April 8 Update:
Reporters covering the ExxonMobil Pegasus pipeline rupture in Mayflower, Ark. are claiming they’re being threatened with arrest for entering areas impacted by what now is estimated as a 157,500 gallon oil spill.
State Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, who has taken a hard line approach against ExxonMobil for the spill, led a group of reporters into the area impacted by the spill for an inspection and news conference — yet they didn’t make it far, as the Sheriff’s Office directed the reporters into a confined area.
Michael Hibblen, a reporter for radio station KUAR who was also covering the event for National Public Radio (NPR), told Mother Jones publication that sheriffs’ deputies referred to ExxonMobil as the decision makers in the event, threatening reporters who did not comply with swift arrest.
“It was less than 90 seconds before suddenly the sheriff’s deputies started yelling that all media people had to leave, that ExxonMobil had decided they don’t want you here, you have to leave,” Hibblen said. “They even referred to it as “Exxon Media” … Some reporters were like, ‘Who made this decision? Who can we talk to?’ The sheriff’s deputies started saying, ‘You have to leave. You have 10 seconds to leave or you will be arrested.’”
Mint Press News original coverage below:
In the wake of an ExxonMobil Arkansas oil spill that dumped thousands of gallons of oil into residential yards and streets, leading to the evacuation of 22 homes, Arkansas State Attorney General Dustin McDaniel is taking a hardline approach against the oil company, vowing to hold it accountable for its actions.
McDaniel filed a subpoena against ExxonMobil earlier this week, demanding a laundry list of information regarding the cause and impact of the spill.
On Wednesday, he visited affected Mayflower, Ark. neighborhoods, during which time he discovered — and expressed concern — that he and his office have not received adequate information from the oil company related to the incident.
Residents mandated to leave their homes have been put up in local hotels, yet are still not entirely sure when it will be safe to return home.
“The people of Arkansas deserve a full explanation from Exxon about how this incident occurred and the extent of damages to private property and to our State’s natural resources,” McDaniel said in a press release. “My office is determined to get that explanation through our investigation because, at the moment, we still have many more questions than we do answers.”
ExxonMobil has until April 10 to comply with the subpoena, which demands inspection reports, photos, videos and all other data related to the pipeline spill. It also mandates any tests or samples taken by the cleanup crew and information related to the “integrity” of the Pegasus pipeline, the source of the spill, to be handed over.
An order has been issued by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration prohibiting ExxonMobil from restarting the pipeline until the agency gives approval to do so. The 848-mile Pegasus pipeline runs from Illinois to the Texas Gulf — carrying an estimated 90,000 barrels of heavy Canadian crude oil per day.
The cause of the rupture is still not known, yet environmentalist organizations and watchdog groups, including the Sierra Club, cautioned prior to the leak about the danger of pumping Canadian crude oil through the U.S., as it’s highly corrosive and toxic — and is required to be pumped through pipelines at excessively high speeds.
In 2006, the 66-year-old Pegasus pipeline was reversed, meaning the direction of oil transfer switched. This is one possible cause investigators are looking into.
Warning against a cover-up
McDaniel appeared on Rachel Maddow’s MSNBC show this week, indicating he was keeping his eye on the oil company and continuing to demand answers, not only related to the cause and impact of the spill, but also related to the aftermath.
“I want to know how long was that rupture releasing before it saturated the ground before it came up to the surface,” McDaniel told Maddow. “I want to know what the chemicals are in the mixture of this crude that is also been released into our environment. I want to know what they’ve done to cap it, the history of the inspections, who’s going to secure the pipeline.”
In 2011, Haliburton, the subcontractor working on the rig that exploded and caused the BP Gulf oil spill, was alleged to have destroyed evidence relating to the events that led to the incident — a claim that came from BP itself. Now, McDaniel is warning ExxonMobil to not follow in Halliburton’s footsteps.
“I’ve been in close contact with my friends,” McDaniel said, “the attorneys general in Mississippi as they have been preparing for the litigation you’ve been talking about (Halliburton leading documents) and they’ve given me serious points of caution leading up to that litigation.”
No fly zones?
Despite McDaniel’s claims, there’s already proof that ExxonMobil is attempting to cover up outside monitoring of the spill and its cleanup efforts.
As reported by DeSmogBlog’s Steve Horn, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued a “no fly zone” over Mayflower, Ark. on Monday, April 1 — the day after the spill was discovered and reported.
The Arkansas Democrat published a story April 3 indicating the restriction was directed by local disaster response officials. The FAA’s site indicated only relief aircraft would be allowed in the area, under the direction of ExxonMobil Aviation Advisor Tom Suhrhoff.
“They are using at least one helicopter to provide aerial support for the cleanup,” FAA Spokesman Lynn Lunsford told the newspaper. “For safety reasons, they asked us to protect the airspace 1,000 feet above the area to allow the aircraft to move as needed.”
On Wednesday, after news broke nationally of the “no fly zone,” the FAA was in the process of loosening the restrictions to allow for news media helicopters, according to the Gazette.
ExxonMobil says all is well
Ducks near the oil spill have already been found dead, highlighting the potential danger of the spill that is still under investigation by ExxonMobil and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine its environmental impact.
Despite deceased animals, evacuation of homes and cleanup crews dressed in yellow hazmat suits, ExxonMobil claims there’s no proof the spill will have a negative health impact.
“Our focus is to protect the community,” ExxonMobil Vice President of Operations Karen Tyrone told the Associated Press. “We have air monitoring going on seven days a week, 24 hours a day … and to date, we have no indication that there’s a health impact on the community.”
Tyrone’s comments come days after a community meeting was held, during which time ExxonMobil executives told community members that anyone with asthma or related breathing disorders to seek immediate medical attention.
While neighborhoods in the heart of the spill have been mandated to evacuate, residents living outside of Mayflower are also feeling the impact of the spill, noting a foul odor that’s reached miles outside the community.
“We live five miles out in the country and we’ve had the smell out there,” 54-year-old Karen Lewis told the Associated Press.
Cleanup remains ongoing in Mayflower, with no concrete answers to when residents will be able to return to their homes. When that day does come, the impact will be far from over, according to McDaniel.
“I have been reminded by Exxon’s representatives that this is a relatively small spill and cleanup is going just great,” McDaniel told the New York Daily News. “I hope they realize that to the homeowners in this area, this is not small — it is catastrophic. And for those who fear for their drinking water, it is not ‘great.’”