Regulation worked in Alaska

I had a friend (now deceased) who worked on the Alaskan pipeline and, later, the cleanup after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. He then worked in Siberia cleaning up after an oil spill there.

His wife told me that in Alaska the oil spill was not much more than a skim on the surface of the water.

In Russia it was knee deep.

She also told me that when she flew over the Russian pipeline there were several places where the oil was gushing out onto the tundra, it was evidently going on for quite a while and there were no signs of crews trying to fix the problem. I have only heard of one significant leak in the Alaska pipeline, which was quickly fixed.

What I see is the difference between building a pipeline within regulations, including environmental protection, and building one with no regulations.

The Russian companies saved money building the pipeline and the owners were able to put more money in their pockets. However, the oil companies in Alaska, even at the increased cost, are still making record or near record profits.

I think this is a great example of how regulations are supposed to work.

Charles Neill

Spokane