ENGINEERING AND CONSERVATION ALASKA PIPELINE POSES MANY UNUSUAL PROBLEMS

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32296, 14 May 1970, Page 16

ENGINEERING AND CONSERVATION ALASKA PIPELINE POSES MANY UNUSUAL PROBLEMS

(Bl) WALTER SVI.LIVAN in the "New York Times’’) (New York Times News Service, copyright 1970. Reprinted by arrangement)

If the oil companies have their way, a few winters hence Alaska, America’s most gigantic and unspoiled state, will be bisected from north and south by a hot artery—a pipe four feet in diameter and close on 800 miles long, carrying a deluge of oil through the otherwise frigid terrain at a temperature of 1.50 degrees Fahrenheit, or more.

Why has this project, < which the Secretary of the 1 Interior, Mr Walter J. Hickel, < has called the largest private 1 construction effort in history, . been frustrated by Federal i officials and court actions j initiated by conservationists? ( What are the chances, in fact, , that this pipeline will be, built? While attention in Washington has been focused on legal manoeuvres and political lobbying, a visit to central Alaska and the oil field fringing the Arctic Ocean has revealed a variety of research efforts designed to explore and mitigate the pipeline effects. It has also shown that few concrete results can be expected from this work for months, and in some cases years.

A Deep Thaw

From what is known now, however, it has been concluded by the United States 1 Geological Survey that the ' pipe, if buried with its top four feet below the surface in the waterlogged, frozen < silt along much of the route, would thaw the ground to a ; depth of 50 feet. In the [southern part of the route, where the climate is milder. I the thaw would penetrate 25 [feet in the first year and 50 [feet within 20 years. i Melting could convert much[ [of the route to an impass-! lable canal. Uneven sinking) lof the pipe could rupture it 'Largelv for this reason the iexperts have told Secretary Hickel that, in terms of what is now known, the pipe would have to be carried on stilts across the broad river basins -in the southern sector. It 1 would mean that at least 40 oer cent of the entire pipei line would have to be above , ground. This has dismayed the con’sortium of oil companies, known as T.A.P.S. (for Trans[Alaskan Pipeline System), .[that would build the line They feel an above-ground line is vulnerable to accidental damage (such as bull[dozer collision) and to sabo-j jitage. Pipelines elsewhere : [have been dynamited by the > 'disgruntled or the unbalijanced. .[ The Secretary of the Inferior has referred to an ,! above-ground line as a “Chinese Wall.” If the pipe were i'on stilts two feet high and with six-inch insulajtion, it would stand seven /feet above the landscape. I • i! Movement Of Animals ’| Mr Hickel told a recent Senate hearing that Soviet ■ pipelines in Siberia are on ’ stilts high enough to permit : animals free movement. His

department’s stipulations to ’ the oil companies specify that i all parts of the line must be 1 built “so as to assure un- ’ restricted passage and move-: ment of big game animals.” Near the University of I Alaska campus in College.| Alaska, seven huts hold a] succession of furnaces that! are heating sections of pipe! four feet in diameter, buried | in the frozen ground, or permafrost. In much of [Alaska the ground, below the [few feet reached by summer thaw, is permanently frozen. These experimental pipes extend from high, relatively dry, birch-covered terrain, . down a slope to waterlogged ‘ land covered with spruce. In- ’ struments are recording the ' spread of thaw through the ( various types of soil. This f summer grasses will be plant- ! ed above the pipe in search of quick-growing varieties that can be used to stabilise the land after excavation

Various grasses are also being tested on cold ground alongside the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay. The varieties commercially available tend to be from temperate climates. However it may be that such grasses will thrive in the warm soil above a buried pipe. The latter will be hot because the oil comes out of the ground at high temperature and, even if cooled, would again be heated by friction and from pumping along the route. While collection of seed from tundra plants is impractical, it may be possible to chop up tundra vegetation and spread it over bare ground as a source of seed and erosion protection. Effect Of Earthquakes Since the buried pipe has only been warm for two months,- little can be told as yet about its long-term effects. The work is being financed by the T.A.P.S. project. One cause for concern is a peculiar effect that earthquakes can have on waterlogged soil. Their vibration

can suddenly turn it toiir liquid, causing catastrophic oi slides. The pipeline crosses Ili the Denali and Fair- h weather Faults both of ci them subject to earthquakes L that fracture the surface. The tj final section will slope down!J' many miles from the mountains to the sea and a rup-1 11 ture of the pipe there could]®! produce a deluge of black Jj 1 The huge, four-foot girth Ci of the pipe and the high t] speed of oil flow means that, w in minutes, a rupture would D ! spread oil over a large re- jj i gion. Since the route crosses 23 rivers and 152 streams, l n i this poses a threat to spawn-jb : ing beds of salmon and arctic[<j ■ char. The specifications re- s quire that such crossings p be buried beneath the river f bottom. Fish such as salmon de-v posit their eggs on gravel 1 ; beds under clear running t > water. The United States;! > Interior Department requires < • that, where a stream is ‘ i diverted and such beds de- ‘ , stroyed. new ones must be i provided.

Sensitive Lichens

At the Earth Day “teachin” on the University of Alaska campus last month Dr David Klein, wildlife [specialist at the university, [also expressed concern that 'air pollution from the burn-

ng off of waste gas at the iil wells will affect the ichens, slow growing but lardy plants, on which the aribou are dependent, lichens are extremely sensiive to air pollution. He said he 500,000 reindeer of the upland herds are finding ichen forage more and more scarce because of air polluion from West European inlustrial centres. Probably the greatest con;ern of conservationists is he pollution of Alaskan vaters by the enormous shipnents of oil from the pipeline terminus at Valdez. When the pipeline reaches Maximum flow, two million oarrels of oil will be loaded daily. Allowing for “normal" spillage rates, this could prove disastrous for Alaskan fisheries. A plan favoured by conservationists is to lay a buried pipe from Prudhoe Bay along the gravelly islands fringing the Arctic coast to join a Canadian line running south along the Mackenzie valley to the central United States. Such a diversion would deprive Alaska of the prosperity it hopes to gain from the pipeline. Despite panicky fears of Alaskan businessmen, it appears likely that the pipeline to Valdez will be built—but not this year and not without measures to insure minimum damage to the last great wilderness under the American flag.