The injunction against the project forced Alyeska to conduct further investigations in the summer of 1970. The collected material was handed over to the Ministry of the Interior in October 1970[40] and in January 1971 a draft environmental impact study was published. [41] The 294-page statement drew massive criticism and generated more than 12,000 pages of testimony and evidence during congressional debates in late March. [42] Criticisms of the project included the impact on Alaska`s tundra, possible pollution, animal damage, geographic features, and lack of technical information from Alyeska. One of the elements of rejection that the report removed was the discussion of alternatives. All of the proposed alternatives — the extension of the Alaska Railroad, an alternative route across Canada, the establishment of a port at Prudhoe Bay, and more — are expected to pose more environmental risks than building a pipeline through Alaska directly. [41] The most common pig is the pig scraper,[159] removes wax that precipitates oil and accumulates on the walls of the pipeline. The colder the oil, the more wax formation takes place. This deposit can cause a variety of problems, so regular “pigs” are needed to keep the pipe free. [160] A second type of pig moves through the pipe in search of corrosion. Corrosion-sensitive pigs use magnetic or ultrasonic sensors. Magnetic sensors detect corrosion by analyzing variations in the magnetic field of the pipeline metal.

Ultrasonic test pigs detect corrosion by examining vibrations in the pipeline walls. Other types of pigs look for irregularities in the shape of the pipeline, for example, when it bends or bends. [161] “Smart” pigs, which contain a variety of sensors, can perform several tasks. [162] Typically, these pigs are used in Prudhoe Bay and cover the entire length of the pipeline. In July 2009, a pig launcher was installed at Pumping Station 8 near the center of the pipeline. [162] The Alaska Native Federation, founded in 1966, hired former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Arthur Goldberg, who suggested that a settlement should include 40 million acres (160,000 km2) of land and a payment of $500 million. [51] The case remained motionless until Alyeska began pressuring Congress to have an Indigenous claims law overturn the injunction against the construction of pipelines. [51] In October 1971, President Richard Nixon signed the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA).

Under the law, Indigenous groups would give up their land claims in exchange for $962.5 million and 148.5 million acres (601,000 km2) of state. [52] The money and land were divided between village and regional societies, which then distributed shares to the indigenous peoples of the area or village. The shares paid dividends based on both the settlement and the company`s profits. [53] For pipeline proponents, the most important aspect of anCSA was the clause requiring that no national allocation be selected in the pipeline route. [54] The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS) is an oil transportation system that runs through Alaska, including the Trans-Alaska Crude Oil Pipeline, 11 pumping stations, several hundred miles of feeder pipelines, and the Valdez Marine Terminal. TAPS is one of the largest piping systems in the world. It is commonly referred to as the Alaska Pipeline, Trans-Alaska Pipeline or Alyeska Pipeline (or the pipeline as it is called in Alaska), but these terms technically only apply to the 800 miles (1,287 km) of the 48-inch (1.22 m) diameter pipeline that transports oil from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, Alaska. The pipeline is privately owned by the Alyeska Pipeline Service Company. In February 1969, even before the SS Manhattan left its East Coast departure point, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), a joint group formed in October 1968 by ARCO, British Petroleum, and Humble Oil,[23] requested permission from the U.S. Department of the Interior to begin geological and technical studies of a proposed pipeline from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez. throughout Alaska.

Even before the first feasibility studies began, the oil companies had chosen the approximate route of the pipeline. [24] Approval was granted and engineering teams began drilling core samples and surveys in Alaska. As the flow of the pipeline decreased, its ownership fluctuated. In 2000, when Exxon and Mobil merged, Mobil sold its 3.1% stake in the pipeline to Williams Companies as a condition of the merger. [195] Three years later, Williams sold this interest to the Koch Alaska Pipeline Company, a subsidiary of Koch Industries. [196] Nine years later, Koch announced that he would sell his stake to the other pipeline owners, as did Unocal, which had held a small stake in the property since 1970. [197] In 2019, BP announced its intention to sell its Alaska operations to Hilcorp Energy Company. [198] The transaction, which closed in 2020, included BP`s 49.1% interest in the Trans-Alaska pipeline system. [199] Opponents of the agreement were concerned that Hillcorp, which has not fully disclosed its finances, lacked the resources and expertise to address safety concerns caused by climate change related to flooding and thawing. [200] But with the pipeline, transportation costs would decrease and production would increase. In 1980, the Alaska Legislature established the Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation to manage the investments of the Permanent Fund and passed the Permanent Fund Dividend Program, which provided annual payments to Alaskans from interest earned by the fund. After two years of legal battles over who should be eligible for payments, the first checks were distributed to Alaskans.

[118] After peaking at over $40 billion in 2007, the value of the fund fell to about $26 billion in the summer of 2009. [119] In addition to the Permanent Fund, the state also maintains the Constitutional Budget Reserve, a separate savings account created in 1990 after a legal dispute over pipeline rates generated a one-time payment of more than $1.5 billion from oil companies. [120] The Constitutional Budget Reserve is managed in the same way as the Permanent Fund, but unlike the Permanent Fund, money can be withdrawn from it to pay for the annual state budget. [112] The part of the environmental debate with the greatest symbolic impact occurred when the impact of the pipeline on caribou herds was discussed. [45] Environmentalists have suggested that the pipeline would have a similar impact on caribou than the U.S.