A tale of two rivers

Howdy friends and neighbors of the hills!

Fumes from a 4th of July weekend oil spill into the Yellowstone River were strong enough to pose a possible "risk of explosion" and triggered midnight evacuations.  Several  people went to the hospital complaining of breathing problems.

Well, "Big Oil" has struck again and this time the victim is one of our nation's treasures, the Yellowstone River. Sometime last Friday night, Exxon Mobile's Silvertip pipeline buried underneath the riverbed ruptured and an estimated 42,000 gallons of crude oil spilled into the raging river. The river is currently in flood stage so it's pretty darn near impossible to get a solid estimate on just how much oil actually escaped before the pipeline was shut down or where that oil is going to end up.

The spill occurred near Billings, Montana.  The Yellowstone River starts in Wyoming and flows north through Yellowstone National Park before crossing into Montana.  The park was not affected by the spill but the entire Yellowstone River is considered a major tourist attraction because of it's scenic beauty and fly fishing.

Of course Exxon Mobile has said it's sorry for the spill, it was just an accident, it won't happen again, we'll clean it up and make it all better, blah, blah, blah, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseum-infinitum-diarrhea.

There's just one problem with this little act of contrition, it doesn't play in Peoria anymore.

In March, this particular pipeline was shut down after the local town officials expressed their concerns about it's safety when the river water began to rise.  Exxon reviewed the pipeline's safety record and determined that there was no risk of a rupture.

It's not clear whether anyone from Exxon actually came out to inspect the pipeline but I'd think it would be mighty hard to check a pipe at the bottom of a raging river in flood!

Then there's the question of an apparent discrepancy between "company" records and the records of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

 According to PBS:

GARY PRUESSING, ExxonMobil: We do not know the root cause. This is a very unusual event. Obviously, we had a large amount of oil enter the water very quickly. So, whatever it is, it's something that is very unusual for us, something that we do not have our hands around yet. But the investigating team certainly will work hard to determine that.

HARI SREENIVASAN: The U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees pipelines, recently notified ExxonMobil of seven potential safety violations along the ruptured pipe. Two of the warnings faulted the company for its emergency response and pipeline corrosion training.
Source: PBS Newshour

I'd sure like to know what Mr. Pruessing defines as an "unusual event."  Well, the people in Montana aren't buying any of this "snake oil."

Governor Schweitzer of Montana has been skeptical of Exxon's estimates regarding the damage from the spill.

Schweitzer said he wanted "every foot" of the Yellowstone's banks to be examined for oil, and he said that he expects Exxon and any other responsible parties to clean up the spill. "(President) Reagan used to say, 'Trust but verify.' Well we're not even going to trust, we're just going to verify," Schweitzer said.

International Business Times - Montana governor questions Exxon on oil's spread

The Governor has declared a state of emergency and said about the clean up efforts:

"Everybody in Montana will work hard until this is done," the governor said. "We'll be on it like a stink on a skunk."  CNN -Exxon unsure of cause of Yellowstone River oil spill

Good for you Governor Schweitzer, I hope the odor you generate in Exxon's corporate offices will "stink to high heaven" until this travesty is over!  Until then, y'all in Montana sure have my sympathies.



Meanwhile, back here in California . . .

The more I learn about the health hazards associated with crude oil spills, the more riled up I get about how the recent PXP oil spills were handled.  Now I'll be the first to admit that the 42,000 gallons of oil spilled in the Yellowstone River is far worse than the 10 barrels of produced water and 40 gallons of crude oil spilled into the Rio Hondo River but the fumes from the PXP spill were still very strong days after the clean up effort had begun.

So why were folks living within a few hundred feet of the spill site not notified?  Since the spill affected an enclosed space (a storm drain) was there ever a "risk of explosion" from this small spill?

Then there's the question of "trust."  Just like Exxon in Montana, PXP tried to claim that the April spill was some type of "unusual" occurrence until the news came out that this wasn't the first spill in the same location!
 EGP News reported:

In addressing a question about past spills, Winters said “PXP has ongoing maintenance, inspection and testing programs in the field. As any exception is identified, it is addressed through a process to continually improve environmental, health and safety performance results.”

Sorry PXP, but I don't think your act will play in Peoria any better than it did here in Montebello.


Daisy Mae


UPDATE:

National Public Radio's All Things Considered aired an interesting interview with Montana Gov. Schweitzer.

NPR
Montana, Exxon-Mobile At Odds Over Oil
All Things Considered
Robert Siegel
Michelle Norris
July 12, 2011

You can listen to it here:




Whoa! The Governor of Montana is advising residents along the Yellowstone River to collect their own soil samples! Well, I sure hope the feller who got the water sample from the Rio Hondo River plans to find someplace to get it tested! The sooner the better too! I'm no rocket scientist but I do watch a lot of "CSI" so it's probably important to keep the lid on nice and tight. Who knows, there might still be some trapped gases inside that jar too!