Editorial: Oil’s slippery slope

Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2006 | 7:37 a.m.

The Environmental Protection Agency has launched an investigation and at least one House member is calling for congressional hearings regarding the shutdown of an Alaskan oil field that is the nation's largest.

According to a story by The Washington Post, BP shut down its North Slope operations after officials discovered extensive corrosion and leaks along 16 of the pipeline's 22 miles. BP officials said the problems "probably will take months to fix."

This shutdown results in a daily loss of 400,000 gallons of crude oil. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Tuesday that despite the shutdown the U.S. oil supply is "in reasonable shape" and that adequate amounts exist to replace the losses for West Coast refineries. Still, crude oil prices spiked by 3 percent within two days of the Alaskan operation's suspension Sunday.

And it is not just the loss of supply that is worrisome. Environmentalists and others have long criticized BP's maintenance of its Alaskan pipelines, saying the company routinely fails to keep lines free of sludge and falters in protecting them from corrosion, the Post reports. The first signs of a problem emerged in March when workers noticed a small spill. It took three months for workers to locate the quarter-inch hole that caused the spill - a leak that has been linked to the overall corrosion in the lines.

BP officials have said they routinely use electronic scanners to check the lines for weaknesses, but it had been seven years since such a test was performed, the Post reports. The Transportation Department recommends the test every five years.

The EPA has launched a criminal investigation, the Post reports, while Rep. John Dingle, D-Mich., is calling for congressional hearings into BP's seeming failure to maintain its pipelines. Certainly, such probes are warranted. Such catastrophic corrosion simply does not happen overnight. It is more likely the result of long-term neglect - the type that does not instill confidence in claims that drilling can be done safely and cleanly in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

We hope that the EPA is thorough in its investigation. And we hope that Congress heeds Dingle's call for hearings - ones that not only examine BP's maintenance record but also will determine why and how U.S. oil prices can skyrocket at the first breath of an oil field shutdown, when the nation's top energy official says there is enough oil to go around.