A federal agency has given Exxon Mobil more time to file the final draft of a metal analysis report on the Pegasus pipeline rupture that spilled more than 100,000 gallons of oil into a Mayflower neighborhood. That means the pipeline will not resume carrying oil to Gulf Coast refineries beforehand, a company spokesman said Monday.
That report, which goes to the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, now will be due July 10 and will include the cause of the break, which took place March 29 between two houses in the Northwoods subdivision, ExxonMobil spokesman Aaron Stryk said.
“We are using the extension to conduct additional mechanical and metallurgical testing to better understand the pipe properties and the potential factors involved in the failure,” Stryk said in an e-mail interview. “The additional time will allow Hurst [Metallurgical Research Laboratory Inc.] to complete proposed supplemental testing and finalize the draft report.”
It is unclear when Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. will seek permission to restart the pipeline, which runs about 850 miles from Patoka, Ill., to the Texas Gulf Coast.
“Once we get the final report, it will inform the development of a plan to restart the line,” Stryk said.
The final report will include the cause and “will help us identify the mitigation steps for rectification,” Stryk said.
Last week, the laboratory, based in Euless, Texas, reported preliminary results of its analysis of the pipeline’s cracked segment to the safety administration, which is part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Neither the company nor the safety administration has released information from the preliminary report.
“We are currently in the process of reviewing and analyzing the data,” Stryk said.
Department spokesman Damon Hill said Monday that the safety administration wasstill investigating the spill and that it had not received a preliminary cause of the pipeline failure.
Asked about Hill’s statement on no preliminary cause, Stryk said, “That might be a semantics issue … because the laboratory did include its findings, but as I mentioned earlier, additional testing is needed to ensure these findings are conclusive.”
The pipeline, which was built starting in 1947, cracked open and spilled an estimated 147,000 gallons of heavy crude oil into the subdivision, ditches and a cove of Lake Conway. The accident has led to the long-term evacuation of 22 homes along NorthStarlite Road; to dead, injured and displaced wildlife; and to several lawsuits.
No homeowners had moved back in as of Monday, and Exxon Mobil has offered to buy the homes at pre-spill appraisal prices.
Authorities have said several man-made barriers prevented the oil from entering the main portion of the popular fishing lake.
Faulkner County Judge Allen Dodson said Monday that he expects Exxon Mobil employees, state workers and contractors to remain at the site for “a few more months, absolutely.”
“I can’t envision a case where they wouldn’t be here for at least for a few more months,” Dodson said.
The county judge has said he was encouraged that Exxon Mobil has not rushed to try to restart the pipeline, an action that must be federally approved.
“I would expect nothing less than an absolute thorough inspection,” he said.
The latest pollution-and-situation report filed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, meanwhile, said operations alongNorth Starlite Road have now included the replacement of additional storm-drain areas, curbs and driveways, and the rebuilding of mailboxes.
“New sod was placed on exposed soil areas and fencing was constructed between homes,” the report for the period dated May 15 through last Wednesday said.
In Lake Conway’s Bell Cove area, response operations have recently included, among other tasks, washing shorelines “to recover isolated pockets of oil,” the report said. On May 22, the agency’s environmental response team assessed the cove and concluded “that the majority of the oil had been collected and that any residual oil still present in the cove would naturally attenuate over time.”
Dodson said workers later will lay new asphalt over North Starlite Road.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 06/11/2013