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MAYFLOWER, Arkansas — Warren Andrews had just finished putting up balloons for his stepdaughter’s 18th birthday party at their suburban home in Mayflower, Arkansas, when his wife came inside and said something was wrong.

After stepping out of his house, and taking one glance, he immediately dialed 911.

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tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or 'River of oil': The tale of a ruptured Exxon pipeline that spilled thousands of barrels of crude in an Arkansas town Back to video

[np_storybar title=”Killing Keystone pipeline seen as risking more oil spills by rail” link=”http://business.financialpost.com/2013/04/09/killing-keystone-pipeline-seen-as-risking-more-oil-spills-by-rail/”]A rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline by President Barack Obama would push more of Canada’s US$73-billion oil exports onto trains, which register almost three times more spills than pipelines. Continue reading . . .

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“I don’t know what’s going on, but I’ve got a river of oil coming down the street at me,” Andrews told the operator.

Five minutes later, the slick of noxious black crude spewing from a ruptured Exxon Mobil pipeline was eight feet wide, six inches deep and growing fast.