Residents along the Yellowstone River near Laurel, Montana were evacuated from their homes over the weekend when an ExxonMobile pipeline ruptures and spilled oil into the river for at least 30 minutes.
At this time ExxonMobile is not sure how much oil was spilled, only that homes had to be evacuated for fear that fumes, explosions and fire could harm residents in the area.
In a statement about the incident ExxonMobile officials said:
“Early on the morning of July 2, we discovered an undetermined amount of crude oil was released into the Yellowstone River from an ExxonMobil Pipeline Company (EMPCo) pipeline. EMPCo deeply regrets this release and is working hard with local emergency authorities to mitigate the impacts of this release on the surrounding communities and to the environment… All appropriate state and federal authorities have been alerted…
“We have no information on the cause of the incident, and we are working to determine the amount of oil released…
” We recognize the seriousness of this incident and are working hard to address it. Our principal focus is on protecting the safety and health of the public and our employees.”
Oil flow was quickly stopped by the company and two teams began working immediately on the spill with 100 more contract workers heading to the spill directly after the leak was detected.
It’s sad when these type of issues occur but it’s nice to see ExxonMobile quickly reacting to minimize environmental damages.
