(Washington, DC)  --  U.S. Rep. Steven C. LaTourette (R-Concord Township) today questioned an executive from British Petroleum (BP) about the failure of the oil company to detect extensive corrosion in a pipeline in Prudhoe Bay that led to oil spills and a shutdown of some oil production.

 The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, of which LaTourette is a senior member, today held a hearing about a new proposal from the Department of Transportation to broaden pipeline regulations.  The low-pressure oil lines damaged in Alaska were not subject to federal regulations that could have prevented the maintenance neglect that caused the pipeline to leak in an environmentally sensitive area, LaTourette said. 

 LaTourette directed most of his questioning toward Steve Marshall, the head of BP’s operations in Alaska.  LaTourette said BP had neglected to smart-pig the pipelines since 1992.  Routine or maintenance pigs (pipeline inspection gauges) are used to clear debris and buildup from the walls of pipelines, while more high-tech “smart pigs” can detect corrosion and damage.  It is not new technology, and most larger pipelines are smart-pigged at least once every five years, LaTourette said.

 Marshall said he couldn’t speak for practices in Alaska prior to 2000, but indicated that since then he has instituted ultrasound testing of the exterior walls of pipelines.  The ultrasound, however, did not detect the damage before a major oil spill in March, and also didn’t detect the serious corrosion that was subsequently discovered, resulting in a partial closure of oil production, LaTourette said.

 LaTourette questioned whether BP was using the best and most effective technology to monitor its pipelines, whether required by the government or not.   A state-of-the-art smart pig costs less than $7,000 per mile of pipe, LaTourette said, noting that BP posted about $7 billion in profits during the second quarter of the year.

 “The government doesn’t require me to change the oil in my car every 3,000 miles but I do it because I want the car to last,” LaTourette said, adding that the primitive pipeline inspection method used by BP amounted to “a doctor holding a stethoscope up to my chest wall to see if I have a heart condition.”

 Marshall told the committee that BP is committed to routine maintenance pigging in the area as often as needed (to clear debris from the pipeline), and will now smart-pig once every five years.

 LaTourette also told the committee that he was concerned by Marshall’s earlier testimony before another House subcommittee that BP had been without a corrosion guru in Alaska for more than six months last year.  Marshall earlier testified that the BP supervisor, Richard Woollam, had an abrasive nature that might have intimidated workers from reporting safety problems.  Woollam invoked his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination when asked to testify before another congressional panel last week, LaTourette said.

 LaTourette said Woollam’s so-called “abrasive nature” was no excuse for the lax oversight and maintenance by BP in Alaska.

 “Do you think the American public should expect that safety issues shouldn’t be raised at nuclear power plants, air traffic control towers, oil refineries or pipelines because a boss has an abrasive personality,” LaTourette asked.