Cleanup efforts after a March 29 Exxon Mobil pipeline rupture in Mayflower will be completed within the next two to three weeks, according to Mayflower Unified Incident Command officials.
During a tour with reporters, authorities said the cleanup will be complete after crews remove the remaining contaminated debris from affected areas and replace a storm drain in the Northwoods subdivision where the rupture of Exxon’s Pegasus pipeline occurred.
Faulkner County Judge Allen Dodson said that work will begin Monday to excavate and replace the stormdrain beneath North Starlite Road that collected oil runoff near the rupture. That project will take 10 to 14 days to complete, Dodson said.
“I’m confident that we will be able to restore this place. Some areas will take longer than others - the cove area; we’re still cleaning it - so it will take a while for the fauna to come back, for the wildlife to come back, but I feel confident that those will come back.”
Dodson said that the replacement of the drainage system will include removal of contaminated soil and precautionary sampling to ensure complete cleanup. Crews from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencyand contractors the agency has hired have been testing air quality and soil samples since the spill.
The removal of oil and debris from the marsh area between Interstate 40 and a cove adjacent to Lake Conway will be complete in two or three weeks, said William Rhotenberry, the EPA’s federal on-scene coordinator. Dodson said that much of the plant life in that area soaked up the oil and helped to stopit from reaching the main part of the lake.
Officials said the cause of the rupture is unknown. A 52-foot section of the pipeline was removed Monday at the site of the spill and taken to a laboratory in Texas where it is undergoing metallurgical testing. A new section of pipe was installed Tuesday to replace the damaged section.
“There is no time line for returning the line to service as we are working to determine the root cause of the incident,” Exxon Mobil officials said Friday in theirNewsletter to the Mayflower Community.
The Mayflower Unified Incident Command is a group of private and public entities involved in the cleanup effort, including Exxon Mobil, the EPA, Faulkner County government and the city of Mayflower.
“I’m pleased with the progress we have made so far throughout the incident site,” Dodson said. “People are eager to have all of this behind us - I’m as anxious as anyone - and I’m pleased with the progress that has been made.”
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 15 on 04/21/2013