State officials are assisting the clean up of almost 8,000 gallons of oil that was spilled earlier this week at a production facility in Trading Bay, officials confirmed Thursday.
On Tuesday, shortly after noon, workers at the Hilcorp, Alaska-owned facility were transferring slop oil from one storage tank to another when they noticed the receiving tank was not filling properly. A closer inspection revealed that oil was leaking out from under the spill containment liner of one of the tanks. The cause of the leak was a broken underground transfer pipe that links the two tanks. In total, officials estimate 190 barrels or 7,980 gallons of slop oil were spilled in the leak.