Debris and Heavy Flow of Water Hamper Cleanup of Oil in Yellowstone River
Matthew Brown/Associated Press
Exxon Mobil contractors put absorbent sheets on oil
that came into the backyard of a home along the Yellowstone River near
Laurel.
By JIM ROBBINS
Published: July 4, 2011
LAUREL, Mont. — Specially trained crews streaming into this refinery
town to clean up tens of thousands of gallons of oil that spilled into
the Yellowstone River from a ruptured Exxon Mobil pipeline over the
weekend have found their efforts hampered by a muddy, raging river
filled with debris.
“The situation is very challenging,” said Gary Pruessing, president of the Exxon Mobil Pipeline Company, a division of Exxon Mobil, who added that the river was four times its usual flow for this time of year. “Because the river is outside its banks, it’s flowing into areas that don’t normally flood. Yesterday, we saw the tops of fence posts in the river, and we just can’t wade into there and start working.”
River banks are unstable, and there are snags, or large dead trees in the water. So cleanup workers, wearing orange life vests and hard hats, are working the mosquito-infested shoreline.
Investigators trying to determine the cause of the spill have not been able to get on boats or get close to where the leak occurred late Friday night.
The river is flooding people’s yards and fields and carrying oil with it. The crew brought in by the oil company, which now numbers 125 or so, is using special large pads that repel water and soak up oil. Where the river has receded, it has left a deposit of oil that looks like a bathtub ring on the ground. There is an oily brown sheen on the water in places where the water is slack, and much of the grass has been stained black by escaped crude.
Along Thiel Road, which runs parallel to the swollen river and is less than a mile from the pipeline rupture, homeowners were concerned.
“We have old asparagus plants, apple trees and wild plums along the river, and there’s oil all around them,” said Carla Van Siclen, speaking of her four-acre property. “We’re concerned about them dying out, and they are pretty good natural bank protection. I’m a little irritated we haven’t gotten the full story, and I wish they would hold a public meeting.”
A faint smell of diesel hung in the air as Ms. Van Siclen spoke. “It depends on which way the wind is blowing,” she said.
Alan G. Jeffers, a spokesman for Exxon Mobil, said, “The testing we’ve done has not indicated any cause for concern for human health.”
Air-quality monitoring showed no benzene and no hydrogen sulfide. A hot line set up has garnered about 75 calls — mostly residents reporting oil damage to property, or with questions.
The Environmental Protection Agency and the Coast Guard are part of the unified command here. Estimates put the leak at 750 to 1,000 barrels, which is as much as 42,000 gallons, and the river has carried it a long way.
The pipeline had passed an inspection in December and an audit of the pipeline’s integrity management program by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in June. It had been briefly shut down in May but restarted when the company determined nothing was amiss.
“We feel this line was safe even with the high current,” said Mr. Pruessing, who would not estimate a cost or a time frame for the cleanup. The cleanup has been split into four zones that total 241 miles. The first seven miles from where the spill occurred is where most of the oil is concentrated, and that is where the cleanup crew is most active. The second is 12 miles out, then 144 and 78.
“Our job is to contain the source of the leak and monitor the spread,” said Frank Box, head of the rapid response team for Exxon Mobil. “We’re following E.P.A.’s advice.”
Mr. Box said his team had 32,000 feet of boom ready to be put out and 2,300 packs of large oil-absorbing pads. “We’re still ramping up,” he said.
The crews, expected to number 200 or more this week, are made up of people who work for Exxon Mobil around the country and are tasked with showing up quickly at emergencies.
Both the Audubon Society and International Bird Rescue are ready to help, but as of Monday evening, according to Mr. Pruessing, there had been only one report of a contaminated goose. Rescuers sent to find it could not locate it.
Exxon Mobil officials had noticed a significant reduction in pressure Saturday night and shut off the pipeline. Later a policeman reported smelling diesel fumes.
It is not known why the pipeline, a 12-inch line with a concrete coating buried 6 to 13 feet below the river back in 1991 , ruptured, although many speculate it is related to the surging river. The line was last tested with a “smart pig,” a pipeline inspection gauge, that went through in 2009.
“We regret what happened and we need to apologize to everybody affected in Montana,” Mr. Pruessing said. “We’re here until the job is done.”
Source
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Yellowstone River flood mixed with spilled oil
Str / Reuters
An
emergency response crew hired by Exxon Mobil cleans up an oil spill
along the Yellowstone River in Laurel, Montana on July 5. An Exxon Mobil
pipeline ruptured on Friday night about 150 miles downstream from
Yellowstone National Park near the town of Laurel, just southwest of
Billings, dumping up to 1,000 barrels, or 42,000 gallons, of crude oil
into the flood-swollen river.
