Eleven years after an ExxonMobil pipeline burst in Arkansas and resulted in a huge oil spill, federal and state officials are asking a judge to approve a $1.75 million settlement.
It was in 2013 when the Pegasus pipeline leak occurred in Mayflower, sending tens of thousands of gallons of heavy crude oil into streams and housing subdivisions. It also finally led to a lawsuit filed in May of this year as the state of Arkansas and the federal government filed suit against ExxonMobil Pipeline Co.
The settlement was quickly developed and in recent days, the state and the federal governments asked a federal judge to approve the settlement.
The pipeline rupture happened March 29 of 2013. It was the result of a 22-foot long split in the pipe that was manufactured in the late 1940s. The Pegasus pipeline is 850 miles in length.
The spill involved 3,190 barrels of crude oil and lasted 12 hours over two days, according to the lawsuit filed at the end of May. As the suit claimed, the crude oil spilled directly into a residential neighborhood and flowed into nearby waterways. It also forced residents to evacuate 22 homes in the neighborhood. ExxonMobil also ended up acquiring several of the homes because of the oil that seeped into their foundations.
ExxonMobil explained the accident caused $57 million in property damage.
