Joseph T. Sparling
Joe Sparling started his career by constructing oil field storage tanks and he established his own company on the west coast in 1931. He joined Bechtel Corp at the start of the Second World War and worked at establishing arc welding training facilities in their various shipyards. He was the superintendent of construction for Bechtel-Price-Callahan in the construction of the Whitehorse refinery, the pipeline, and associated pumping stations from Whitehorse to Fairbanks. After the war, Sparling formed a company with E. W. Davis and secured contracts with Imperial Oil in South America, Ontario, and Alberta.1)
In 1956/57, Joe Sparling disposed of some gas and oil interests in Alberta and formed Shamrock Petroleum Ltd. to become the Yukon distributor for British American Oil Co. He proposed to reduce the cost of middle distillates like asphalt, diesel fuel, stove oil, and a sealer road oil by undertaking part of the refining process locally. His plant was built in Haines Junction and would be supplied from Haines, Alaska via a six-inch pipeline he proposed to build. He changed the name of his company and incorporated the Alaska Yukon Pipeline Company to transport petroleum products to Alaska.2)
In November 1956, Joe Sparling, president of Alaska-Yukon Refiners and Distributors, and J.C. Rogers, president of investment firm H.C. Flood, outlined the development plans for construction and acquisition of marine terminals, tankage, warehouse and loading facilities. Bulk storage plants were proposed for Fairbanks, Haines Junction, and Whitehorse.3) Refinery construction started in 1958 and continued on into 1959. The Yukon Electrical Company increased the capacity of their diesel installation at the Junction by 600 kilowatts in anticipation of a completed project.4)
Sparling expected to pave existing and build new streets. He told Whitehorse City council in December 1958 that before the next summer he could solve their dust problem with a pitch-based product that would wash off. It was to be used on side streets and the main street before paving began. He promised his products would be competitively priced. His application to build a pipeline from Haines was turned down as there was not enough room for a second pipeline along the Chilkat Inlet. Also, plans to pave the Alaska Highway were shelved again and Sparling could not be competitive in the small market that remained. Joe Sparling died just as his plant was completed and his prospects began to evaporate. Without his enthusiasm there was no one to keep the company going and Alaska Yukon Refiners and Distributors closed its doors.5)