Alaska Oil Spill

Alaska oil spill could be region's largest Associated Press Sunday, March 12, 2006 ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- An oil spill on Alaska's North Slope could end up being one of the region's largest, officials said Wednesday as the cleanup continued. Crews have recovered about 222,000 litres - or 1,395 barrels - of crude and snow since the pipeline spill was discovered Thursday in the Prudhoe Bay field, about 1,045 kilometres north of Anchorage. Most of the recovered material will probably turn out to be crude once the water is separated out, officials said. That means the spill could be the largest ever in the North Slope, surpassing a 147,000-litre spill in 1989. By comparison, the Exxon Valdez spilled 42 million litres when it ran aground in Prince William Sound in 1989. Lynda Giguere of the Alaska Department of Conservation said officials should have an estimate Thursday of how much crude spilled onto a roughly one-hectare area from the line, which leads to the trans-Alaska pipeline. Temperatures are well below freezing and are expected to approach -50 degrees C in coming days, omplicating the cleanup, officials said. The North Slope is the region between the Brooks Range and the Arctic Ocean and contains most of Alaska's petroleum reserves. Original