Mayflower Arkansas Oil Spill - April 2, 2013

The environmental impact of an oil spill in Mayflower, Arkansas came into focus on Monday as officials found dead ducks and ten live oily birds a mist the ExxonMobil pipeline rupture that took place last week.
 
Officials are urging people in the subdivision, about 20 miles northwest of Little Rock, not to touch any injured or oiled animals as crews clean up this spill. Over 12,000 barrels of Canadian crude oil, spilled from a 60-year old pipeline into a suburban community where residents didn’t even know existed.
 
The EPA has categorized this incident as a “major spill” and cleanup crews have deployed 3,600 feet of boom around Lake Conway as a precaution. Investigators will work to determine what caused the breach in the Pegasus pipeline, which led authorities to evacuate nearly two dozen homes.
 
ExxonMobil Pipeline Company and the U.S. EPA will both monitor
the air quality 24/7 to determine the health impact on the community. The data will be turned over to the Arkansas Department of Health.
 
In the meantime, workers will wade through oil-soaked backyards and driveways to clean up parts of the area where the spill began.