From those wonderful folks at Exxon (remember the Exxon Valdez?) we have more of the same, but this time they’ve chosen to befoul the Yellowstone River with 42,000 gallons of crude oil. It may not be on quite the same scale as the Alaska disaster, but it reflects that nothing has changed in the 22 years since the Alaskan disaster.
Records indicate that just a few months ago, the company was warned by the Dept. of Transportation that the pipeline that ruptured was not buried deep enough, that it had suffered some corrosion damage, that maps showing the location of shut-off valves were not accurate, and that their reponse plans were completely inadequate.
Not to worry, was the company response. They’ll take care of it first chance they get. In the meantime, they’ll continue operating because nothing had happened yet. Until last Friday night, that is, when the rupture occurred.
And their response? Send out a relative handful of people in hazmat suits to pose for photographers, give them a box of extra thick facial tissues to wipe up any oil that washes up on shore, and declare the cleanup is under way.
Meanwhile, people all along the river report getting sick from the fumes, wondering why the cleanup is going so slowly, and wondering how bad will it get.
No one really knows. All we can do is sit and wait. How much profit do we suppose Exxon made in the time it took to write this?
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