The Trans-Alaska Pipeline System - General Facts

"Suddenly people started coming into town," described JB Carnahan, former police officer in Fairbanks Alaska. "It happened kind of rapidly when it took off. Because I don't think anybody really believed this monstrous project was going to impact us. I mean, maybe the politicians did, but I think the average guy was just kind of going, 'Oh sure, we've heard this before,' because this has always been a boom or bust town. And suddenly, there it was." When the Trans-Alaskan pipeline project began, a flood of people came to town with $3,000 - $5,000 cash burning holes in their pockets, beautiful women arrived from New York and Florida, welders and construction workers drove up from Oklahoma and Texas, South American and Irish immigrants came to collect a check and everyone from secretaries and teachers, to prostitutes and pimps came looking for their fortune. Fairbanks hadn't seen such activity since the gold rush of the late 1800s! Within a year, the population had doubled in size to 40,000 strong, and the pipeline project had transformed this sleepy two-cop town into a bustling metropolis. Unfortunately, along with all of the business came higher rents, more drugs and more crime.

Most Alaskan oil production is on state-owned land, generating the state $3.4 billion annually, from oil and gas production taxes, property taxes, royalties and corporate taxes. State politicians then reinvest that money in road repair, health care facilities, schools and social services to benefit all Alaskans. An additional 25% is saved in a "permanent fund" for the future. By 1980, this fund had already surpassed one billion dollars, which gives you an idea of how profitable the Alaskan pipeline has been for the state.

For more information about the Alaskan pipeline, you may want to watch the PBS documentary called "American Experience: The Alaska Pipeline." The film discusses everything from the discovery of Alaskan oil, how the pipeline transformed life for Alaskans, protecting the pipeline from permafrost and earthquakes, native land claims and construction techniques for the pipeline. Additionally, http://www.alyeska-pipe.com has much information on this manmade wonder. But perhaps the best way to understand the massive impact of the pipeline is simply to take an Alaskan adventure and see it firsthand.