Bullet forces shutdown of Alaska pipeline

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Oil spewed like a geyser from the trans-Alaska oil pipeline Friday, more than 24 hours after a man shot a hole in the line.

Crews struggled to install a clamp to stop the leak and clean up more than 260,000 gallons of oil. The work was proceeding slowly due to explosive vapors at the site, said Brad Hahn of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation.

"You have to try to suppress the vapors with the fire suppression foam and you have to use large fans to blow the explosive vapors away from the work area," Hahn said.

The man suspected of shooting the pipeline with a .338-caliber rifle, Daniel Carson Lewis, 37, was arraigned Friday on charges of criminal mischief, driving while intoxicated, weapons misconduct and felony assault.

State Police had no motive for the shooting but said Lewis had been drinking. "It does not appear to be an act of terrorism," trooper spokesman Tim DeSpain said.

Lewis, who was being held on $1.5 million bail, was arrested Thursday, four hours after the leak was discovered.

Gov. Tony Knowles said state officials would be taking another look at security along the 800-mile pipeline.

"Clearly the fact that one person with a rifle can do this much damage is a point of concern in terms of vulnerability," Knowles said.

A surveillance helicopter had spotted the spill about 75 miles north of Fairbanks. Oil under high pressure was spewing 75 feet across a road and into tundra and brush, said Tim Woolston, spokesman for the line's operator, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co.

Cleanup crews dug ditches and deep holes to capture the oil, which was being vacuumed into trucks and transferred to storage tanks.

"Our priority is that no oil migrates from the site to the Tolovana River a mile away," Hahn said.

Alyeska had increased surveillance along the pipeline, much of which runs through the wilderness, after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The pipe is protected by a layer of galvanized steel and nearly four inches of insulation.

"It's a monumental task to protect every inch of that pipeline 24 hours a day," Woolston said.

The pipeline carries about 1 million barrels of oil a day, or 17 percent of domestic oil production. Oil companies on the North Slope were asked to reduce their production by 5 percent during the shutdown.

Indentations from bullets have been found in the line over the years. Woolston said people have shot at the pipeline more than 50 times but never caused enough damage to produce a spill.

In 1978, about 670,000 gallons of oil spilled after a hole was blasted with explosives near Fairbanks. No one has been arrested in that case.

In 1999, a Canadian man was charged with plotting to blow up the pipeline in an attempt to drive up oil prices and reap a profit. He is fighting extradition to the United States on explosives and terrorism charges.