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ALYESKA PIPELINE SERVICE COMPANY STATEMENT

March 28, 2020

Dear community member,

I wanted to update you on Alyeska’s measures to protect against COVID-19 (coronavirus) and any impacts on the continued operations of the Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). Alaskans count on Alyeska and TAPS to deliver North Slope crude safely and reliably every day. Pipelines are the very lifeblood of our economy. Like other companies designated critical infrastructure, our workforce is working to keep the nation, state, and the communities they live and work in both healthy and functioning. As an organization and as individuals, we know the importance of our role as a steadfast and robust community partner in all conditions, as we have been for more than 42 years.

Alyeska continues to proactively apply guidance from our medical experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Whether working from home or transiting in the state or local communities, we have implemented best practices in order to protect our workforce as well as those around them. These steps include hygiene protocols, self-monitoring for illness, maintaining social distancing, eliminating most travel, and implementing telework wherever possible because we take our responsibilities seriously. Alyeska has also taken these additional steps to limit the spread of the virus:

  • Approximately 500 Alyeska/TAPS office staff members (including dozens in Valdez) are working remotely, expanding the organization’s commitment to the safety of all workers by supporting recommended social distancing practices.
  • We have implemented screening for operation critical areas around TAPS including pump stations, our Operations Control Center, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. All employees are expected to self-screen and will also be screened daily by qualified personnel.
  • We submitted a travel plan to the State of Alaska that outlines our protocols for quarantining workers who live outside the state before returning for work. Employees transiting within the state for essential work onsite are following similar protocols to those traveling from out of state.
  • Individuals who live in or have recently visited or had family members visit restricted countries and states, as defined by Alyeska’s Medical Director using CDC data, have been asked to self-isolate and work remotely for 14 days. We have several employees and contractors meeting this commitment today.
  • We have identified and secured isolation facilities and materials along TAPS should any of our workforce become ill.
  • We are reducing our field activities and have been restricting non-essential travel along the TAPS route from Pump Station 1 to Valdez for more than 10 days.
  • All contractors are also expected to work with their employees to meet these same high standards.
  • We continue to coordinate with government and business industry partners to ensure we have a coordinated and unified approach.

This situation is fluid, and Alyeska continues seeking out knowledge and will continue to implement best practices to keep our employees, their families, and Alaskans safe. In this dynamic time, we are continually reviewing and updating measures to protect workers’ health and continue the important work of operating TAPS.

We are here to answer questions and concerns you may have. We are all in this together, and we need each other’s support so please stay in touch and let us know how we are doing

Brigham A. McCown

President

Alyeska – 2011

 

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