Oct. 6--A long-awaited study of the risks posed by Alaska's aging oil and gas infrastructure is beginning this fall.

The study was an outgrowth of the spills, leaks and corrosion discovered on the North Slope in the past few years. Last year, the Legislature approved $5 million for it.

Since then, the project's been moving slowly.

Too slowly, for some.

"Some of the things they should have done already," griped Rep. David Guttenberg, D-Fairbanks, who used to work construction on the North Slope.

Accidents on the Slope keep happening, he said, pointing out the high-pressure natural gas pipeline at Prudhoe Bay that blew up Monday. The blast hurtled a pipe segment onto the tundra and resulted in shutting down wells at two oil production pads.

Leaks from two corroded oil pipes in 2006 -- including the North Slope's biggest-ever oil spill -- caused half of Prudhoe Bay to shut down for weeks, temporarily slowing the flow of oil revenue to the state.

Now, Prudhoe Bay oil field operator BP is replacing 16 miles worth of corroded pipe at a cost of $260 million.

Prudhoe was built more than 30 years ago, making it the Slope's oldest field.

The study won't be finished until early 2010.

It involves a lengthy review and ranking of the oil and gas-related risk along the 800-mile trans-Alaska oil pipeline, at the Valdez tanker port, and at North Slope and Cook Inlet fields.

"No one has really taken a comprehensive look at the whole system before," said Ira Rosen, the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation manager running the project.

The study group, which includes two consulting firms, Doyon Emerald of Anchorage and Houston-based ABS Consulting, will be looking at a lot of paperwork. For now, it's unclear yet how much time it will spend out in the field inspecting the actual oil and gas equipment, he said.

BP has a long history of cooperating with state agencies, but it isn't clear just how it will participate in the study, said Steve Rinehart, a BP Alaska spokesman.

"They haven't actually said what it is they'd like us to do yet," he said.

That's because the overall scope of the study hasn't been nailed down.

This month, the state is hosting public meetings to hear what Alaskans think the study should focus on.

But a recent meeting in Fairbanks drew more regulators and contractors than members of the public, according to people who attended it.

Some who attended the meeting came away with differing opinions on whether the study was on the right track.

Richard Fineberg, a longtime oil industry watchdog, said he is worried that the state's team won't spend enough time in the field or get access to the important facts.

"It runs the risk of being a highly bureaucratized thing," he said.

One environmentalist who went to the meeting, Gabe Scott of Cordova, said the study should take a hard look at oil-field management and cost-cutting. He also says the study team should weigh the benefits of creating a citizen group to monitor the trans-Alaska oil pipeline.

Oil industry funded citizen groups monitor tankers in Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound, but not on the North Slope or in communities along the pipeline route, he said.

The public meeting for people in the Anchorage area to weigh in on the study is scheduled for Oct. 15 at the University of Alaska Anchorage Commons building.

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Find Elizabeth Bluemink online at adn.com/contact/ebluemink or call 257-4317.

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Exactly what is it that Alaskans think?

The state is sponsoring a $5 million risk assessment of oil and gas infrastructure on the North Slope, along the trans-Alaska oil pipeline and in Cook Inlet.

The project leaders are hosting public meetings to find out what Alaskans think the study should focus on.

Here's details on the meeting coming up in Anchorage:

When: Oct. 15, 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Where: University of Alaska Anchorage Commons, Room 107.

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