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Hilcorp applies to decommission Drift River terminal

Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation

Hilcorp subsidiary Cook Inlet Pipeline Company has appliedto permanently shut down the Drift River Terminal on the west side of Cook Inlet.

Located at the foot of an active volcano, Hilcorp plans to decommission the terminal and associated infrastructure, including the nearby Christy Lee platform and a section of pipeline that runs from Trading Bay to the Christy Lee.

Hilcorp intends to begin moving oil from the west side of the Inlet to Nikiski via undersea pipeline.

In 2009, an eruption of Mt. Redoubt raised concerns about the tank farm’s location, where it’s subject to flooding from the river and inundation from potential lava flows. That event forced evacuations and a temporary drawdown from the storage tanks. The seven tanks at Drift River can hold as much 11.6 million gallons of crude each.

Hilcorp expects to begin work on the $21 million decommissioning at the beginning of 2019.

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