BP has more problems in Alaska

JUNEAU, Alaska, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Officials from BP said they discovered another leak from a pipeline in Alaska as crews struggle to clean up a separate oil-contaminated site.

BP said it discovered a rupture from a 6-inch pipeline carrying water pumped from oil wells inside a building housing pipeline connections.

Environmental officials said more than 7,000 gallons of product spilled at the site associated with the North Slope of Alaska, the Anchorage Daily News reports.

BP notified state environmental agencies of the spill and the cause of the latest accident is unknown, the newspaper said.

Alaskan officials during the weekend discovered a mixture of petroleum products had spilled from a BP pipeline near the Prudhoe Bay field in the North Slope region.

BP officials said the contamination encompassed an area of 8,000 square feet of tundra.

Workers began early this week removing contaminated snow in an effort to mitigate the damage. More than half of the area was covered by a petroleum mist from the 18-inch pipeline.

Steve Rinehart, a spokesman for BP-Alaska, said it was unclear what caused the weekend leak.

BP faced past scrutiny for its activity in the region. Federal judges in 2007 fined BP $20 million for what was the largest spill in the Alaskan region the previous year. Regulators in 2006 ordered BP to close operations at Prudhoe Bay when they found pervasive corrosion on its pipeline.