Exxon Mobil is seeking to try in secret a lawsuit over the Pegasus pipeline's rupture in Mayflower last year by declaring as confidential hundreds of thousands of pages of information about the maintenance and repair of the line, the plaintiffs in a federal class-action lawsuit argued this week.
Attorneys for Rudy and Betty Webb and Arnez and Charletha Harper have asked a federal judge to order the oil giant to "show cause why any document produced to date is entitled to confidentiality."
"When asked to defend its maintenance and repair of this pipeline, ExxonMobil has declared that every single document regarding the maintenance and repair of this pipeline is 'CONFIDENTIAL' information which cannot be disclosed to the public," the attorneys' motion in U.S. District Court said.
Of 872,000 pages produced, Exxon Mobil declared "every single page" confidential, they added.
An Exxon Mobil spokesman on Tuesday disputed the statement.
"The assertion that all documents were stamped confidential is inaccurate," spokesman Christian Flathman said in an email.
The company "will provide a response [in court] to the plaintiffs' motion," Flathman added.
The Harpers and the Webbs sued after the pipeline ruptured on March 29, 2013, and spilled an estimated 210,000 gallons of heavy crude into Mayflower's Northwoods subdivision. Oil also spread into drainage ditches and a cove of Lake Conway.
The Harpers live in Mayflower. The Webbs live in Conway but own property in Mayflower.
In August, U.S. District Judge Brian Miller granted class-action status when he ruled that the Harpers could legally represent people who currently own property that is subject to an easement for the Pegasus pipeline and that is physically crossed by the pipeline.
The lawsuit seeks either cancellation of the easements and removal of the pipeline from their property or replacement of the pipeline by Exxon.
In a Monday motion, the plaintiffs' attorneys wrote that the company "claims that the very people whose property this pipeline crosses are not entitled to know the dangerous condition of this pipeline, lying beneath and, in some cases, openly exposed above ground on their property."
The attorneys said the oil company wants to "try this lawsuit in secrecy and under seal." In so doing, they added, "ExxonMobil is seeking unprecedented judicial censorship of a dangerous and hazardous situation, which not only affects the property owners in this case, but the public at large."
Such secrecy can "jeopardize public health and safety," they said.
The plaintiffs also asked the court to let them file a "statement of undisputed facts" -- a common filing in lawsuits -- and the accompanying exhibits without having the documents sealed.
Exxon Mobil has blamed the rupture on manufacturing defects -- specifically hook cracks -- in the pipeline, which was built in 1947-48. But the company said it could not determine what sped the growth of those decades-old cracks, causing the 850-mile-long line to rupture when it did.
The plaintiffs' motion stressed safety issues with the low-frequency, electric-resistance welded pipe, which is no longer made and which was used in much of the Pegasus line. The industry has known for decades that this type of pre-1970s pipe is prone to fracture along welded seams running the length of the pipe.
"This case involves ExxonMobil's failure to properly maintain and repair the Pegasus Pipeline, an aging, antiquated pipeline that has remained in operation 35 years after its life expectancy," attorneys for the Harpers and the Webbs wrote.
The life-expectancy number is based on testimony in an older Arkansas Supreme Court case about the pipeline under a previous owner.
"In keeping this ancient pipeline in operation, ExxonMobil ignored the warnings of pipe failure revealed by its own testing," the attorneys added.
The plaintiffs said Exxon Mobil's declaration that all of the produced documents are confidential is "unjustified, made for an improper purpose, and imposes unnecessary expense and burdens on the parties, the Clerk's office and this Court."
The pipeline, which runs from the Gulf Coast of Texas to Patoka, Ill., was shut down shortly after the rupture, and most of it remains inoperative.
Exxon Mobil was still awaiting federal approval as of Tuesday on its remedial work proposal for the northernmost section of the line, including that portion running through Arkansas. Only a 212-mile segment in Texas has restarted.
In November, the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said the company had committed nine "probable" safety violations of federal regulations and should be fined $2.66 million. Exxon Mobil appealed.
The agency had not reached a final decision as of Tuesday, said safety administration spokesman Damon Hill.
A section on 10/29/2014