Pipeline Regulators Concerned About Bullets

From today's Anchorage Daily News - click the link to read the whole thing:

The state Department of Natural Resources sees potential for a couple of quirky problems with Exxon Mobil's Point Thomson oil and gas field development.

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is preparing an environmental impact statement for the Point Thomson project, and in comments submitted recently the DNR noted it wants to see how Exxon plans to bullet-proof a new pipeline that will carry production toward Prudhoe Bay and the trans-Alaska pipeline.

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Hunters from Kaktovik, which lies west of Point Thomson, shoot from boats at caribou on the tundra, Perrin said.

Residents worry that stray bullets could pierce a 22-mile elevated pipeline Exxon plans to build westward along the coastline to connect to an existing pipeline at the Badami field. The Badami pipe goes to Prudhoe. ... The options include beefing up the bullet resistance of the 12-inch pipeline, or moving the line farther inland, he said.