*

BP excavates over 200 feet of pipeline to locate leak

source

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Major airlines add refueling stops to flights amid

pipeline

shutdown

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Delta Air Lines ( DAL ) and Alaska Airlines use tanker trucks to

supplement fuel

By Nicole Jao

NEW YORK, Nov 24 (Reuters) - BP's Olympic

Pipeline system remained offline on Monday as the oil major

along with state and local authorities continued probing what

caused the leak near Everett, Washington. Major airlines have

turned to contingency plans to minimize impact on flights during

the busy Thanksgiving travel week.

The fuel leak was first reported on November 11. BP restored

one of the two pipelines east of Everett that had been shut to

determine the source of some product discharge. The restored

line was shut down again shortly after, halting refined product

deliveries on the system.

"Over 200 feet of pipeline have been excavated to date.

Crews are operating around the clock and will continue overnight

operations tonight," BP said in an emailed statement on Monday.

The timeline for restarting the pipeline is not available,

the company said, the total amount of leaked product is still

being assessed.

The 400-mile Olympic Pipeline system moves refined petroleum

products including gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from northern

Washington to Oregon.

Last week, Washington Governor Bob Ferguson declared an

emergency following the pipeline shutdown, which has disrupted

jet fuel supplies to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

(Sea-Tac).

Operations at Sea-Tac have not seen major disruptions as

airlines turn to contingency plans, a spokesperson said. "We

encourage travelers to stay in touch with their airlines about

their specific flight."

CONTINGENCY PLANS

Major airlines including Alaska Airlines and Delta

Air Lines ( DAL ) have implemented plans to minimize impact to

flights during busy Thanksgiving travel week.

Delta has transported extra fuel via tanker trucks into Sea-Tac

to supplement fuel reserves and added refueling stops to a

number of outbound domestic long-haul flights, the carrier said

in an emailed response.

Alaska Airlines has tankered fuel on inbound flights to

Seattle and expanded its trucking operations to bring in extra

fuel, in addition to adding a fuel stop to roughly a dozen

flights per day.

"We continue to minimize the impacts of the Olympic Pipeline

fuel leak. We do not expect disruption to our operations at

Seattle-Tacoma International Airport through the Thanksgiving

travel week," Alaska Airlines said in a statement.