Oil spill keeping Ark. residents from homes indefinitely

KTHV-TV, Little Rock, Ark. | USATODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Mayflower, Ark., oil spill one week later It's been one week since an ExxonMobil pipeline ruptured March 29 in Mayflower, Ark.'s Northwoods subdivision, spilling heavy crude oil through streets and yards.

About 19%2C000 barrels of oil and water%2C almost 800%2C000 gallons%2C have been mopped up so far

140 claims for compensation have been filed so far against ExxonMobil

848-mile Pegasus pipeline that ruptured is 65 years old

MAYFLOWER, Ark. — Some residents of this Arkansas town on the shores of Lake Conway may not be able to return to their homes until next month after a pipeline break last week that sent tens of thousands of barrels of heavy crude oil into their streets and yards.

Two property owners in the neighborhood where the incident occurred filed a federal class-action lawsuit Friday against ExxonMobil, owner of the 65-year-old Pegasus pipeline that ruptured, saying their property values are permanently diminished.

Twenty-two homes were evacuated a week ago Friday in an area dotted with small lakes and ponds less than a mile from the 10-square-mile Lake Conway and about three miles from the Arkansas River. The residents of the Northwoods subdivision here don't know when they'll be able to move back into their houses, were allowed in briefly Saturday to retrieve items and may not be able to return for another two to three weeks.

About 140 claims for compensation have been filed so far in connection with the rupture, ExxonMobil officials said. Representatives met privately with 40 to 50 residents earlier this week to tell them about the cleanup's progress.

"There was a bunch of people there asking about their property value and how they're never going to be able to sell their house," said Joe Bradley of Mayflower, about 25 miles northwest of Little Rock, Ark. "Their house is their biggest investment, and they really had no reply. Just 'talk to the claims department,' they said."

Many residents didn't realize that they had an oil pipeline under their property, according to a Sierra Club activist.

Warren and Valerie Andrews, who own a home a few houses from the rupture, said they have been staying in a hotel with their two children since March 29. They had just put their mother-in-law's house in the same neighborhood up for sale before the incident.

"I don't feasibly see how we can even get a fair market price now for the property. Plus, we own ours in the same neighborhood, and we're on the street that was affected," Warren Andrews said.

One of the lawyers for property owners Kimla Greene and Kathryn Jane Roachell Chunn who filed the class action, Phillip Duncan, wouldn't say exactly how much money they want out of the lawsuit, but their complaint says they're seeking more than $5 million in damages for property owners.

About 19,000 barrels of oil and water — almost 800,000 gallons — have been removed from the site since the rupture occurred the afternoon of March 29. An ExxonMobil spokesperson said that about half of the oil in the subdivision has been collected.

ExxonMobil and the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission said oil did not flow into Lake Conway, but some residents say that oil in the streets went into storm drains that connect to a tributary to the fishing lake. No human injuries have been reported.

At least 16 oily birds, seven turtles, nine reptiles, a beaver and a muskrat have been recovered for rehabilitation, officials say. Seven ducks were found dead.

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The federal Environmental Protection Agency and Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality have been monitoring air quality in the area, saying levels of airborne contaminants here continue to be below levels likely to cause health problems except in the immediate area of the spill.

"No one has any earthly idea what caused this accident," said Brigham McCown, a former deputy administrator for the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

A 2010 test by ExxonMobil showed no problems, federal officials said earlier this week. Results from a February 2013 inspection have not been filed yet.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency has categorized the incident as a major spill, according to Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel, who has given the company until Wednesday to comply with a subpoena he issued demanding investigative reports, inspection reports and other information about the pipeline rupture.

"The people of Arkansas deserve a full explanation from Exxon about how this incident occurred and the extent of damages to private property and to our state's natural resources," McDaniel said.

The 848-mile Pegasus pipeline, built in 1947 and 1948, used to transport oil from Nederland, Texas, to Patoka, Ill. The flow was reversed in 2006 as oil production from the Alberta tar sands increased. Critics say that change may have contributed to the break because the heavier oil is more acidic than other crude and must flow at higher temperatures, both linked to increased pipe corrosion.

Contributing: The Associated Press