Trouble in Alaska? Massive oil pipeline is threatened by thawing permafrost
The slope of permafrost where an 810-foot section of the pipeline is secured has started to shift as it thaws, causing braces holding up the pipeline to twist and bend.
Trans-Alaska Pipeline, one of the world's largest oil pipelines, spans 800-miles from Prudhoe Bay in the north to Valdez on Prince William Sound in the south.Edwin Remsburg / Universal Images Group via Getty Images
July 11, 2021, 5:01 AM CDT
By David Hasemyer, Inside Climate News
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline, one of the world’s largest oil pipelines, could be in danger.
Thawing permafrost threatens to undermine the supports holding up an elevated section of the pipeline, jeopardizing its structural integrity and raising the potential of an oil spill in a delicate and remote landscape.
The slope of permafrost where an 810-foot section of the pipeline is secured has started to shift as it thaws, causing several of the braces holding up the pipeline to twist and bend.
This appears to be the first instance that pipeline supports have been damaged by “slope creep” caused by thawing permafrost, records and interviews with officials involved with managing the pipeline show.
More:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trouble-alaska-massive-oil-pipeline-threatened-thawing-permafrost-n1273589
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