Washington ( CNN ) -- -- The head of the company that operates the Trans-Alaska Pipeline announced his retirement Wednesday after criticism by a congressional committee and the internal watchdog unit of majority owner BP . Kevin Hostler will step down as CEO of Alyeska , the BP-dominated consortium that operates the 800-mile pipeline , on September 30 , the company announced . `` Retiring at the end of September is good for the pipeline , and it allows enough time for a proper transition , '' Hostler said . `` Our executive team and other Alyeska leaders have worked toward developing leadership skills so that any transition in the organization is seamless . '' The company said Hostler had previously discussed plans to retire by the end of the year . But a senior federal government source and another source with knowledge of the matter described his departure as a resignation , while the chairman of a congressional investigative subcommittee described Hostler 's move as `` early retirement . '' `` In our committee staff 's meeting with Mr. Hostler last week , we expressed serious concerns about a recent internal report showing significant issues with the management culture at Alyeska , '' Rep. Bart Stupak , D-Michigan , said in a statement following the news . `` That report found widespread dissatisfaction among employees of Alyeska regarding decisions made by management and the management style within the company . Mr. Hostler 's early retirement does not come as a surprise , and I wish him the best in his retirement . '' Stupak said the report found `` significant issues '' regarding safety and morale among workers on the pipeline , which stretches from Alaska 's North Slope to the southern port of Valdez . He called on BP and the four other companies involved in Alyeska to take those findings `` very seriously '' and replace Hostler with `` someone with the character and management style to move the company forward . '' Stupak leads the investigative subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee . The panel has been examining allegations by several pipeline managers that stringent cost-cutting measures have put the integrity of the pipeline at risk , government sources told CNN 's Special Investigations Unit . And some BP managers have criticized Hostler 's cost-cutting efforts , alleging they have resulted in a large backlog of deferred work projects on the pipeline , sources at BP 's internal watchdog agency said . In addition , Hostler moved more than two dozen BP managers from Fairbanks , which is more convenient to pipeline operations , to offices in Anchorage . A source at BP 's Ombudsman Unit says that move alone was expected to save Alyeska about $ 4 million in real estate costs in Fairbanks . Hostler has `` been under a lot of scrutiny , '' said one source . Hostler spent 27 years with BP prior to being named CEO of the pipeline , most recently as the company 's senior vice president of global human resources . He became Alyeska 's CEO in 2005 , and the company said its injury rate has gone down and its safety performance has gone up on his watch . BP owns 80 percent of the pipeline . The company has been under fire since one of its deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico exploded and sank in April , uncapping a gusher a mile underwater that has become the worst oil spill in U.S. history . The disaster has put new scrutiny on the company 's safety and environmental record , which includes a 2006 Alaska pipeline spill that dumped 200,000 gallons of crude onto the tundra . Federal investigators found the company ignored warning signs before the spill , the largest ever on the North Slope . The company pleaded guilty in 2007 to one count of criminally negligent discharge of oil , a misdemeanor , and paid $ 20 million in penalties and restitution . The Justice Department also filed a civil complaint in 2009 that accused the company of violating clean air and water laws in Alaska .
BP : Oil company says BP is retiring in September . NEW : Congressman says it ` ` early retirement '' after election . Congress is probing pipeline maintenance , they say . BP managers have complained to company watchdog .