KTUU.com | Alaska's news and information source | Redoubt sends mud flowing to oil terminal

Redoubt sends mud flowing to oil terminal

by Leyla Santiago
Tuesday, March 24, 2009

KENAI, Alaska -- The Drift River oil terminal sitting near Mount Redoubt's base has been evacuated and sits mostly surrounded by floods of mud and water caused by the volcano's eruption.

The Chevron facility is a mere 17 miles from the volcano's summit and holds more than 6 million gallons of crude oil. It was evacuated as a precaution on Monday.

An observation flight Tuesday revealed much of the damage caused by the massive mudflows, which are called "lahars."

"There were blocks of glacial ice the size of a car and train in mud flows," geologist Kristi Wallace with the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Two tanks -- each filled with about 3 million gallons of crude oil -- were successfully protected, according to Cook Inlet Pipe Line Co., which operates the terminal. The tanks remain unharmed thanks to a newer dike built since the last eruption.

"We do not see any inundation of the containment, either the secondary or the tertiary containment around the tank farm," Coast Guard Petty Officer Sara Francis said.

Outside the tank farm a hangar, some offices, equipment and pumps took hits from glacier melt, but even this is less than the damage caused in Redoubt's last eruption.

In 1989, muddy water flooded the holding facility. David Strawser, a former terminal employee, was there when it happened.

"It ruined engines and paperwork, and all the electronics," he said in an interview last month.

This time, employees were evacuated and the terminal was shut down within hours of the eruption.

"No sheen or release has been sighted," Francis said.

While this site has seen much of this before, this time it was better prepared to protect its most valuable assets.

Contact Leyla Santiago at lsantiago@ktuu.com