Jim Urquhart / AP
Oil covers a pond alongside the Yellowstone River in Laurel, Mont. on July 5.
Source
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Conditions on the swollen river have prevented a thorough assessment
and hampered efforts to find the cause of Friday's break in the 12-inch
pipeline that spilled an estimated 1,000 barrels of crude oil. The line
is owned by Exxon Mobil, the oil giant responsible for the 1989 Exxon
Valdez oil disaster in Alaska.
The river was flowing too high and swiftly to launch a boat, and forecasters said mountain snowmelt was adding to the swollen Yellowstone — the longest undammed river in the United States.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer said he has told Exxon and federal agencies overseeing the spill response that the state alone will decide when the cleanup is done.
"The state of Montana is going to stay on this like the smell on a skunk," he told Reuters by telephone as he toured areas hit by the spill.
Much of the riverbank is covered with dense underbrush, making it difficult to walk long portions of shoreline. Most observations have been made through aerial flights. Officials have speculated that the high water might push pools of oil into areas that haven't yet been damaged.
Exxon Mobil Corp. and federal officials said they have only seen oil about 25 miles downstream from the site of the break near Laurel, but Schweitzer said he believes it has traveled hundreds of miles to North Dakota.
"At seven miles per hour, some oil is already in North Dakota. That's a given," Schweitzer said. "I'm asking everyone to get out there and report what you see on the river."
Exxon officials did not immediately address Schweitzer's claims.
Representatives of Exxon Mobil and the Environmental Protection Agency said they had no reports of oil beyond the town of Huntley.
The Department of Transportation said Tuesday that oil was observed as far downstream as 240 miles in Terry, Montana. The agency said that information was provided by Exxon Mobil, but company spokesman Alan Jeffers said he was not aware of any such sighting.
Company officials have acknowledged under political pressure that the scope of the leak could extend far beyond the 10-mile stretch that they initially said was the most affected area. Sherman Glass, Exxon's president of refining and supply, said crews have identified 10 places where oil has pooled in the heaviest amounts within 20 miles of the break.
The surge of water raises concerns it will carry oil into areas that have not yet been affected, said Tom Livers, deputy director of the state Department of Environmental Quality. It also would make it difficult for the 250 cleanup workers to get to known damaged areas.
Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. President Gary Pruessing has said the company is not limiting the scope of the cleanup to the immediate site. The company planned to test the river's conditions with a jet boat, with eight more on standby if the launch is successful, Glass said.
The pipeline burst Friday upstream from a refinery in Billings, where it delivered 40,000 barrels of oil a day. The 20-year-old Silvertip pipeline followed a route that passes beneath the river.
The cause of the rupture has not yet been determined, but company and government officials have speculated that high waters in recent weeks may have scoured the river bottom and exposed the pipeline to damaging debris.
Pruessing said Tuesday for the first time that it took a half-hour to shut down and seal off the pipeline after workers spotted a dip in pressure. The line was temporarily shut down in May after Laurel officials raised concerns that it could be at risk as the Yellowstone started to rise.
The company decided to restart the line after examining its safety record and deciding it was safe, Pruessing said.
The U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees pipelines, notified Exxon Mobil in July 2010 of seven potential safety violations and other problems along the pipeline. Two of the warnings faulted the company for its emergency response and pipeline corrosion training, and another noted a section of pipeline over a ditch covered with potentially damaging material and debris.
Transportation Department spokeswoman Patricia Klinger said the company has since responded to the warnings and the case was closed. Company spokesman Alan Jeffers said there was no direct connection between those problems and the pipeline failure.
The impact on wildlife has not been assessed, although Exxon said one case — a dead duck — had been reported but not confirmed. The Billings Gazette has run pictures of a turtle and a group of pelicans apparently with oil on them.
The rupture site is upstream of Yellowstone National Park, which is about 110 miles away. Officials said the river portion in the park is not threatened by the spill.
But the stretch of the Yellowstone where the spill occurred contains sauger, bass catfish, goldeye, trout and, farther downstream, below Miles City, native pallid sturgeon. If another surge of water pushes oil into back channels as expected, it could threaten fisheries, said Bruce Farling, executive director of Trout Unlimited's Montana chapter.
Farling said there are many fish eggs and recently hatched fish in those channels.
