Crews are about half way done removing a colossal drilling rig that toppled over on the North Slope.
“Right now, there's ice roads that have been constructed in place that heavy equipment can work from, and so as of this afternoon, they've removed about 47% of the rig,” said Kimberley Maher, on-scene coordinator for the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, speaking on Thursday.
Formally called Doyon 26 and nicknamed “The Beast,” the rig was as tall as a 15-story building. It was said to be the largest land-based rig in North America. It fell over a month ago while it was in transit, sparking a fire that was quickly extinguished. No one was seriously injured. The rig was damaged beyond repair.
Maher said the salvage operation is on track to be finished by spring breakup.
A major concern is that diesel and hydraulic fluid spilled from the rig. Maher said slightly more than half of the estimated 4,600 gallon spill has been recovered so far, using the “flush and suck” method.
“We use warm — not hot — water in order to flood the area, to lift the contamination out of the tundra … and then use a vacuum to recover that water,” she said.
The mixture is hauled to Deadhorse and placed in settling tanks so that regulators can determine how much contamination has been removed.
The site, six miles northwest of the Nuiqsut community, is about 500 feet from streams that flow into the Colville River.
“Fortunately, this happened while everything is very frozen,” Maher said. “We will be continuing to monitor the site, delineate the contamination, and put tactics in place to minimize any potential of contamination hitting any waterways.”
ConocoPhillips, which expected to use Doyon 26 in its exploration of the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska, said the accident won’t disrupt its work program.
That exploration work is the subject of an environmental lawsuit, claiming the Bureau of Land Management granted the permits without adequate consideration for the tundra, the Teshekpuk Caribou Herd and subsistence resources.
Earthjustice attorney Ian Dooley, who brought the suit on behalf of Sovereign Iñupiat for a Living Arctic and other advocates, said the accident is emblematic of the problems villagers in Nuiqsut have had in getting information about ConocoPhillips’ operations. He said BLM should have promptly informed people in Nuiqsut of the rig accident and the spilled contaminants.
“There's a lack of safety, there's a lack of oversight, there's a lack of accountability,” he said. “That is going along with the oil and gas projects that are occurring in this area, and there is at least some deep concern by community members that their safety is not being duly considered.”
The cleanup is a joint operation of Doyon Drilling, federal and state agencies, the North Slope Borough and the Iñupiat Community of the Arctic Slope, a tribal government representing Nuiqsut and seven other villages.
