Iam one of the very few people in Arkansas with direct claims experience with oil, gasoline and diesel spills. I believe Exxon has gone over and beyond what is legally required of them to assist the residents of Mayflower, and to restore the area back to better than it was.
In my career, I have managed hundreds of spills for the companies that insure oil, gasoline/diesel and propane companies all over the United States. I have paid to have houses jacked up from their foundations to get a Bobcat in to remove contaminated soil, and put the homes’ occupants up in nice hotels, paid their meals, and other expenses and settled their claims on a case-by-case basis for a fraction of litigation costs, but I have never bought a house-even when attorneys got involved and tried to claim that the homes were uninhabitable.
Just because a lawyer says it is so does not make it so.
Rarely were lawsuits filed on the claims I handled, and the few that were were all settled out of court for no more than what was legally owed-amounts far lower than what was claimed.
I have paid for dozens of water monitoring wells to be dug, and paid for years of monitoring when ground and well-water was affected. Reports indicate that not even groundwater was affected in Mayflower.
The Pegasus spill has been characterized as “tar sands oil,” which is simply not true. It was a thicker and dirtier crude, but that was a good thing. How? It was not able to soak very far into the ground to affect any water resources as would have happened were it a light crude, or far worse, gasoline or fuel oil.
It has been reported previously that some of the plaintiff lawyers handling the lawsuits for the various residents have come up with water samples showing volatile organic compounds, aka volatile hydrocarbons (VOCs), consistent with the components of the spilled crude oil. I believe what little crude that may have gotten past the booms and absorbers entered the cove nearest the dam end of the lake as far downstream as possible.
It is my educated opinion, based upon my personal observations that the lake has several marinas, dozens of private boathouses-many of which are decaying and many more that have already decayed over the years-and thousands of boats every month on the lake, that there are many other likely sources of pollution. It is possible the VOCs indicated in the water samples came instead from things such as boat motor exhaust, and the potential of careless boat owners spilling gasoline and diesel fuel into the water.
It is reasonable to assume that there are many potential sources of low levels of volatile hydrocarbons and gasoline/diesel/oil byproducts, as well as products of chemical reaction and decay. None of this stuff can float upstream, but it certainly does float downstream.
In my opinion, any contaminates found in the spill-affected cove must be suspect. Any contaminates found upstream from that cove must endure even more scrutiny. I’ve not heard of anyone coming up with baseline water samples taken before the pipeline rupture from the same places in the lake that lawyers say are now contaminated by the pipeline spill.
I have no love for Exxon, nor have I purchased any of their products ever since March 24, 1989, when Capt. Joseph Hazelwood slept (and, at the time, was believed to be intoxicated) while his pilot steered the Exxon Valdez tanker into Bligh Reef and spilled over 11 million barrels of North Slope crude into the pristine waters of Prince William Sound. A very avoidable accident, as I see it! Exxon was ordered to pay more than $1 billion in fines and restitution and I believe it deserved every punitive action against it for that horrible mistake.
As much as I hate to admit it, I believe Exxon deserves accolades for its handling of the Mayflower spill, not condemnation. I think, in time, that they will move that pipeline out of the Lake Maumelle watershed.
As to the pipeline, what would you rather have in your backyard? A fiery train explosion that killed nearly 50 people, injured dozens more, and wiped out a whole section of town (in Quebec, Canada), or a very rare pipeline rupture that hurt no one, destroyed no houses, and only caused a mess that was able to be restored to a better-than-before condition in just a few months?
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Joe T. Tucker of Cabot has 39 years of experience in casualty and liability claims.
Editorial, Pages 17 on 07/27/2013