Editorial: Cutting out safety

Monday, May 21, 2007 | 7:56 a.m.

Corrosion and leaks along an Alaskan oil pipeline that forced BP to shut down the United States' largest oil field last year appear to have been the result of BP budget cuts that led to reductions in pipeline maintenance.

Internal company e-mails obtained by a House committee that is investigating the 2006 shutdown show that BP field managers were highly concerned that corporate-mandated budget cuts were preventing workers from performing needed corrosion maintenance, the Associated Press reported on Thursday.

Ultimately, the lapse in maintenance led to corrosion and leaks along 16 of the North Slope pipeline's 22 miles. These failures forced BP officials to suspend operations in August 2006, resulting in the loss of 400,000 gallons of crude oil daily and forcing a 3 percent spike in crude oil prices within two days of the shutdown.

At a congressional hearing Wednesday, Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Mich., chairman of the Energy and Commerce subcommittee that is investigating the incident, said BP's documents show that field managers were "being asked to choose between saving money and critical maintenance" at a time when the London-based oil giant was raking in more than $106 billion in profits, the AP reports.

What's more, an official with the U.S. Chemical Safety Board told the panel that there were "striking similarities" between the North Slope incident and failures at BP's Texas City refinery, where an explosion in 2005 killed 15 people and injured 170 others.

Robert Malone, BP's America chairman, acknowledged that the budget cuts occurred and were a point of frustration for field managers. BP has repeatedly admitted that its corrosion maintenance was inadequate and is spending $250 million to replace the pipe.

Still, companies admitting mistakes and making repairs only when disaster forces them to do so isn't good enough - especially when dealing with something as volatile as an oil field or refinery.

The federal government must play a more active role in keeping tabs on how foreign-based companies operate on U.S. soil, so that American workers and our environment are protected.