"A document obtained by E&E News reveals that the Bureau of Land Management's Alaska office eliminated positions that regulate the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.

The aging artifact spans 800 miles from the North Slope to the Valdez port, where crude oil is shipped throughout the world.

The document states BLM Alaska cut the division regulating the pipeline nearly in half. The eight positions included an engineer and natural resource specialists. Six slots had been vacant. The operator, Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., had been paying for the regulating positions. The company will continue to pay for five remaining BLM positions at "one half their full cost," the document states."

Kelsey Brugger reports for EnergyWire February 4, 2019. [2]