[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 87 (Friday, June 20, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6037-S6038]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE TRANS-ALASKA PIPELINE

  Mr. MURKOWSKI. Mr. President, I advise my colleagues that 20 years 
ago today, a truly historic event occurred in my State of Alaska that 
had much to do with the shaping of the character of our State probably 
as much as the majestic and unique parts of our State, whether it be in 
the mountains or glaciers.
  On June 20, 1977, at 10:06 a.m. at Prudhoe Bay, AK, the crude oil 
discovered on the North Slope 9 years earlier began to flow. It began 
its journey south some 800 miles to the ice-free port of Valdez through 
the Trans-Alaska pipeline. That first trip, which now takes about 5 
days for the oil to move, took over 1 month to complete and marked the 
culmination of the largest private construction project ever undertaken 
in the history of North America.
  Since that time, every citizen has benefited from this marvel of 
American engineering, but few really understand how significant this 
feat was and how much it has contributed to our Nation. The pipeline 
took 3 years of construction.
  The total cost was about $8 billion. The initial estimate was just 
under $1 billion. However, in today's dollars, that would equate to 
about $22 to $25 billion. It was truly a marvel, one of the engineering 
wonders of the world. It took 2,215 State and Federal permits to 
proceed. Today, it is estimated to take over 5,000. Approximately 
70,000 people were used as a work force; over 3 million tons of 
materials were shipped to Alaska for construction; 73 million cubic 
yards of gravel were used; 13 bridges, ranging from 177 feet to 2,295 
feet had to be constructed going across the Yukon River; 834 rivers 
were crossed; three mountain ranges as well.
  Since that time, Mr. President, that pipeline has been subject to 
earthquakes, it has been subject to bombing, dynamite has been wrapped 
around it, it has been shot at so many times too numerous to count--but 
it has withstood those rigors of Mother Nature as well as mankind.
  While there was a terrible accident associated with the grounding of 
the Exxon Valdez, which was of course due to negligence on behalf of 
those who were operating that vessel, the Prince William Sound is 
cleaned up today, and it is continuing its contributions as one of the 
most productive bodies of water on Earth. From the standpoint of the 
renewability of the fisheries and marine resources of the area--I do 
not mean to belittle the significance of that tragedy--but Mother 
Nature has a way of cleansing, and it was helped by a good deal of 
funding, commitment and expertise from Alaskans and those outside. But 
the fact remains, this pipeline continues to contribute a great deal to 
the economy of this country.
  Certainly much of the permitting process, and to a large degree the 
continuity of maintaining quality and environmental concerns, are a 
responsibility of the Federal Government as well as the State 
government which watched over the construction and the operation and 
made sure it was done responsibly. But those groups did not stand in 
the way of construction.
  Since the pipeline first flowed on June 20, 1977, the pipeline has 
produced and provided the United States with over 25 percent of the 
domestic crude oil produced in the United States and about 10 percent 
of total U.S. daily consumption of crude oil, to give you some idea of 
the significance of this particular and unique all-American pipeline.
  So, as a consequence, as we look at our situation today, this 
pipeline has contributed significantly to U.S. energy independence and, 
I might add, energy independence that is in serious jeopardy.
  Consider this for just a moment, Mr. President. In 1994, domestic 
flow production dropped to 6.6 million barrels a day, the lowest since 
1954. National demand has increased to more than 17.7 million barrels 
per day, the highest level since the mid-1970's. The United States 
imported 51 percent of its oil in 1994. Today, we are importing a 
little over 52 percent, but according to the Department of Energy, U.S. 
dependence on foreign oil is expected to rise to nearly 70 percent by 
the year 2000.
  If not for the trans-Alaska pipeline, we might have already reached 
70 percent imported oil. How much higher would our gasoline prices be 
without that pipeline? How much more likely would we be putting our 
children and grandchildren in harm's way on foreign soil to protect our 
domestic interests if we were importing more than 70 percent of our 
oil? Because, make no mistake about it, Mr. President, the Persian Gulf 
conflict was about keeping the flow of oil for the benefit of the 
world.
  We have always had an environmental concern over the pipeline. It was 
predicted that this pipeline, going through permafrost, which is frozen 
ground, and being a hot pipeline carrying warm oil, would cause heat 
generation and melt the permafrost, and, therefore, the pipeline would 
continually go further and further down, to fulfill perhaps a self-
propelling prophecy that was suggested it would end up in China some 
day. Didn't we always know as kids, if you went down far enough, you 
would end up in China? Well, clearly that has not happened, Mr. 
President.
  The pipeline operates in permafrost. The hot oil flows through the 
pipeline, but the pipeline was clearly engineered to withstand that. It 
was suggested that this pipeline across 800 miles of Alaska would cause 
the animals, the wildlife associated with it, be it the polar bear, the 
grizzly bear, the brown bear, the black bear, the caribou, or the 
moose, to somehow have a fence they could not cross. The facts are, at 
the pipeline and the buried sections, the animals browse on it in the 
early spring because the small amount of heat generated causes the 
grasses to come up first, and it has become a sight and attraction. We 
see the caribou in their migration standing on top of the buried 
pipeline because there is more wind there and there are less 
opportunities for mosquitoes. So to suggest that it has somehow 
restricted the natural flow of wildlife certainly has not occurred.
  One can bottom line it and simply say the predictions of the 
environmental groups who said this was going to be some kind of 
environmental disaster have not occurred. It has been successful. It 
has done its job, and continues.
  To suggest it has not had its share of problems or there have not 
been mechanical failures and there have not been human failures--of 
course there have. I have always supported stringent oversight of the 
pipeline. We have been working with the Joint Pipeline Office and the 
Department of Transportation, and the effort has been successful.
  But every now and then we find opponents of development in Alaska who 
are looking for a cause, the cause of membership or cause of dollars or 
perhaps they bring up some of the young attorneys from Harvard or Brown 
to do

