22-Foot Gash in Pegasus Pipeline Puts Gaping Hole in Safety Claims

[xchrom]

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/04/11-0

Dustin McDaniel, the Arkansas Attorney General announced on Wednesday evening that a "22 foot long and 2 inch wide" gash along the Pegasus pipeline allowed crude oil to flood the town of Mayflower with thousands of gallons of tar sands oil on March 29.

"The pipeline rupture is substantially larger than many of us initially thought," McDaniel said at the press conference.

Though he said the state does not yet have an official estimate of how much oil may have leaked through the hole, the Associated Press, citing filings from ExxonMobil and local officials, reports that "crews have recovered about 28,200 barrels of oily water and about 2,000 cubic yards of oiled soil and debris."

ExxonMobil also delivered more than 12,500 pages of documents to the AG's office, following a subpoena request by the state, though their contents remained unclear.

[unhappycamper]

1. But. but.. but....

ExxonMobil won a Safety award.

[lilithsrevenge12]

3. Hahaha!

[RedstDem]

2. im going out on a limb and

Figuring that must be cheap Chinese pipe they used.
I've seen that crap blow apart.

[wtmusic]

4. Unlikely, it was built in the 1940s. nt

[Hestia]

5. Reports this a.m. that the bitumen has reached the body of the lake. This is a BFD

It's extremely shallow, most of it is only 6' deep, with deeper spots of 18'. You don't need over a trolling motor and john boat to get around because of all the buried trees you have to navigate around. It seems like you can wade in most of it when you are in a boat.

This will destroy what little economic activity is there due to less people buying fishing licenses, hence, no boat rental, no bait, cokes, ice, etc. that will to be bought for the day. Mayflower is very small, very rural area. You can see most of it from the freeway when your passing through on I-40.

At 6,700-acres, Lake Conway is the largest man-made game and fish commission lake in the United States.

Of course, the environmental devastation is scary to even contemplate for the future. Betcha that the for-profit colleges will start over degree programs in bitumen reclamation.