Pipeline that burst in '13 gets inspection

Company that owns it tight-lipped on its plans, water utility CEO tells port panel

The new owner of a pipeline that ruptured in Central Arkansas in 2013 has done its inspection, but its plans aren't clear.

Central Arkansas Water CEO Tad Bohannon said Wednesday that Energy Transfer Partners, which owns what was formerly known as the Pegasus Pipeline, had notified the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation that it would take no action at this time.

In a presentation to the Little Rock Port Authority board of directors during its regular meeting, Bohannon said the company had been tight-lipped about its plans and that a restart wasn't off the table.

"We are just always constantly on alert as to what they're going to try to do," Bohannon said.

He said the company did not tell him what the testing had revealed. The company said previously that it was performing integrity tests to ascertain the status of the pipeline since it had been out of use for several years.

The pipeline is 859 miles long and runs from Pakota, Ill., to Corsicana, Texas. It's been inactive since 2013, when it ruptured and spilled 5,000 barrels of crude oil into a neighborhood in Mayflower.

The spill missed the watershed of Lake Maumelle, one of Central Arkansas Water's sources, by 9 miles.

Exxon, which owned the conduit at the time, now owns a small share of it. The pipeline is now called Permian Express.

Energy Transfer Partners notified Central Arkansas Water that it would test the pipeline in October and began inspection in January.

A spokeswoman for Energy Transfer Partners said in response to emailed questions from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette that the company did not have any updates at this time.

Bohannon said he was trying to assemble a consortium of entities that, like Central Arkansas Water, have concerns about the pipeline going back into use. He said he wanted to keep the Port Authority abreast of the situation since part of the pipeline goes under the Arkansas River.

Bryan Day, executive directory of the Little Rock Port Authority, said he would meet with board members individually to see what the port's role would be.

"It's an important issue for the community," he said.

Board member Ray Dillon said during the meeting that he didn't understand taking the risk of reopening a pipeline that had ruptured previously.

"This is an environmental disaster waiting to happen," Dillon said.

Although Energy Transfer Partners would submit its restart plan to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, there is no framework for the company to receive public comment, or any requirement that the community be notified or that a public hearing be held.

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