"If we get a bunch of oil in some of these backwater areas, these are precisely where these small fish rear," Farling said.
Jim Urquhart
/
AP
Source
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
msnbc.com staff and news service reports
LAUREL, Montana — Crews
responsible for cleaning up the oil spill on the Yellowstone River
faced difficult conditions Tuesday as the scenic waterway rose above
flood stage and raised fears that surging currents will push crude into
undamaged areas and back channels that are home to some of the best fish
habitat in the world.
The river was flowing too high and swiftly to launch a boat, and forecasters said mountain snowmelt was adding to the swollen Yellowstone — the longest undammed river in the United States.
Gov. Brian Schweitzer said he has told Exxon and federal agencies overseeing the spill response that the state alone will decide when the cleanup is done.
"The state of Montana is going to stay on this like the smell on a skunk," he told Reuters by telephone as he toured areas hit by the spill.
Much of the riverbank is covered with dense underbrush, making it difficult to walk long portions of shoreline. Most observations have been made through aerial flights. Officials have speculated that the high water might push pools of oil into areas that haven't yet been damaged.
Exxon Mobil Corp. and federal officials said they have only seen oil about 25 miles downstream from the site of the break near Laurel, but Schweitzer said he believes it has traveled hundreds of miles to North Dakota.
"At seven miles per hour, some oil is already in North Dakota. That's a given," Schweitzer said. "I'm asking everyone to get out there and report what you see on the river."
Exxon officials did not immediately address Schweitzer's claims.
Representatives of Exxon Mobil and the Environmental Protection Agency said they had no reports of oil beyond the town of Huntley.
The Department of Transportation said Tuesday that oil was observed as far downstream as 240 miles in Terry, Montana. The agency said that information was provided by Exxon Mobil, but company spokesman Alan Jeffers said he was not aware of any such sighting.
Company officials have acknowledged under political pressure that the scope of the leak could extend far beyond the 10-mile stretch that they initially said was the most affected area. Sherman Glass, Exxon's president of refining and supply, said crews have identified 10 places where oil has pooled in the heaviest amounts within 20 miles of the break.
The surge of water raises concerns it will carry oil into areas that have not yet been affected, said Tom Livers, deputy director of the state Department of Environmental Quality. It also would make it difficult for the 250 cleanup workers to get to known damaged areas.
Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. President Gary Pruessing has said the company is not limiting the scope of the cleanup to the immediate site. The company planned to test the river's conditions with a jet boat, with eight more on standby if the launch is successful, Glass said.
The pipeline burst Friday upstream from a refinery in Billings, where it delivered 40,000 barrels of oil a day. The 20-year-old Silvertip pipeline followed a route that passes beneath the river.
The cause of the rupture has not yet been determined, but company and government officials have speculated that high waters in recent weeks may have scoured the river bottom and exposed the pipeline to damaging debris.
Pruessing said Tuesday for the first time that it took a half-hour to shut down and seal off the pipeline after workers spotted a dip in pressure. The line was temporarily shut down in May after Laurel officials raised concerns that it could be at risk as the Yellowstone started to rise.
The company decided to restart the line after examining its safety record and deciding it was safe, Pruessing said.
The U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees pipelines, notified Exxon Mobil in July 2010 of seven potential safety violations and other problems along the pipeline. Two of the warnings faulted the company for its emergency response and pipeline corrosion training, and another noted a section of pipeline over a ditch covered with potentially damaging material and debris.
Transportation Department spokeswoman Patricia Klinger said the company has since responded to the warnings and the case was closed. Company spokesman Alan Jeffers said there was no direct connection between those problems and the pipeline failure.
The impact on wildlife has not been assessed, although Exxon said one case — a dead duck — had been reported but not confirmed. The Billings Gazette has run pictures of a turtle and a group of pelicans apparently with oil on them.
The rupture site is upstream of Yellowstone National Park, which is about 110 miles away. Officials said the river portion in the park is not threatened by the spill.
But the stretch of the Yellowstone where the spill occurred contains sauger, bass catfish, goldeye, trout and, farther downstream, below Miles City, native pallid sturgeon. If another surge of water pushes oil into back channels as expected, it could threaten fisheries, said Bruce Farling, executive director of Trout Unlimited's Montana chapter.
Farling said there are many fish eggs and recently hatched fish in those channels.
"If we get a bunch of oil in some of these backwater areas, these are precisely where these small fish rear," Farling said.
Cleanup crews collect oil from alongside the Yellowstone River in Laurel, Mont., on Monday.
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