Oil from ExxonMobil's Silvertip spill found on 58 percent of Yellowstone River shoreline

NEW YORK - The failed Exxon Mobil Silvertip pipeline that spilled up to 50,000 gallons of oil into the Yellowstone River has coated 58 percent of the Yellowstone River's shoreline, according to Businessweek.com.

The tally released on July 26 by Montana Department of Environmental Quality director Richard Opper offers one the first clear gauges of the scope of the spill after weeks of high water slowed access to fouled areas.

Just over 40 percent of shoreline inspected to date had light to very light oil. Seventeen percent had moderate oil. Just one percent was heavily contaminated.

The state says the July 1 spill, which came amid flooding from mountain snowmelt, dumped up to 1,200 barrels of oil (50,400 gallons) into the Yellowstone near Laurel, Mont.

More on Montana's pulling out of Silvertip oil spill joint command

BOZEMAN, Mont. - Montana's governor on July 7 withdrew his state from participation in the command team directing cleanup of oil spilled from a ruptured Exxon Mobil pipeline, saying citizens "can't get straight answers" from the company.

In establishing the state's own incident command center in Billings, just downstream from the July 1 spill on the Yellowstone River, Gov. Brian Schweitzer cited what he characterized as a lack of public transparency by Exxon.

Schweitzer said Exxon was responsible for restricting reporters' access, and that of some state environmental officials, in violation of Montana's open-meetings law. He also said the company has been too slow in responding to citizens' queries about the spill.

"When Montana citizens call a hotline and Exxon Mobil doesn't get back to them, that's unacceptable," Schweitzer said in a phone interview.

A joint unified command organization consisting of the state, Exxon and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was set up after the spill to oversee efforts to assess damage, conduct cleanup and provide information to the public.

Exxon Mobil spokesman Alan Jeffers denied the company had sought to restrict access to unified command meetings or information, saying the EPA was in charge. He said the company was doing its utmost to answer questions from the public.

PHMSA orders ExxonMobil to improve safety at ruptured Montana pipeline

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Federal authorities have ordered ExxonMobil to make safety improvements to a ruptured pipeline in Montana that caused 750 to 1,000 barrels of crude oil to gush into the Yellowstone River.

The cause of the pipeline break is still under investigation, authorities said.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued a corrective action order to ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. that will require new safety measures along the Silvertip hazardous liquid pipeline, the federal agency said on July 5.

The order will require ExxonMobil to re-bury the pipeline underneath the river bed to protect it from external damage, the federal agency said in a statement. The oil company will also have to conduct a risk assessment on the pipeline where it crosses any waterway. Exxon will then need to submit a restart plan before operation can resume, officials said.

"The safety of our nation's pipelines is a priority and the investigation into this incident is ongoing," U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement. "It is our responsibility to ensure pipelines are safely delivering energy to U.S. households and businesses, and when companies are not living up to our safety standards, we will take action. We will continue to work with the EPA, while ensuring that those responsible are held accountable."

The Silvertip Pipeline is a 12-inch pipeline about 69 miles long that carries crude oil from the Silvertip station in Elk Basin, Wy., to an ExxonMobil Refinery in Billings, Mont., federal officials said.