Exxon fined for safety failures following oil leak investigation

Exxon Mobil has been fined for safety failings that led to the Arkansas, US oil spill in March of this year. A total of $2.6 million (£1.6 million) worth of fines have been issued to the company, whose Pegasus pipeline ruptured in a residential area, spewing 210,000 gallons of oil into the environment.  

A section of the Pegasus pipeline that was buried through a residential area ruptured on March 29th 2013, resulting in oil spilling into the street, over gardens and eventually led to oil in water after it made its way to a cove of Lake Conway. 

So far Exxon Mobil has spent more than $70 million on the clean-up of the spill and the remediation of Lake Conway is continuing.  

A total of 22 families had to be evacuated from their their houses, with only five having moved back or stating that they plan to do so. Most of the other families accepted a buyout from Exxon Mobil, according to the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality.

The fines have been awarded to the oil and gas firm after investigations of the incident uncovered safety lapses that went back over ten years. Exxon Mobil was awarded the fines from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). It is possible that the oil and gas company will contest the penalties, although it has yet to announce what its next course of action is going to be.

A spokesperson for the company, Aaron Stryk, said Exxon Mobil was disappointed in the decision and that the company did perform safety assessments much more regularly than PHMSA has reported. “It does appear that PHMSA’s analysis is flawed and the agency has made some fundamental errors,” he said.

Testing of the pipeline following the spill revealed that it was constructed from materials that were made before 1970. The pipeline that was used was susceptible to failure and yet, according to the PHMSA, Exxon Mobil did not check the pipeline's integrity as it was required to do every five years.