Trans-Alaska Pipeline

The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, run by the Alyeska People Service Company, transports nearly 20 percent of the nation's domestically produced oil and has operated for nearly 20 years without a major oil spill. However, throughout the pipeline's years of construction and operation, problems with the condition of the pipeline, the quality assurance program of its operator, and the effectiveness of government monitoring have been reported. These problems have resulted in continued congressional oversight. A study commissioned by the Interior Department in August 1993 identified 22 categories of substantial--and potential threatening--deficiencies in Alyeska's management and operation of the pipeline. Other audits have identified additional deficiencies. This report (1) assesses Alyeska's progress in correcting these deficiencies; (2) determines whether the corrective measures planned for three areas--electrical systems, quality, and preventive maintenance--will address the deficiencies; (3) discusses whether regulators are improving regulatory oversight of the pipeline; and (4) identifies the root causes of the deficiencies.

GAO found that: (1) the pipeline contractor has corrected about 62 percent of the almost 5,000 identified deficiencies as of April 1995, but it does not expect to be finished until the end of 1996, 2 years later than it had originally planned; (2) the contractor has corrected most electrical problems, focused management attention on the quality program, and is overhauling its maintenance program; (3) if the contractor completes actions to address these deficiencies, the TAPS problems should be corrected; (4) pipeline regulators are making a concerted effort to increase staff and reorganize to strengthen their focus on monitoring contractor operations; and (5) the root causes of the pipeline's deficiencies include the contractor's philosophy of reacting to problems rather than conducting programs aimed at prevention and early detection and regulators' inadequate oversight of contractor operations.