BREAKING: Storm hits Mayflower, Arkansas site of Exxon oil spill.

[OneGrassRoot]

Contaminated water pumped into Lake Conway as citizen journalists report live.

A manmade disaster was made even worse by nature Wednesday night, as a severe thunderstorm hit Mayflower, Arkansas spreading the Exxon Mobil oil spill to the yards of homes along the cove and the main body of Lake Conway. For nearly two weeks, Exxon has maintained that oil has not reached Lake Conway, despite clear evidence both from aerial video and on-the-ground guerrilla reporting that showed oil had spread throughout a cove and wetlands, which are connected through ground water and drainage culverts to the main body of the lake. Images captured Wednesday night should put any doubt to rest that the main body of Lake Conway is now contaminated with oil.

Citizen journalists, Jak and Lauren, reporting for Tar Sands Blockade, braved the severe weather Wednesday, which included hail, lighting and chance of tornados, to report on what was happening to the site of the oil spill.

Using the live video streaming service, UStream, Jak and Lauren broadcast from multiple locations, including the contaminated cove, Highway 89 that separates the cove and Lake Conway and the wetlands that were first documented in the now viral Tar Sands Blockade video.

A couple pieces of important news were reported by the duo Wednesday night. Their footage is not currently available to embed, but I took screenshots of their live broadcast to show what they were witnessing. I'll embed the video when it becomes available.


http://www.treehugger.com/energy-disasters/happening-now-storm-hits-mayflower-arkansas-causing-exxons-oil-spill-spread-yards-and-lake-conway.html

[AndyA]

1. Mother Nature is not happy with Exxon.

Why are the oil companies allowed to run the show when an accident happens? BP did the same thing after the catastrophe in the Gulf a few years back.

It's time that corporate America stops running the country!

[valerief]

4. Because they have the most money and own everyone. nt

[Divernan]

2. Saw 1 photo of Exxon "cleanup" guy hosing oil from the street/gutter into storm water drains

SO OF COURSE IT'S SPREAD TO LAKE CONWAY!

[TheMadMonk]

13. Doubt they'd be THAT blatant. Almost certainly a sequestration trap of some sort...

...down the line.

After all those drains are almost certainly already compromised.

When cleaning up oil on a non-porous surface, best thing is to get under it with water ASAP. To consolidate it as much as possible.

As bad as it looked, done properly it's actually good practice. I won't say best practice, because best practice is to not spill the crud in the first place.

[Vincardog]

15. It is not oil they are "Cleaning up" if it was they would be paying into the cleanup fund. It is

Bitumen:

bitumen |biˈt(y)o͞omən, bī-| noun
a black viscous mixture of hydrocarbons obtained naturally or as a residue from petroleum distillation. It is used for road surfacing and roofing.

OIL floats this toxic crap does not.

[TheMadMonk]

16. I know what it is. Floating isn't the issue here. The issue remains bulk consolidation,...

...limiting the time in contact with surfaces, and the simple inescapable fact that water and hydrocarbons are imiscible.

Brooming, shoveling, or any other mechanical method applied to bulk bitumenous materials would just create a bigger mess.

Driving it into a confined location with high pressure water is about as good as it gets on a hard surface. PROVIDED, and I stress, provided the proper downstream precautions are in place.

It wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that the bloke coming along behind was using steam.

Even on soil, if quick enough you'd probably be better off using water than earthmoving equipment for the first pass at least.

[Iliyah]

3. I'm pretty sure Rev Pat will blame the

Mayflower community for GAWD being angry at them.

[woodsprite]

12. Rev Pat is just as bad as Rev Phelps. He just does it without the profanity/slang. n/t

[LuvNewcastle]

5. Looks like they're going to need more paper towels.

I swear, Bounty must be making a killing off of Exxon right now.

[mountain grammy]

9. No, the Koch brothers own Brawny, so that would be the paper towel of choice.

It's all good, a few get richer, and look at all the jobs they're creating.

[LuvNewcastle]

11. Oh yeah, what was I thinking?

[DirtyDawg]

6. Surprised...

...that nobody, at least that I've heard, on MSNBC has pointed out the irony of these 'cleanup' efforts using paper towels in the hope/belief that they'll soak up some of this crap. The irony being, and my guess, that they're using Brawny since its made by Georgia Pacific - a Koch Company - and whataya bet the Kochs ain't giving em a discount?

[Hotler]

7. Where is the fuckin President on this?????

Oh! I forgot that the corporations run this country. If only we had a president with a spine and some fight.

[KansDem]

8. Exxon is now a "person." Arrest "it" for polluting and lying about polluting.

If I dumped a toxic material on my yard and the yards of my neighbors, do you think I'd be able to lie about it? How long until the city comes out with the police and arrests me?

And how much in fines would I be paying when I got out of jail?

What makes corporations like Exxon think it can do what it wants with the planet?

[johnnyreb]

14. Maybe the residents *should* pour oil...

Maybe the residents should do that! All grab a quart of store-bought oil and all together pour it on their yards in violation of law for the cameras.

[SunSeeker]

10. Oh come on, a storm is a totally freak occurance in Arkansas. Who could have seen this coming?

[Art_from_Ark]

17. Yeah, especially in April,

the peak of tornado season

[SunSeeker]

18. LOL. nt