FEBRUARY 20, 2015
BILLINGS, MONTANA
Exxon Mobil Corp. has asked federal regulators to reconsider
a $1 million penalty imposed against the oil giant over a 63,000-gallon crude
spill into Montana's Yellowstone River.
The Texas-based company asked the Department of
Transportation to withdraw three of its four findings of pipeline safety
violations. It also asked for the penalty amount to be reduced.
Safety regulators said Exxon Mobil failed to adequately heed
warnings that its 20-year-old Silvertip Pipeline was at risk from flooding.
An Exxon attorney said in the petition for reconsideration
filed Feb. 12 that the company was justified in determining flooding was not a
great danger following a 2010 risk assessment.
That conclusion proved wrong. The spill left oil along an
85-mile stretch of the Yellowstone, killing fish and wildlife and prompting a
cleanup that took months.
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NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND RESTORATION
HISTORY
On July 1, 2011, a 12-inch diameter pipeline owned by the
ExxonMobil Pipeline Company ruptured near Laurel, Montana, resulting in the
discharge of approximately 63,000 gallons of crude oil into the Yellowstone
River and floodplain. This occurred at the peak of an extended high water event
which is estimated to occur only once every 35 years. The Yellowstone
River Oil Spill affected the Yellowstone River and its floodplain for
approximately 85 miles downstream.
Response activities were initiated soon after the oil spill.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) led the response, which
was undertaken by the ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, in coordination with the
State of Montana and other federal agencies. Response activities involved over
1,000 personnel engaged in cleanup and shoreline assessment of approximately
11,000 acres along 85 miles. In September 2011, EPA demobilized from the site,
and the site has now transitioned from emergency cleanup into long-term monitoring,
assessment and reclamation, under the direction of the Montana Department of
Environmental Quality. It is estimated that little of the estimated 63,000
gallons of oil discharged into the Yellowstone River and floodplain was
recovered.
Oil from the Yellowstone River Oil Spill, along with the
cleanup activities themselves, harmed natural resources and the natural
resource services provided, including but not limited to, fish and other
aquatic organisms, birds (including migratory birds), wildlife, large woody
debris piles, aquatic habitat, terrestrial habitat, and the services provided
by these natural resources. These public natural resources are under the
jurisdiction of the State of Montana and the United States. These
governments are using the Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration
process to evaluate and document the amount of harm caused by the Yellowstone
River Oil Spill, and will seek compensation from the Responsible Party, the
ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, to restore natural resources harmed by the oil
spill.
US EPA
NATURAL RESOURCE DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND RESTORATION
Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR)
is the process used by governments to seek compensation for natural resources
injured or destroyed due to oil or other hazardous substances. In the NRDAR
process, the appropriate governmental entities are identified as
“Trustees.” Compensation sought through the process is used by the
Trustees to restore, rehabilitate, replace, or acquire the equivalent of
injured natural resources and services to pre-spill conditions.
Compensation is sought from the party responsible for the damage, in this case,
the Exxon Mobil Pipeline Company.
TRUSTEES
For the Yellowstone River Oil Spill, the State Trustee is
the Governor of the State of Montana. The federal Trustee is the United States
Department of the Interior, as represented by the Bureau of Land Management and
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management and the
State of Montana are Co-Lead Administrative Trustees.
DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND PUBLIC INVOLVEMENT
The Trustees began data collection to understand the
Yellowstone River Oil Spill’s impact on natural resources when flows dropped
sufficiently to allow government staff safe access. Since that time, the
Trustees have reviewed data collected during the response action, as well as
gathered data and information to date on such things as soil, water, sediments,
large woody debris piles, fish, birds, wildlife, and their habitats,
recreational use and closures.
Some NRDAR data was collected cooperatively between the
Trustees and ExxonMobil Pipeline Company. As required by law, the Trustees
invited the Responsible Party, the ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, to participate in
the natural resource damage assessment, although Responsible Party involvement
remains in the sole discretion of the Trustees, should the Trustees view the
company’s participation as causing interference with the Trustees’ ability to
fulfill their Trustee responsibilities.
The Trustees have decided to conduct Restoration Planning to
assess damages and restore the resources. Collection and review of data will
continue as Trustees work to further identify and quantify the Yellowstone
River Oil Spill’s impacts, as part of the injury assessment. The Trustees
will also begin restoration alternative evaluation, identifying projects that
benefit the same or similar resources injured by the oil spill. The
public will have the opportunity for review and comment on the draft assessment
and restoration plan. Other opportunities for public involvement may occur
prior to that time if the Trustees see that such involvement could enhance
Trustees’ decision-making or avoid delays in restoration.
MAJOR CATEGORIES OF NATURAL RESOURCE INJURY
The full nature and extent of injuries will be determined
during the injury assessment phase of restoration planning. As part of its
preassessment activities, the Trustees identified a number of categories where
injuries have resulted, or are likely to result from the Incident. These
categories include, but not limited to:
Fish, reptiles, and amphibians: Natural resources have been
and may continue to be lost, injured and/or threatened as a result of
discharged oil, including, without limitation, injury to fish and fish habitat,
including, but not limited to, gill abnormalities and external lesions and
ulcers on surviving fish. Other receptors and their habitats were also
potentially exposed and injured, including but not limited to: reptiles
(including turtles) and amphibians (including frogs).
Montana FWP
Birds: Natural resources have been and continue to be lost,
injured and/or threatened as a result of discharged oil and associated response
activities, including, without limitation, injury to birds, including the
American White Pelican, a State species of concern, owls and other cavity
nesting birds, and bird habitat. Other receptors also potentially lost, injured
and/or threatened, along with their habitat, include but are not limited to:
passerine birds, waterfowl, shorebirds, and raptors.
International Bird Rescue
Floodplain habitat: Natural resources have been and continue
to be lost, injured and/or threatened as a result of discharged oil and
associated response activities, including, without limitation, injury to both
bottomland/riparian lands, and grassland/shrubland. For example, on significant
acreage, oil was allowed to degrade over time. Where response actions were
taken, adverse effects occurred and continue to occur, for example, the use of
heavy equipment (e.g., all-terrain vehicles, skid steers, excavators), and the
building of staging grounds, footpaths, temporary roads, and vehicle tracks.
Large Woody Debris Piles: One of the Yellowstone River’s
distinguishing attributes as the longest undammed river in the lower 48 states
is the existence of large woody debris piles. Large woody debris piles play an
important role in channel morphological processes and aquatic and riparian
habitat formation, including cottonwood tree regeneration. Natural resources
have been and continue to be lost, injured and/or threatened as a result of
discharged oil and associated response activities, including, without
limitation, injury to large woody debris piles and cottonwood tree
regeneration.
Human use: Natural resource services have been and continue
to be lost, injured and/or threatened as a result of discharged oil and
associated response activities. These may include, without limitation,
diminished and/or lost use and non-use values, including but not limited to
fishing and other recreational uses. For example, fishing and other
recreational uses were prohibited, curtailed, or otherwise adversely affected,
either directly or indirectly, at parks, fishing access sites, Bureau of Land
Management property, and on or adjacent to the Yellowstone River.