TAPS turns 35: Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. honored.

• Author: Sommer, Susan
• Position: OIL & GAS

Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., owner and operator of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, is rubbing shoulders with the likes of Starbucks, UPS and eBay since it received an award this year as one of the world's most ethical companies. A consistent safety and environmental record, direct lines of communication between the workforce and leadership, sustainability initiatives and corporate citizenship helped Alyeska achieve this status. President Tom Barrett accepted the award, bestowed by the Ethisphere Institute, in March at the 2012 Global Ethics Summit in New York City.

"The award recognizes that Alyeska has a strong ethics program, which is key to a successful business model, but programs and processes don't matter if employees don't follow and support them. The award really salutes the behavior of our personnel, our values and our commitment to ethical business standards," Barrett says.

Besides this latest award and the original effort of designing and building one of the world's longest pipelines across remote lands, other milestones for Alyeska include establishing a world-class oil spill prevention and response system in Prince William Sound in 1989, reaching 1 million consecutive employee hours worked without a lost time accident in 1995, and increasing efficiency and oversight by moving the Pipeline Operations Control Center to Anchorage in 2008.

35 Years of Success

In June, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System celebrates its 35th year of moving crude oil from Alaska's North Slope to the ice-free port of Valdez, where tankers load the product for transport to market. Alyeska is a consortium: Owners are BP Pipelines Alaska, ConocoPhillips Transportation Alaska, ExxonMobil Pipeline Co., Unocal Pipeline Co. and Koch Alaska Pipeline Co. LLC. Headquartered in Anchorage, Alyeska also maintains operations in Fairbanks, Valdez and at various pump stations along the line.

Alyeska Pipeline Service Co. was created in 1970 to construct, operate and maintain TAPS. The North Slope oilfields had already shown promise as sizeable reserves, but the Middle East oil embargo in 1973 spurred the federal government to expedite domestic production in Alaska. President Richard M. Nixon signed into law the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act, which eliminated all legal barriers to construction of the pipeline, provided financial incentives and granted a right-of-way for building it. Tens of thousands of people flocked to Alaska between 1974 and 1977 to work on...