Good reporting.  Real danger that will not play big in the dailies.  Failure of the pipe and disaster, now that’s a story!

COMMERCIAL TRUCKS ARE PLACED OUT OF SERVICE UNTIL THE PROBLEM IS SOLVED. ALONG WITH A NICE LITTLE FINE. NONE OF THIS I’M GETTIN THERE BULL

This article is such a joke!  Does anyone out there really believe that the equipment you put into service to do work - is intended to last forever?  Do your automobile tires ever need replacing?  Do you measure them and make a judgement on when to replace?  Do you think Budwiser, Pilsbury, Coke, Pepsi, Mary Kay, Carghill, Weyerhaeuser, any nuclear power plant on the face of the earth, or all other industries that use piping to convey liquids and solids do not have inpsection criterion for their equipment?  Do you think they rank them for replacement?  I do!

Give me a break will ya!  Your just trying to sell you article by making it doomsday!

Also, please tell me how a mechanic working for BP can be an expert and tell you how an engineered piping repair plan could be deemed too long or how a temporary “patch,” as the article says, it not capable of out performing the base material.  Get someone that has the skills needed to help you determine if running the piping systems on the North Slope, or North America are fit for service!  The words on this page are not fit for reading.

well RANDY , i am a mechanic and a master welder and engineer , and from the pictures i can say that its a very highly likely that a leak will happen , and two a mechanic can see and know what metal looks like and knows when its not safe, you are someone that i would say that knows nothing, and is a loud mouth that talks out the other end. anyone can see the pipe in the picture and see its not safe ,  rust is there, and if there is rust it only takes a fraction of rust to weaken the metal enough under that high of pressure to have a major blow out. you sitting here judging someone else that you have no clue whom they are or if they have more knowledge of metal and oil pipe and oil lines then you.  peoplle like you are why they dont let work in this feild, because of your stupid way of thinking that , high pressure lines would bo ok to use anyway even if its a risk to many others and the safety of anything or anyone.

Sure the pipes wear out. But they should be replaced before the rating is an “F” which is inviting imminent failure.

Vast sums of money are being made by these pipes, and there should be more money allocated to replace bad sections when they are at a C minus level rather than waiting until they are in such a bad state.

All of this dents their profits a bit, so it is not surprising that they are negligent to some or even a high degree. But we should make the cost of this negligence so steep that they don’t want to do it. Additional money for inspectors would also be a good idea, which can be paid by new taxes, and by really steep fines when bad things are found.

In my opinion any company that is found guilty of violating maintenance standards that threaten the public safety or huge environmental degradation should also be on probation and required to have extra inspections. At the worst case a company can be found to be a threat to the environment or the public safety, their assets confiscated and sold to new management - a corporate death penalty.

There is nothing anywhere near this strict in what most people are proposing but we cannot continue to allow companies to have such casual interest safety and the environment. If they won’t police themselves, and continue to fight the insanely tame regulations we already have, we have to come down hard and MAKE them do it with scorched earth policies.

Randy’s comment…

Also, please tell me how a mechanic working for BP can be an expert and tell you how an engineered piping repair plan could be deemed too long or how a temporary “patch,” as the article says,

I’ll use YOUR example Randy…

Do you think the engineers at Ford, Chrysler, Buick etc. stroll down to your favorite mechanic’s garage, and do an “engine overhaul” for you?

Sir, you are a victim of your own media’s

PROPAGANDA!!

You ought to be ashamed of yourself, of not only, “not thinking outside the box,” but thinking “below the belt.”

Is this the best you can do Randy? :( :( :(

GREAT REPORTING! ProPublica is one of the few sources of information I trust to bring us the truth in the current corporate media climate.
  BP has failing pipelines ,no surprise here after the Gulf Coast spill, the Benzene release in Texas, the BP refinery plant explosion in Texas,........

as someone that went to school to build the oil rigs and ships and learn all about the deep water drilling and piping i can say i would have to have serous thoughts about if i am safe to work at one of these sites and for how long . its not if it will happen, its when it will happen, there is a difference and should be treated as if it can blow at anytime, even if it looks safe, you can not tell whats going on inside, corrosion can happen even inside the piping, yes there is oil inside and water , or moisture and it will rust from within. so to assume that it is safe is a big mistake on everyones part. and could be your last.to replace or fix costs way less then having a major blowout, time wise or money wise. so to assume is to make a ss out of you and me get it ,  ass/u/me

Some more BP spill’s:
Precautions delay BP cleanup of Alaska oil spill:
Around 11,000 square feet of Alaskan tundra are affected by oil and water mixture underneath the 23 year-old pipeline, BP’s Randy Selman told reporters on a conference call.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N03111997.htm

Is this you RANDY SELMAN?

Google Randy Selman Alaska BP CNN

Hah!  Obviously Mr. Selman has first hand experience dealing with BP’s oil spills:

http://www.adn.com/2009/12/03/1040254/new-north-slope-spill-bps-second.html

Randy, these pipelines have already exceeded their intended design life because no one was aware that the oil deposits would last this long when they were designed. They need to be repaired, replaced or decommissioned.

Peter Koch’s leach pond in Willits, Calif. killed my son.  It was used for ‘clean up’ of the Remco Hydraulics plant, which made offshore drilling & tunneling equipment, military gun barrels, nuclear actuators, etc etc.  owned by Whitman Corp. aka Pepsi.  ALL YOUR CHROMIUM IS SPIRITUALLY BOOBY-TRAPPED!!!!

oops, forgot the website:  http://www.earthspeak.org!  PEACE NOT PEPSI—WATER NOT WAR!!!

Mr. Selman,
This is Mr. Anderson, I thnk you know me. If this article is a joke, it shouild not bother you if I request Senator Murkowski to review it and ask her to issue a legal request to have me testify before congress. If this article is a joke, as you have accused and the information that supports it is not fit for reading, then you will look well before your company. If not, your position could be short lived. I welcome your comments. Furthermore, when I am subpoenad, the 100s of documents are not going to paint a pretty picture of the neglect and incompetence. So have your day now.

Would be helpful to put the 148 pipelines at risk into context, maybe by telling us how many risky/failing pipelines are owned by other major Oil companies.

The documentary on Frontline, “The Spill” was very well made and the reporting was what I have come to expect from both Pro Publica and Front-line over the last ten years of watching, honest and accurate but not over the top.
Thank You.