HELENA, Mont. — Gov. Brian Schweitzer criticized Exxon Mobil on Friday for its handling of the Yellowstone River oil spill, saying that the company had withheld documents and misled state officials and local residents about the pipeline rupture.

He also accused the company of failing to honor open-government laws by denying the state access to Exxon Mobil documents. And as a result, he said, the state is pulling its people from an incident command task force set up to assess and clean up the spill, which occurred July 1.

At a public meeting of about 100 people along the river, the governor passed out sample jars for residents to fill with contaminated soil and water for testing. The evidence, he said, could be used in claims against Exxon Mobil.

The list of the governor’s grievances was long. At first, he said, the company reported that the pipe had been turned off within six minutes. Federal records show it was nearly an hour.