Photograph by Jacob Slaton, Reuters
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel held a press conference held on April 10, 2013 to discuss information provided to him by Exxon Mobile in response to a subpoena issued by his office in the wake of the March 29 Mayflower Oil Spill.
In prepared remarks (transcript available here), the Attorney General >noted that his preliminary inspection of the documents, provided to him less than an >hour before the press conference, revealed the following:
- 12,587 pages of documents responsive to his subpoena were provided, including >five CDs of data and more than 200 blueprint-sized diagrams;
- The pipeline rupture, at over 22 feet, is substantially larger than initially thought;
- The cause of the rupture, and how much petroleum product spilled following the rupture, is still unknown.
Attorney General McDaniel also discussed the following additional steps his office is taking to further the state’s investigation of and response to the Mayflower Oil Spill, including:
- Sending investigators to Mayflower three times this week to collect additional >evidence and data;
- Retaining a private firm experienced in disaster response to begin an independent >analysis of the cleanup process starting on April 11; and
- Retaining a group of technical advisors to provide his office with independent air >sampling and other scientific data.
Finally, the Attorney General noted that the State of Arkansas has requested $4 million from Exxon to pay for the state’s investigation of the Mayflower Oil Spill, consistent with what other states’ attorneys general requested from BP in the wake of the Gulf Oil Spill.
We applaud Attorney General McDaniel for his continuing efforts to serve and protect the residents of both Mayflower and the State of Arkansas in the aftermath of the Mayflower Oil Spill. We also echo his previous recommendation that those affected by the oil spill engage their own attorneys to represent their interests.
While the efforts of the state and the Attorney General will certainly be of benefit to everyone who chooses to pursue individual claims, neither the state nor the Attorney General can bring those claims. For such individual claims, attorneys with experience in taking on large corporations such as Exxon are best suited to represent your interests in making sure that the parties at fault for the Mayflower Oil Spill pay full compensation for the damage they have caused.
Johnson & Vines, PLLC is working with Hare Wynn Newell & Newton in representing >individuals who have been affected by the Mayflower Oil Spill. For additional information, please contact us at 501-372-1300.
