BP well that spewed oil and gas successfully plugged

BPfix
Image taken on April 18, 2017, showing Drill Site 2 well house and the adjacent reserve pit with an area of light crude spray. (Photo by Jade Gamble/Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation)

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation today announced that a leaking oil and gas well on the North Slope was successfully plugged.

The well, owned by BP, began spewing oil and gas last Friday.

The spray of crude oil was halted on Saturday. But it took responders until early Monday morning to curb the flow of gas by pumping saltwater down the hole. A mechanical plug was installed yesterday.

The state still doesn’t know what caused the leak, or how much oil was spilled.

But the state reports that observations from two overflights indicate the crude oil spray did not reach the nearby tundra, and the impacted area appears to be less than 1.5 acres.

Sign up for The Signal

Top Alaska stories delivered to your inbox every week

Site notifications
Update notification options
Subscribe to notifications