bjbjLULU JIM LEHRER: Now, NewsHour correspondent Tom Bearden reports from Laurel, Mont., on
the big oil spill in the Yellowstone River. TOM BEARDEN: For the last week, contractors
have been working 12 hours a day, laying down what look like oversized paper towels on the
standing water next to the Yellowstone River. They're trying to soak up some of the estimated
42,000 gallons of crude oil that flowed out of an ExxonMobil pipeline last Friday night
where it crossed under the river near town of Laurel, about 17 miles west of Billings.
The sheets absorb oil, but not water. They're replaced when they have soaked up their fill
of crude. The crews also are laboriously hand-cleaning the grass and shrubs along the bank. ExxonMobil
pipeline company president Gary Pruessing says the rupture of the pipeline known as
the Silvertip came as a surprise. Pruessing says the company had done a comprehensive
inspection at the end of last year. GARY PRUESSING, ExxonMobil: We had been working with the city
of Laurel, who had actually asked us to look at this particular crossing, and to stand
back and do additional engineering analysis, and work with the city of Laurel to make sure
that we were comfortable operating this line. We have between five -- or had between five
and eight feet of cover between the pipeline and the bottom of the river. And, again, at
the time of, as the river was rising, as we did this analysis, we felt like we had a very
safe condition. TOM BEARDEN: The U.S. Department of Transportation, which oversees pipeline
operations, cited the company for seven violations last year. A department spokesperson says
the company had responded and the case had been closed. But now the runoff pouring down
from the rapid melting of the record snowpack in the mountains of Yellowstone Park, more
than a hundred miles to the west, may have contributed to the accident by uncovering
the pipeline. It might surprise people to think that between five and eight feet of
the riverbed was eroded by this spring's runoff. GARY PRUESSING: At this point in time, we
do not know what the cause of this incident was. I know there has been speculation that
that potentially was the cause, but we have an investigating team in place to try to determine
exactly what happened. Obviously, in the particular case, as we did a risk assessment, there was
something that we did not anticipate. And so we did have an event here. There will be
learnings, of course, that we will build into our other pipeline management and actually
will share with the industry to make sure that these kind of events do not occur in
the future. TOM BEARDEN: Pipelines crossing over and under rivers are not at all uncommon.
The Silvertip alone has five crossings. In all, pipelines operated by various companies
cross Montana rivers in 88 places, and the state has announced plans to review all of
them. ExxonMobil operates 8,000 miles of pipelines in Montana alone. And there are some 2.5 million
miles of lines that crisscross the entire country. New technology allows and new regulations
require that new pipelines be drilled 25 feet or more beneath riverbeds, and Pruessing says
that is how the crossing at Laurel is likely to be rebuilt. In the meantime, Ritt Bradshaw
and a lot of other ranchers and farmers are having to cope with this spill. Bradshaw trains
horses on a ranch about 35 miles downstream. Oil-laced floodwaters have invaded his corrals
and forced him to move his livestock. RITT BRADSHAW, rancher: The only thing is you have
to be careful that, you know, any livestock, it probably isn't going to be the best thing
in the world for them to drink. TOM BEARDEN: Do you have other water for them to drink?
RITT BRADSHAW: Yes, we -- we got to have some well water, which we're, you know, putting
the animals in corrals, so we can give them good well water. TOM BEARDEN: One of the biggest
problems facing the people trying to deal with this oil spill is the Yellowstone River
itself. As you can see, there's an enormous quantity of water rushing down the channel.
And that keeps people from getting to the places where they think the oil is. BOB GIBSON,
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks: We really don't know what to expect. We really
haven't had oil contamination of this degree or on habitat that is this sensitive and this
usable that I can think of in this area. TOM BEARDEN: Bob Gibson has been wading around
in flooded wheat fields looking for oil. BOB GIBSON: Right by the edge of the open water
there, you can start to see that bathtub ring of oil that formed at the top when it came
in. And you can see it all the way along the edge there. TOM BEARDEN: Gibson is with the
Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. A lot of ranchers who raise crops and cattle
feed are wondering if this year's crop will be so contaminated, they won't be able to
harvest it. BOB GIBSON: Because of the high flow of the river, we're not able to access
probably 99 percent of the riverbank. All of the islands are inundated. A lot of the
shores are inundated. There's swamps backed up away from the water a lot. So we're not
able to access the shores, the islands. There's actually enough debris and high enough water
and dangerous enough water in the Yellowstone now that we're unwilling to put a jet boat
on it to get to some of those areas. TOM BEARDEN: Gibson and others say it may take three weeks
before the river begins to go down. There's no doubt that many people here are worried.
