BP to start aerial inspections Monday

Helicopters will survey pipelines about 200 feet above ground
BP American Production Co. will conduct aerial surveys of its oil and gas sites during the next two to three weeks.

BP American Production Co. will start aerial surveys to inspect its pipelines over four counties in the Four Corners.

Bill Winters, a GIS specialist with BP, wrote in an email that helicopter surveys will start Monday to inspect all company-owned pipelines.

Survey areas include Archuleta and La Plata counties in Colorado, and Rio Arriba and San Juan counties in New Mexico. Flights will occur between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m. each day, and it should take about two to three weeks to complete the project, Winters said.

The average flying altitude will be about 200 feet.

“The crews are familiar with wildlife and livestock concerns, as well as the importance of minimizing disturbance to residents,” Winters wrote.

Winters said the appropriate emergency agencies have been notified of the planned flights.