LITTLE ROCK, Ark., April 11 (UPI) -- The rupture on the Pegasus oil pipeline in Mayflower, Ark., measures more than 20-feet long, state Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said.
McDaniel gave Exxon Mobil until Wednesday to hand over any documents related to the March rupture of the Pegasus oil pipeline. The pipeline, built in the 1940s, can carry so-called tar sands oil from Canada and the rupture resulted in a spill of about 5,000 barrels of oil.
McDaniel said the pipeline company submitted more than 12,000 pages of documents related to the spill. The rupture itself measures just over 22 feet long. He said a team of experts were now combing over the documents and environmental samples, though Exxon was called on to set up a mitigation fund.
"I have requested $4 million from Exxon to immediately establish a fund to pay for the state's investigative expenses," he was quoted by local broadcaster Fox 16 in Little Rock as saying. "This is consistent with federal law and the approach taken by the attorney general on the gulf coast who were advanced $175 million from the responsible party in that case, BP."
Exxon, in its latest incident update, said air and water samples show little threat from the oil spill. Some wildlife were likely killed by the contamination, however.
Exxon is working to pull the damaged section out of the ground for federal inspectors. The cause of the incident is under investigation.
