Prudhoe Bay

Human activity in the area, driven by continued expansion of the Prudhoe Bay oilfield and the presence of the Dalton Highway, has also interfered with natural drainage.

That meant leaving from Prudhoe Bay in Alaska.

Once constructed, the pipeline carried crude overland across 800 miles of tundra and permafrost, from a drilling site at Prudhoe Bay to the Port of Valdez.

In 1988, Alaska's trans-Alaska pipeline, or TAPS, was pumping a tremendous amount of petroleum from Prudhoe Bay on the North Slope to Valdez on the state's southern coast — approximately 2 million barrels a day.

By comparison, Prudhoe Bay in Alaska, which is the largest oil field in North America, produces 281,800 barrels a day.