News Release

Exxon Arkansas Tar Sands Pipeline Gash: 22 Feet Long

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STEVE HORN, @steve_horn1022
Horn is a research fellow for DeSmogBlog. He said today: “April 10 was the date when ExxonMobil was ordered via Arkansas Attorney General subpoena to show why their pipeline leaked/ruptured. The fact that not one independent source (press/citizen) is allowed to verify what Exxon is saying to the Arkansas AG and the fact that the FAA is allowing Exxon to run the skies above ground should be part of any other journalist’s story.”

Horn recently wrote a piece on the Arkansas oil spill which states: “Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel announced today that ExxonMobil’s Pegasus pipeline suffered a 22-foot-long gash that led to the rupture that gushed up to 294,000 gallons of tar sands dilbit down the streets of Mayflower on March 29.

“The Attorney General issued a subpoena in response to the March 29 rupture of Exxon’s Pegasus Pipeline, a 20-inch tube carrying 95,000 barrels of tar sands crude per day — also known as diluted bitumen, or “dilbit” — from Patoka, Illinois to Nederland, Texas.

“‘We received 12,587 pages of documents, including more than 200 blueprint-sized diagrams. Our investigation is ongoing,’ Aaron Sadler, spokesman for McDaniel told DeSmogBlog. The cause of the Pegasus gash is still unknown.

“In February, the Tar Sands Blockade group revealed photographs that appear to indicate that TransCanada — which is now building the southern half of the Keystone XL pipeline in Texas — may be laying poorly-welded pipe there. Could it be a faulty or corroded weld that led to the gash in the 65-year-old Pegasus pipeline? Did it corrode due to its age or as a result of error on Exxon’s part? The 12,587 pages of documents will hopefully have some answers.”