Attorneys in a class-action lawsuit against Exxon Mobil want a federal judge to order the oil giant to authorize one of its vendors to create a list of property owners along the Pegasus pipeline so that the lawyers can notify the owners about the case.
Late Friday, the attorneys filed a motion asking Judge Brian Miller of U.S. District Court in Little Rock for permission to file a response aimed at explaining why he should order Exxon Mobil to authorize the vendor's cooperation with the lawsuit's plaintiffs in developing a more narrowed-down list of property owners along the pipeline.
"Plaintiffs have confirmed that Exxon's vendor, Paradigm Alliance, Inc. ... has the ability to create an address list, at Plaintiffs' expense, allowing compliance with the Notice Plan approved by the Court. As a vendor of Exxon, however, Paradigm is uncomfortable accepting this assignment without Exxon's approval."
Exxon Mobil said earlier this week that it had already complied with the court's order and turned over a database containing those addresses along with more information.
But the Mayflower landowners who sued are seeking a more focused list, identifying owners of property along the centerline of the crude-oil pipeline's roughly 650-mile northern section from Patoka, Ill., to Corsicana, Texas.
In August, Miller granted class-action status to Charletha and Arnez Harper of Mayflower on behalf of people whose property is subject to an easement for the Pegasus and is crossed by the pipeline. The lawsuit does not apply to the 211-mile southern section of the line extending from Corsicana to Nederland, Texas.
The Harpers sued after the Pegasus cracked open on March 29, 2013, and spilled an estimated 210,000 gallons of heavy crude into Mayflower's Northwoods subdivision, drainage ditches and a cove of Lake Conway.
In Friday's filing, the attorneys who filed the lawsuit wrote that they had found one other vendor able to do this type of analysis. But they were "essentially ... informed that because of industry pressures the vendor is unwilling" to narrow down the list, the attorneys wrote.
The lawsuit seeks either cancellation of the easements and removal of the pipeline from their property owners' land or a requirement that Exxon replace the line.
The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration has proposed that Exxon Mobil pay a total of $2,659,200 in fines for nine "probable" violations of safety regulations as a result of the government's investigation of the Mayflower accident. Exxon Mobil has appealed.
All but a small section of the pipeline has remained shut down since shortly after the spill.
State Desk on 01/31/2015