[[Page S6038]]

missionary work in Alaska by representing one or another of the 
environmental groups. I think we have some 62 in Anchorage now.

  They need a cause. And one of their favorite topics, when things are 
slow, is to come out with a report that somehow the pipeline is in 
peril, somehow the pipeline is not being operated in the most efficient 
manner from the standpoint of the public interest.
  First of all, Mr. President, those who own the pipeline, the major 
owners--ARCO, Exxon--produce petroleum. Their interest is moving oil, 
moving oil safely, moving oil economically. To do anything less than 
that would be detrimental to their own interest.
  The State of Alaska maintains an oversight, the Federal Government 
maintains an oversight. But nevertheless, we continually see reports 
that purposely mislead the public about the Trans-Alaska pipeline.
  Those of us in the Senate know that if you do not have your electric 
code book up to date--and there are 25,000 or 30,000 separate entries--
you can be classified by an agency as having 25,000 or 30,000 
violations. It does not mean that your code book has not been updated 
during the last year for any number of reasons.
  So we have had critics of the pipeline from time to time issuing 
reports intended to portray some of these problems as standard 
operating procedure for pipeline management rather than an exception. 
Of course, it generates for those particular organizations 
contributions and in some cases generates membership. But these claims 
are in stark contrast to recent oversight reports by responsible State 
and Federal agencies tasked with the oversight responsibility.
  In 1995, the U.S. Department of Transportation audited the Office of 
Pipeline Safety to determine its effectiveness in ensuring the Trans-
Alaska pipeline operations minimize risk to life and property. The 
audit concluded the operation ``is effectively monitoring and 
inspecting [the pipeline]. Also, when violations were identified, OPS 
took enforcement actions against Alyeska'' and made corrections.
  In August of 1995, at the request of Congress, the GAO completed an 
audit of the pipeline operators and their response to identified 
deficiencies. The report concluded that ``Alyeska has taken substantive 
actions that, if carried through to completion, appear to be adequate 
to correct the problems.''
  Last year, the Joint Pipeline Office concluded that Alyeska has 
implemented its revised quality control for the pipeline sufficiently 
to allow its full approval.
  So, Mr. President, these are the responsible agencies and current 
reports we have on hand. We have no reason to doubt their accuracy.
  Finally, Mr. President, Alaska truly is a great State, a great big 
piece of real estate. We have many great assets, including our people 
and the resources that we have. On this date, I would like to 
especially recognize the role the Trans-Alaska pipeline has had in 
shaping our State and the benefits it has provided to this Nation's 
energy and natural security interests.
  Finally, Mr. President, on July 18-20, I am going to be leading a 
number of our colleagues to Alaska to look at the issues related to 
resource development of Alaska's Arctic, specifically the Trans-Alaska 
pipeline and other areas where truly the wealth of North America is 
coming from the Arctic.
  I remind the Presiding Officer that Alaska just happens to be the 
only State with any Arctic in it. So as part of that trip, we will take 
a close look at the marvels of the Trans-Alaska pipeline, what it has 
meant to this Nation. I look forward to leading this group, and I 
encourage my colleagues to join with me on this important trip.
  Finally, in conclusion, on the 20th anniversary of the Trans-Alaska 
pipeline, I would like to congratulate those workers who operate and 
have operated this pipeline for the last 20 years against tremendous 
odds, extraordinary climactic conditions, and have done it in a manner 
of recognizing that American technology and ingenuity and can-do spirit 
can just about overcome any adversity and any particular challenge of 
the time.
  The successful operation of the Trans-Alaska pipeline for the last 20 
years, I think, has proven that indeed the men and women who are 
associated with the pipeline and the Alyeska crew are certainly up to 
the task.
  I thank the Chair.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.

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