Probe of Ark. oil spill confirms manufacturing defects in pipeline; could be a warning for others

"Findings of a metallurgical investigation into the cause of the Mayflower (Ark.) oil spill point to manufacturing defects, the same defects that the pipeline industry has known exist in pipelines since as early as 1989," Courtney Spradlin reports for the Log Cabin Democrat in Conway, Ark., about 10 miles from Mayflower. Last month, ExxonMobil released a report which also blamed manufacturing defects for the spill that in March sent 150,000 gallons of crude oil into Mayflower. (Photo submitted to the Democrat: A ruptured pipeline, provided in a report from Hurst Metallurgical Research Lab)

"Multiple reports, including one of more than 200 pages of highly technical information released at the close of a metallurgical study of the failed pipeline Thursday, show pipelines similarly manufactured, and in the same era as the ruptured line in Mayflower, are inferior and susceptible to failure," Spradlin reports.

Rep. Tim Griffin (R-Ark.) told Spradlin, "Exxon officials admitted a corrosion test from 2010 and a test performed this year to detect cracking within the pipeline did not show any indication of a manufacturing flaw." She writes, "Exxon’s admission pulls into question Exxon’s current inspection tests’ relevancy if tests failed in February to detect defects that would lead to a more than 5,000-barrel crude oil spill in March." (Read more)

Because the "1940s-era construction process" used for the pipeline was used on many others, the rupture could be a warning of more to come. The industry says proper monitoring and prevention measures can keep the pipelines safe, but Exxon has not revealed whether it met those industry standards, Elizabeth Douglass and David Hasemyer of Inside Climate News report.