Alyeska Pipeline Service Company Lauded for Lift Station Removal Project - Alaska Business Magazine

Oct 14, 2024

by Rindi White | Sep 4, 2024 | Featured, News, Oil & Gas

Team Alyeska celebrates the recent Alaska Oil & Gas Association Project of the Year Award. From left, Hillary Schaefer, vice president of operations and maintenance; John Kurz, president & CEO; Mark Nelson, implementation assurance lead; Gretchen Stoddard, waste management specialist; Anthony Stallone, modification lead; Tom Marchesani, vice president of engineering and risk; and Health, Safety, Environment Director Allison Iversen.

Photo Credit: Alyeska Pipeline Service Company

Seven hundred million barrels of crude oil a year—peak production for the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS)—required heavy lifting to flow from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. The 800-mile pipeline was built with eleven pump stations to boost the flow of crude oil across the landscape.

With less oil today (average of 175 million barrels per year) and more efficient pumps and equipment, only four pump stations are needed. So TAPS operator Alyeska Pipeline Service Company is on a path to remove unneeded stations, with five slotted for removal by 2034 and plans for four more.

For its efforts to clean up and restore the pump station sites, Alyeska was awarded the Project of the Year for Environmental Stewardship and Innovation award from the Alaska Oil and Gas Association (AOGA) and Stoel Rives, the award sponsor.

“Given the unique climate and ecosystems in Alaska, local industry has a proud tradition of environmentally prudent and technologically innovative projects and operations. This award endeavors to highlight those projects or strategies that are both successful and represent innovation in their operation or approach, and Stoel Rives has been a proud sponsor of this award since its inception,” said Stoel Rives natural resource attorney Ramona Monroe when presenting Alyeska with the award August 28 at the 2024 AOGA Conference.

In accepting the award, Alyeska President and CEO John Kurz said removing pump stations shouldn’t be interpreted as a sign that production won’t increase or that Alyeska won’t be ready for larger volumes.

“There’s sentimentality and nostalgia for TAPS—especially as we close in on our 50th anniversary—and I hear that wherever I go in the state,” Kurz told the lunchtime crowd. “Facility removal projects can stir up a range of emotions and reactions, and to be clear, when we decrease our footprint, this isn’t about going out of business or scaling back. It’s really about removing legacy facilities that are no longer needed for daily operations, and it demonstrates investment in our future and our long-honored commitment to operating responsibly in Alaska.”

Pump Station 12 in a photo taken before the Legacy Facility Removal Project began.

Photo Credit: Alyeska Pipeline Service Company

Alyeska has decommissioned and removed equipment at Pump Stations 10 and 12 and is in the process of doing so at Pump Stations 2 and 8. The company also plans to decommission and remove equipment at Pump Station 6 and remove legacy equipment at Pump Stations 1, 3, 4, and 9. The company states on its website that each pump station has a unique construction and operational history that requires site-specific demolition work planning, including removing structures to match surrounding grades; removing concrete slabs and, if necessary, demolishing concrete that projects above surrounding grades or slabs; filling in sumps and depression with processed concrete from demolition; cleaning up known environmental issues; and removing and recycling equipment and scrap.

Alyeska states that it prepared in 2023 for removal of Pump Station 8—slated for 2026— by handling 91,000 gallons of hydrocarbons and wash water while cleaning more than 8 miles of out-of-service above- and below-ground piping to meet regulatory standards.

Pump Station 12, in a photo taken during the Legacy Facility Removal Project.

Photo Credit: Alyeska Pipeline Service Company

By reusing concrete as fill at Pump Stations 10 and 12, the company says it saved seventy-two loads of rubble from being hauled to a landfill, resulting in an estimated savings of 16,200 gallons of diesel and a substantial reduction of risk related to driving time. It also reduced an estimated 181 tons of greenhouse gas due to the reduced trucking.

Following removal and restoration at the pump stations, Alyeska says only oil spill contingency plan-related equipment and communication modules remain at the site.

Pump Station 12, in a photo taken after the Legacy Facility Removal Project was completed.

Photo Credit: Alyeska Pipeline Service Company

“They reused materials, led with care for the animals and the birds and the environment, and worked with operations and crews to help us achieve a reduced footprint that’s a more natural and scenic setting, and reduced risk to wildlife and the environment,” Kurz said at the presentation.

Kurz added, “We are becoming more efficient, and optimizing operations in our facilities allows us to focus on delivering oil and working toward TAPS 100. That’s 100 years of operation in 2077. We believe we will get there.”