MAYFLOWER - The cleanup of thousands of gallons of oil spilled from a ruptured Exxon Mobil pipeline in Mayflower on Friday will last for weeks, putting more than 20 families out of their homes for a yet-to-be determined length of time, authorities said.
Air-quality readings near the point of the rupture - between two homes in the Northwoods subdivision near Arkansas 89 - have consistently been reading above the recommended level of exposure, causing police to call for the evacuation of 22 houses on North Starlite Road and Shade Tree Lane.
All but one of the affected families complied with the evacuation order. Some other people in the nearly 50-lot subdivision who were not ordered to evacuate, left anyway because of the odor and health concerns, they said at a community meeting Saturday afternoon.
Residents expressed frustration Saturday, saying some people were told to leave and others were left to wonder if they should leave.
G. Preston doesn’t live in one of the homes that was ordered evacuated. But, she said, she decided to take her grandson back to his parents’ house to get him away from the fumes, then when she tried to return to her home, she was barred by police from entering the subdivision.
“We didn’t know anything about the evacuation until a neighbor called,” Preston said. “We live at the opposite end of the spill. I called police to ask, ‘Can we go back?’ and they said, ‘No, absolutely not.’ I told them we use a CPAP - [continuous positive airway pressure machine] - to sleep, and I don’t think they knew what a CPAP was because he said, ‘No, you cannot go back in there. We’re not letting anyone in.’”
Mayflower Police Chief Robert Satkowski said that at one time officers weren’t allowing people into the subdivision, but they have since allowed residents who don’t live in the evacuation area to return to their homes. Also, those who do live in the evacuation area can call City Hall at (501) 470-1337, and an official will escort them back to their homes to collect necessary items, he said.
An Exxon Mobil official said the company regrets the inconvenience that the oil spill has caused the Mayflower community especially on Easter weekend. Easter baskets were offered during the community meeting for evacuees to give to their children.
Residents in the area near but outside the evacuation area are able to smell the oil, but the fumes are not dangerous to their health, said Nicolas Brescia, an on-scene coordinator with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which is leading the cleanup.
On Saturday, oil had soaked into the grass in residents’ yards and edged up to the foundations of some homes. Crews collected large amounts in a ditch on North Starlite Road and an adjacent street. The smell of oil hung over town well into Saturday evening.
“Anytime you have crude oil, you have certain vapors with that that could cause some health issues,” Brescia said. “Those health issues are usually associated with hanging out in those areas for an extended amount of time and breathing in that air. Right now, there is a public health hazard on Starlite street and the two little corners of it - that’s because the oil is there.”
More than 4,500 barrels of oil and water had been recovered by Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. workers Saturday. The amount of oil that escaped from the 20-inch pipe was still unknown, but the company was prepared for a 10,000-barrel spill “as a conservative response,” said Karen Tyron, the company’s vice president of operations. A barrel holds 42 gallons.
The EPA has primary jurisdiction over a spill the size of the one in Mayflower. Anything more than 2,500 barrels is considered a major spill, Brescia said. He and Tyron arrived in Mayflower on Friday. About 20 federal, state, county, local and private agencies also sent workers to help at the spill scene over the weekend.
Multiple agencies are investigating the cause of the rupture. Among them are Exxon Mobil and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, based in Washington. While the EPA oversees the cleanup efforts, Exxon Mobil is providing about 100 emergency-response workers and equipment, including 15 oil-vacuuming trucks, 13 tanks to contain oil and about 2,000 feet of boom - material that stops or soaks up oil that is floating on water.
Authorities completed a cleanup operational plan Saturday night, Brescia said, but he didn’t provide details.
“This is going to be an extensive and long cleanup,” he told more than 200 people at Saturday’s community meeting in the Mayflower High School. “So there is going to be stages in it. Right now, the goal is to pick up as much free product as they can. I can’t tell you how long it’s going to take to clean up all the impacted areas. It’s hard to say.
“Part of the plan will have timelines attached to it. Hopefully in the next couple of days, state and local officials will let you guys know what they think as far as the Northwoods subdivision, when re-entry can take place.”
By 3 a.m. Saturday, workers had stopped the flow of oil from the ruptured pipeline, said Faulkner County Judge Allen Dodson. Exxon Mobil had shut off the valve to the pipeline almost immediately after the report of the break Friday, but oil already in the pipeline continued to spill out until the pipe emptied.
The initial concern was to prevent the crude from reaching nearby Lake Conway. On Saturday, Dodson said, authorities now don’t expect the oil to reach the lake.
Crews erected four earthen dams reinforced with plywood and gravel. They placed two of the dams near a cove of the lake. Workers started vacuum operations to contain the oil and prevent it from getting into the cove and into the lake.
The area saw heavy rains Saturday, but Dodson said, “we have kept the [oily] water out of the cove even despite the amount of rainwater.”
Crews placed the other two dams on either side of railroad tracks that run near the Northwoods subdivision.
Dodson said he doesn’t anticipate needing to build more dams. However, just in case, the county had restocked the city’s supply, which was depleted on shoring up the dams.
He said it was “good fortune” that a lot of the oil spilled into storm drains.
“It worked perfectly, actually,” Dodson said. The oil ran out from the rupture area and “the storm drain system collected it as if it would rainwater, so we’re thankful for that. And we should be able to clean that up without too much difficulty.”
Eventually those drains will be flushed with water to clean them, Brescia said.
“We realize what significant inconvenience this is, and we want to make sure [evacuees] have a place to stay and meals,” Tyron said.
Exxon Mobil officials booked a section of rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn in Mayflower for evacuees. Some were staying at that hotel, and others were staying with relatives or at another hotel. Anyone affected by the spill was encouraged to contact an Exxon Mobil claims specialist at (800) 876-9291 to be reimbursed, the company said.
Darren Hale, a North Starlite Road resident, said he plans to file a claim. He took his wife and four children to a hotel in Little Rock on Friday night and moved to a hotel closer to home Saturday.
He expressed frustration Saturday.
“The major concern is when will we be able to go back home?” he said. “I’ve heard three contradictory stories over the past 24 hours. Initially, I was told we would only be out a day or two. Saturday morning I was told by police and from Exxon to pack for at least a week. Now we are being told two weeks. The bottom line is, no one knows.”
Air-quality tests were being conducted regularly Saturday by EPA staff members and an Exxon Mobil contractor. The air around the subdivision was still reading above the recommended exposure level.
Also, in one area - in a ditch behind the Shannon Square shopping center - contamination readings were sporadically high.
But Brescia emphasized that short-term air exposure to crude oil is not a concern. The main safety concern is for the crews working close to the spilled oil and any long term exposure, but measures are being taken to limit that risk, Tyron said.
On Saturday, state Rep. Doug House spoke to the crowd at the community meeting, and promised that legislators would get them some answers to their questions.
“We don’t drive the truck, but we make sure the truck arrives,” he said.
“If you are not getting a straight answer, your representative or senator is the guy or gal to go to. We will get you an answer.” Information for this article was contributed by Cameron Moix of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 03/31/2013