Exxon to Reopen Ruptured Arkansas Pipeline

From:  Earth First Journal 

But Cause of Its Failure Remains Unknown

Now it’s official: ExxonMobil plans to fully reopen its idled Pegasus oil pipeline, including the 1940s-era segment that ruptured and dumped sticky tar-like Canadian dilbit into an Arkansas neighborhood. The Monday news ends the uncertainty over the pipeline’s fate that has hung over people along the Pegasus route since the spill one year ago—though why it happened remains unknown.

Exxon’s intentions are laid out in a one-page summary of how it plans to fix and verify the safety of the 650-mile northern section of the Pegasus, which includes the part that failed. The company intends to spend well into 2015 examining possible problems, completing repairs and running more robust tests on the pipeline, according to Exxon’s fact sheet.

The oil company’s detailed plan for those fixes, called a remedial work plan, was submitted to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) over the weekend, and a spokesman for the agency said it was under review. A separate restart plan would be filed once the work plan is completed next year. It’s unclear if either one of those plans will be made public.

So far, many key documents in the Pegasus case have been withheld from the public. Outside pressure from lawmakers forced disclosure of some of those, while others are kept secret or must be requested via the Freedom of Information Act—a long process at PHMSA. Much of the public and residents along the pipeline route in Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas remain unaware of what’s unfolding.  MORE