About 200 residents showed up for a town hall meeting Wednesday night to tell federal, state
and local officials about their concerns. KIT NILSON, Montana resident: We have been
calling that 1-800 number about three times a day, and we have had no response. TOM BEARDEN:
Several spoke of persistent strong petroleum odors that made them feel sick. GEORGE NILSON,
Montana resident: I want to know, is this going to be like Agent Orange in Vietnam and,
five years from now, my lungs are going to go haywire on me? I want to know that right
now. TOM BEARDEN: The Environmental Protection Agency's regional administrator, Jim Martin,
tried to reassure them. JIM MARTIN, Environmental Protection Agency: That we're conducting air
and water samples, both in the river and from public drinking water systems and from private
wells. And we're going to turn those results around as rapidly as the laboratories will
allow us, and we will get the results out to the public. But, so far, were seeing no
significant evidence that -- no real evidence that it's unsafe to drink water from drinking
water systems. TOM BEARDEN: State Sen. Kendall Van Dyk is worried about wildlife and the
people who come here to see it. He also represents Trout Unlimited, a national sportsmen's organization
that tries to protect wildlife habitat. Van Dyk says this part of the river is not a blue-ribbon
trout fishery, like Yellowstone Park. But he says the warm water species that thrive
here also draw tourists. He's worried that, after all the bad publicity, they will stay
home. KENDALL VAN DYK, Trout Unlimited: People come here from all over the world. And this
time of year, this is tourist season in Montana. You know, we do a lot of bragging about Montana,
especially this time of yea, with our fly-fishing, and it's the reason people come here, is to
come experience this. And these aren't the kind of headlines people want in Montana.
This isn't the way we like to talk about our state. TOM BEARDEN: Most of the people we
talked to were pretty satisfied with the cleanup effort, but not the governor. Gov. Brian Schweitzer
withdrew from the EPA-led joint command center, saying ExxonMobil was actually in charge and
was withholding information from the press and state officials. In response, an EPA spokesman
reiterated that his agency was leading the effort, not the oil company. Tom Reiter is
also unhappy. He says he lost a lot of boat repair business because the authorities closed
a road, and his customers couldn't get to his shop. That's the same road where the major
cleanup operation is under way. It runs along the south side of the river channel, near
where the spill started. Deputies say it was closed to protect the cleanup workers. But
the closure forced Reiter and others to take long detours. TOM REITER, business owner:
It shouldn't have happened in the first place. The neighbors go through it. Unless there's
water or oil going across that road, I don't see any reason to close it. It seemed to us,
it was the general consensus that they didn't want the public to get close to the river.
And that's the most accessible part of the river for the public right now. TOM BEARDEN:
Reiter loudly protested, so loudly at a roadblock that he later said he was surprised he wasn't
arrested. But, apparently, local authorities got the message. (PHONE RINGING) TOM REITER:
Excuse me. My customers are trying to get through here. Hello. This is Tom. County commissioner.
TOM BEARDEN: While we were interviewing Reiter, he got a phone call from two county supervisors
and the sheriff, who said they would fix the problem. Bill Kennedy is one of those commissioners.
He says local and state government will make sure the entire problem will be fixed. BILL
KENNEDY, Yellowstone County Commission: We want it put back the way it was. And with
all of that, we have had assurances from Exxon that they will work to get this back, and
to get it back to where it was. If it takes anywhere from six weeks to a year to a year-and-a-half,
whatever it takes, we want to make sure that all of this area and the landowners that are
affected are -- are happy with the results. TOM BEARDEN: But some environmentalists say
this accident is exhibit-A to bolster their opposition to a much larger planned pipeline
to run from Canada's vast oil fields to Houston. That line would also cross the Yellowstone
and other rivers. But, despite the spill, many people, including the governor, remain
strongly in favor of transporting oil to the state's refineries to feed the nations appetite
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place JIM LEHRER: Now, NewsHour correspondent Tom Bearden reports from Laurel, Mont Normal
Microsoft Office Word JIM LEHRER: Now, NewsHour correspondent Tom Bearden reports from Laurel,
Mont Title Microsoft Office Word Document MSWordDoc Word.Document.8