At approximately 11:00 a.m. on July 1, a pipeline from ExxonMobil burst and crude oil spilled into the Yellowstone River around 20 miles upstream from Billings, Mont. An estimated 1,000 barrels of oil was injected into the flooding river before the pipeline was shut down.
Cleanup operations continued and according to ExxonMobil, more than 280 people are involved in the response and cleanup effort including ExxonMobil’s North American Regional Response Team, the Clean Harbors, and ER oil spill response organizations and additional contractors.
ExxonMobil is coordinating the response with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Montana Department of Environment Quality, the U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks, Yellowstone County Disaster and Emergency Services, and the Yellowstone county commissioners.
According to ExxonMobil, the current flooding and swift river currents mean that responders will need to wait until it is safe to get into some areas. When conditions are determined safe, eight boats are waiting to be deployed for reconnaissance and monitoring on the river.
ExxonMobil will continue to monitor air quality, and advises that all previous reports have confirmed no danger to public health at present. The EPA has conducted water quality sampling and will publicize those findings when they receive the results.
“We will stay there as long as it takes,” David Eglinton, an ExxonMobil spokesman, said in a statement on July 4. He added that the oil company is committed to staying the course and studying the effects through the whole course of the river, which includes checking water quality far downstream from the original spill site.
“Disaster and Emergency Services, Department of Environmental Quality and other involved state agencies will monitor Exxon Mobile and any other responsible parties until this spill and impacts of this spill are completely cleaned up. The parties responsible will restore the Yellowstone River,” said Gov. Schweitzer after he toured the polluted areas of the Yellowstone River, in a press release on July 5.
Schweitzer stated that the Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks has staff on the scene attempting to determine how the oil spill is or may affect fish and wildlife now and in the future.
“We are working with ExxonMobil and the EPA, but ultimately it is the responsibility of the state of Montana. There are 11 million visitors annually that visit Montana for its remarkable scenery and wildlife, and we will do everything possible to make sure that Yellowstone will return to its original state,” Schweitzer said in a telephone interview.
