ExxonMobil has been granted its third extension to provide the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration its analysis of what may have caused the metal in the Pegasus Pipeline to split under a Mayflower neighborhood, spilling 100,000-plus gallons of heavy crude there and into the Lake Conway watershed.
Spokesman Aaron Stryk said the company wants to do more testing in the laboratory and clarify some of the preliminary data that he said has already been supplied to PHMSA. Originally due May 17 and extended to June 7, the report deadline is now July 10. Stryk said ExxonMobil will not release any of the findings until the analysis is complete.
John Tynan, the Watershed Protection Manager with Central Arkansas Water, said CAW asked for but was not provided the preliminary report. CAW and Pulaski County municipalities are concerned about the integrity of the pipeline as it passes by Lake Maumelle, the water supply for 400,000 people, and have begun meeting with ExxonMobil representatives to make sure their concerns are addressed. Tynan said the communication with the company, slow at first, has improved.