An Exxon-Mobil oil pipeline ruptured Friday afternoon in the town of Mayflower, Arkansas, forcing the evacuation of 20 homes and shutting down sections of interstate highway. According to Little Rock’s KATV, a hazardous materials team from the Office of Emergency Management has contained the spill and is currently attempting a cleanup.
The burst pipe is part of the Pegasus pipeline network, which connects tar sands along the Gulf coast to refineries in Houston. Thousands of gallons of crude oil erupted from the breach around 3:00 p.m. on Friday, spilling through a housing subdivision and into the town’s storm drainage system, fouling drainage ditches and shutting down Highway 365 and Interstate 40.
Residents were evacuated to avoid health hazards from crude oil fumes and to keep stray sparks from igniting the standing oil. Emergency workers contained the spill by hastily constructing earthen dams.
According to the YouTube link over 84,000 gallons have spilled into the town so far.
You know it is bad enough to have an oil pipeline burst in a remote parts of Alaska but so much worse when the spill is right next door and forces the evacuation of your entire neighborhood.
Perhaps THIS will be enough to get certain politicians to reconsider the idea of building the Keystone XL project.
Update: This is somebody's backyard in Mayflower, Arkansas.
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