Corrosion Abatement

At the time of its original design, the useful life of the Valdez Marine Terminal (VMT) was thought to be 30 years and many of the subsystems and components were designed accordingly. The lifetimes of most VMT components are limited due to wear by mechanical action and corrosion, which is due to electrolytic currents and the handling of inherently corrosive fluids.

The identification of specific corrosion instances is difficult because many are hidden in buried pipe and on the inside of pipe and other components that must be disassembled. Alyeska is addressing corrosion issues and adjusting maintenance cycles accordingly.

PWSRCAC’s primary objectives of this project were to:

• Identify the extent to which corrosion issues exist at VMT
• Monitor Alyeska’s efforts to address corrosion issues at the VMT
• Verify that Alyeska has procedures in place to identify and to address corrosion issues
• Verify that maintenance schedules are sufficiently frequent to address recurring corrosion
• Verify that appropriate standards regarding corrosion are in use at VMT and that these standards drive appropriate maintenance and inspection schedules
• Verify that permitted extents of corrosion are acceptable and that inspection schedules are sufficiently frequent and thorough

An independent contractor’s review of VMT corrosion issues indicates that only one regulatory issue -- not having the required plan drawings of the cathodic protection (CP) system at the Valdez Marine Terminal -- was identified. The drawings are required by 49 CFR 195.589. The existing drawings are not to scale and do not show in detail all the cathodic protection assets with their associated cabling. Consequently, the existing drawings are not adequate for accurate project planning. Additionally, the final report references the on-going dispute between Alyeska and the U.S. Department of Transportation regarding those pipes and other structures at the VMT that are subject to the stricter DOT regulations regarding corrosion.

Final report: Valdez Marine Terminal Non-tank Corrosion Abatement Study. Coffman Engineers. February 2005. (pdf/224KB)

This project is complete.

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