Nearly 2 Months After AR Pipeline Spill, State Files Suit Against Exxon: Question - Why Such Haste?

[hatrack]

The lawsuit that state and federal officials in Arkansas filed last week against ExxonMobil is unusual, pipeline experts say, because government agencies usually wait much longer—sometimes even years—before filing lawsuits against companies involved in pipeline accidents.

Exxon's Pegasus pipeline ruptured on March 29, spilling at least 210,000 gallons of heavy Canadian crude oil into Mayflower, Ark. about 25 miles northwest of Little Rock. "And this [the lawsuit] comes along three months after?" said Carl Weimer, executive director of the Pipeline Safety Trust, a nonprofit watchdog organization based in Bellingham, Wash. "There's something at work here we simply don't know about."

Philadelphia attorney Andy Levine, a former senior assistant regional counsel for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, described the legal strategy being pursued in Arkansas as "a head scratcher." "It makes you wonder what was happening behind the scenes that caused this to ramp up so quickly to full-blown litigation," Levine said.

Exxon has publicly apologized for the spill and has offered to buy the 22 houses that were evacuated and still remain empty. Much of the cleanup now focuses on a cove of Lake Conway, a popular recreation area renowned for its fishing and scenic setting. In an April 26 accident report, Exxon put the cost of the spill at $16.4 million.

EDIT

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20130619/unusual-speed-officials-slap-exxon-oil-spill-lawsuit-why

[sinkingfeeling]

1. AG McDaniel said it's because it's the first pipeline spill in a residential area.