lot worse and in my opinion a lot more dangerous," said Marc Kovac, who has worked for BP on Alaska's North Slope for more than three decades. "We still have hundreds of miles of rotting pipe ready to break that needs to be replaced. We are totally unprepared for a large spill." ...
Some of the employees, speaking anonymously, said BP follows an "operate to failure" attitude. Kovac said that means BP Alaska avoids spending money on "upkeep" and instead runs the equipment until it breaks down.
Truthout also cites previously unreleased documents, including a letter from BP Alaska president John Minge to Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, in exploring how BP penny-pinching and "poor management" have compromised oil field safety. Employees also blame 16- to 18-hour shifts and shortage of trained personnel as contributing to the hazards.
BP's own internal studies have shown that employees who work more than 16 hours during a 24-hour time period can lack the mental capacity to make sound and timely decisions. Yet during 2009, 16-plus-hour work shifts were routine at Prudhoe Bay, with employees working beyond 16 hours about 200 to 400 times per month, 75 percent of which represented 18-hour work shifts, according to internal BP documents.
BP Alaska spokesman Steve Rinehart told Truthout that BP is "committed to integrity management and safe, reliable operations."
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