Arkansas leaders fired off a letter Friday to the head of Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. expressing their frustration over the pace with which it is responding to a request for information about the 13.5 miles of pipeline that runs through the Lake Maumelle watershed.
In the letter addressed to Gary Pruessing - president of the pipeline company, an affiliate of Exxon Mobil - the leaders from Little Rock, North Little Rock, Pulaski County and Central Arkansas Water and several congressional offices referred to a similar May 15 written request for information that they said has gone unanswered by the oil company. This time, the leaders say they expect a response in 14 days.
Information they seek include in-line inspection results of the pipeline under the watershed from 2010 and 2013 and results of the 2006 hydrostatic test performed. The group also wants a July 10 metallurgical report that details the forensic analysis of the failed pipe segment from a March rupture in Mayflower that spilled more than 100,000 gallons of heavy crude oil in a neighborhood, drainage ditches and a cove of Lake Conway.
“We are extremely disappointed at the lack of response to our requests, the lack of transparency related to the integrity of the Pegasus Pipeline and the resistance to sharing information that will help us evaluate the safety of the drinking water supply for 400,000 individuals,” the letter states.
Attempts by a reporter to reach an Exxon Mobil spokesman Friday after business hours were not successful.
Arkansas leaders have met with Exxon Mobil representatives in person as recently as last month but said that the company has continuously declined to provide “concrete information” on the integrity of the part of the Pegasus pipeline that runs through the Maumelle watershed - central Arkansas’ largest source of drinking water.
“I understand them not wanting to throw information out there without being completely sure that it’s accurate and feeling comfortable with it, but you can imagine being on our side where we have to deal with the risk with that line being in our watershed,” Graham Rich, chief executive officer of Central Arkansas Water, said Friday evening. “We are extremely concerned.”
Rep. Tim Griffin, R-Ark., said Friday evening that the fact that the spill occurred in Mayflower without notice is enough to reasonably believe that the watershed is at risk. And the longer it takes for Central Arkansas Water to get the data related to the spill and the pipeline testing within the watershed, the more potential for that risk, he added.
“I believe we will get the answers that we are looking for because I’m going to make sure that we do, but I wish we could get them faster,” said Griffin, who co-signed the letter. “I think our letter is expressing some frustration at the speed … I understand that they want [the report] to be finalized. I understand they want to make sure that it’s accurate, but I want them to move faster.”
He said his frustration is also with the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, which along with Exxon Mobil has asked for some of the documents to be exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.
During in-person meetings with Exxon Mobil officials since the group’s first information request two months ago, the company’s representatives have said one reason some reports are not releasable is because they are part of an ongoing investigation, Rich said.
Central Arkansas Water wants the information so that its recently hired expert can independently assess the reports and alert the utility of any concerns before the restart of the pipeline, which was shut off the day of the rupture.
“When people don’t know what is about to happen, it’s even worse than knowing the reality of the situation,” said Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola, who also is backing the letter. “We’ve got to understand what the reality of the situation is” with regard to the pipe under the watershed.
Rich said that in his last meeting with Exxon Mobil officials three to four weeks ago, they said the line will not be reopened in the “near” future, which the company defined as within the next three to four months. The federal pipeline agency must authorize the line’s reopening and even then Exxon Mobil can only transport oil at an 80 percent pressure capacity from what it had been doing before the March rupture.
North Little Rock Mayor Joe Smith reiterated the importance of obtaining information about the pipeline before it begins carrying oil beneath the watershed again.
“The sooner we can get the information, the sooner we can start a plan in order to avoid any failure or any complications to cause the failure within the watershed,” he said.
In addition to Griffin, Smith and Stodola, the others who signed the letter were Sen. Mark Pryor, D-Ark., Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., Pulaski County Judge Buddy Villines and Marie-Bernarde Miller, chairman of Central Arkansas Water board.
“We are going to continue to push for disclosure. We got some information. We need a whole lot more and we need it a whole lot faster,” Griffin said.
Front Section, Pages 1 on 07/20/2013