14 DAY TRIAL // This past Friday afternoon, ExxonMobil's Pegasus pipeline ruptured and ended up leaking thousands of gallons of crude oil in and close to the town of Mayflower, central Arkansas.
Following their arriving at the scene of the incident and assessing the situation, members of the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States concluded that this oil spill has to be labeled as a major one, sources say.
Information made available to the public says that a total of 2,000 barrels of crude oil leaked in central Arkansas as a result of the pipeline's rupturing. However, it appears that the oil was kept from reaching Lake Conway.
“Cleanup crews have deployed 3,600 feet of boom near Lake Conway as a precaution. No oil has reached Lake Conway,” ExxonMobil wrote on their official website on Sunday.
The company says that workers are now busy cleaning the spill, and that progress is being made in terms of collecting the crude oil and safeguarding the local population.
However, they did admit that, because of the spill, a total of 22 homes in Mayflower had to be evacuated and that it would take about a week before these people would be allowed to return to their houses.
“Emergency response personnel were on the ground within 30 minutes after the leak was detected. Fifteen vacuum trucks and 33 storage tanks have been deployed to the site to clean up and temporarily store the oil.”
“Approximately 12,000 barrels of oil and water have been recovered. (...) Approximately 120 ExxonMobil workers are responding to the incident in addition to federal, state, and local resources,” ExxonMobil wished to reassure the general public.
The ExxonMobil-owned Pegasus pipeline responsible for this major spill is used to transport crude oil from Illinois to Texas. For the time being, nobody can provide a proper explanation for why it was that the pipeline ruptured.
The company has apologized for the incident several times, and maintains that it will do its best to clean up the spill.
Check out the video below for footage of the oil spill.
