"Reporters covering the oil spill from ExxonMobil's Pegasus pipeline in Mayflower, Arkansas, are reporting that they've been blocked from the site and threatened with arrest."
"It has been nearly a week since the ExxonMobil Pegasus oil pipeline ruptured in Mayflower, Arkansas, spilling an estimated 12,000 barrels of oil and chemicals into a suburban neighborhood and nearby body of water."
"The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has had a "no fly zone" in place in Mayflower, Arkansas since April 1 at 2:12 PM and will be in place "until further notice," according to the FAA website and it's being overseen by ExxonMobil itself. In other words, any media or independent observers who want to witness the tar sands spill disaster have to ask Exxon's permission."
"If EPA’s highest number of 7,000 barrels turns out to be correct, the Ark. spill would be roughly a third the size of Michigan's 2010 dilbit disaster."
"Since thick black sludge first began oozing across backyards and into the streets, surprising many residents who say they didn’t even realize the pipeline was there, the company has instituted something like martial law."
"A disturbing report from a website of a group that opposes pipelines for tar sand transport, such as the one that ruptured near Mayflower. According to this account, Faulkner County deputies ordered them off private property near the oil spill despite their having permission from a private landowner to be on the property, unevacuated homes that lie as close to the spill site, but separated by trees, as some of the evacuated residences." Max Brantley reports for Arkansas Blog April 5, 2013.
