Oil company reports cleanup of soil done, focus on watery areas

Almost one year after the Pegasus pipeline ruptured and spilled heavy crude into a Mayflower neighborhood, Exxon Mobil has recommended further efforts to remove the remaining oil from drainage ways and a cove of Lake Conway but said the company needs to do nothing more to clean up the soil and sediment in those areas.

The oil giant submitted a revised report to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality last week on the “recommended path forward” in cleaning up oil sheens and any oil ingredients from the waterways.

The report is subject to the department’s approval.

“We are reviewing it and should know more” this week, department spokesman Katherine Benenati said.

The roughly 850-milelong Pegasus pipeline cracked open March 29 and spilled an estimated 210,000 gallons of oil into the Northwoods neighborhood, three drainage ditches and Dawson Cove. Authorities and Exxon Mobil have said there is no evidence the oil reached the main portion of the popular fishing lake, which is separated from the cove by Arkansas 89.

In its most recent report, Exxon Mobil said it had a risk evaluation conducted after soil and sediment samples were collected.

“No adverse effects are expected to ecological populations from exposure to the constituents in soil in the drainage ways or Dawson Cove,” the report said.

“No adverse effects are anticipated for aquatic life in Dawson Cove sediment,” it continued.

“There are no unacceptable ecological risks in the drainage ways, Dawson Cove, and Lake Conway,” the report added. “Therefore, no action is necessary to mitigate [oil] constituent levels in the soil and sediment in the drainage ways, Dawson Cove, or Lake Conway.

Oil sheens are another matter.

“The limited areas with crude-oil-related sheens appear to be primarily located in the Dawson Cove Inlet Channel and the Open Water Area,” Exxon Mobil’s report said.

Based on past comments by the environmental department, Exxon Mobil has agreed to do weekly sheen monitoring and sheen removal in the cove and to do the same within 48 hours after a rainfall that measures at least 0.25 inch “or when site conditions allow safe access,” the report said. In some cases, the company may conduct additional removal work, it said.

The report said Exxon Mobil also will replace booms that absorb oil from the water every three months at “a minimum” until remedial action is implemented. Booms will be replaced more often when needed, it said.

The environmental department had told Exxon Mobil in February that it must do more to correct lingering oil-related contamination in the waterways. The agency gave Exxon Mobil until last week to revise its previous recommendations for cleaning up the Mayflower areas.

Exxon Mobil shut down the entire Pegasus pipeline, which runs from Illinois to the Texas Gulf Coast, shortly after last year’s spill.

On Jan. 31, the company asked the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration to authorize a plan to reopen a 211-mile portion of the line in Texas.

The federal regulatory agency is still reviewing the proposed reopening plan, Damon Hill, agency spokesman, said Friday.

Exxon Mobil spokesman Aaron Stryk said Thursday that the company would reopen the Texas segment only after the agency approves the plan.