API awarded its 2008 Distinguished Award for Outstanding Safety and Environmental Performance to Alyeska Pipeline Service Company in the large pipeline operator category. The Distinguished Award is API’s highest safety and environmental performance award for pipeline operators who have the best spill prevention and containment performance records.
Alyeska Pipeline Service Company operates the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, from Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope to Valdez, Alaska, the northernmost ice-free port in North America. This system provides approximately 750,000 barrels of crude oil per day to the west coast of the United States. Alyeska has a long track record of outstanding environmental performance (supported by five environmental awards) and has made a step-change improvement in safety performance. Contributing to the company’s strong record were the company’s initiatives in preventing soft tissue injuries, its outstanding mainline integrity program (zero pipeline releases due to corrosion), its significant engagement with external stakeholders, and taking an all-hazards approach to business continuity. Alyeska also won the API Large Operator Environmental Performance Award.
The API pipeline awards program, which started in 2000, recognizes liquid pipeline companies that make the greatest strides in ensuring worker safety and outstanding environmental performance. To be eligible, companies must participate in API performance tracking programs and meet baseline measures of operational safety.