ANCHORAGE, Alaska, June 24 (UPI) -- BP and Alaskan state investigators said they are examining a water leak in a new section of pipeline in the Prudhoe Bay oilfield.

The pipe sprang a leak June 16 releasing about 50,000 gallons of water into a tundra lake, the Anchorage Daily Times reported Tuesday. The leak occurred as workers prepared to test the pipeline by sending water through it under high pressure.

BP spokesman Steve Rinehart said the company is trying to determine why the pipe leaked. It was scheduled to be an oil trunk line by the end of 2008, carrying oil from the Prudhoe Bay oilfield toward the trans-Alaska oil pipeline, he said.

The test should be considered successful because it found the leak before there was a big problem," said Bob Mattson with the state Department of Environmental Conservation. "That's the silver lining."

The leaking water isn't expected to damage the lake, and no significant cleanup has begun, Mattson said.