Activists claim Arkansas oil spill diverted into wetland

Activists claim Arkansas oil spill diverted into wetland

www.rawstory.com

Activists with the group Tar Sands Blockade published new videos on Sunday showing oil from the Arkansas pipeline rupture purportedly diverted from a residential neighborhood into a wetland area to keep it out sight and, most importantly, out of the media

(visit the link for the full news article)

Activists are saying the Exxon oil spill in Arkansas has been diverted to the wetlands there to keep the media from showing how bad it really is, and they have posted a video to prove it

Exxon is sayin that they have been power washing the pavement wich could cause some of the oil to be pushed into the wetland

A local resident is claiming that is still flowing into lake conway and has been since the beginning and is also sayng" I don’t have allergies,“but now my sinuses are bothering me. My throat’s bothering me. My eyes water constantly. But they [Exxon] act like nothing’s wrong. They don’t have to live here, we do. And we’re not moving just because of them.

It looks like alot more oil then what would have been powerwashed off the sidewalks to me


pics are from the activist website and it says

Timestamps are incorrect and were added automatically by the camera. These photos were taken just before sunset on Saturday, April 6.)

more pics at their flickr account
www.flickr.com...

www.rawstory.com
activist website
www.tarsandsblockade.org...
(visit the link for the full news article)

reply to post by goou111

The company has also secured a no-fly zone over the spill area.

That says something to me, they did this during the gulf spill also.
Man this is what adds to the problem, avoiding liability and the costs associated with it makes people take shortcuts or just run with an idea and address any issues after they arise. Guidelines serve a critical purpose for handling these products and there should be no compromise on safety and/or procedures.

Thank you for sharing this story.
When will this madness end?
Money over health and environment.

I guess it begins with me no longer driving anymore .No longer demanding lower gas prices.

The endless cycle of having to drive to work,having to buy gas to do so.

Well played,TPTB,well played.

Sorry but how is diverting an oil spill into a wetlands area going to stop the media from reporting it exactly?

Are they not allowed into wetland areas to film or look around?

If they are allowed than why would the oil company even waste their time since it will be found out one way or another?

Originally posted by Hopechest
Sorry but how is diverting an oil spill into a wetlands area going to stop the media from reporting it exactly?

Are they not allowed into wetland areas to film or look around?

If they are allowed than why would the oil company even waste their time since it will be found out one way or another?

The activists noted that they were turned away from the area several times before by police and Exxon spill cleanup workers, but they returned on Saturday just before sundown and managed to sneak in to capture footage of the oiled wetlands

Ahhh so the police are in on the cover-up?

Very interesting.

Timestamps are incorrect and were added automatically by the camera. These photos were taken just before sunset on Saturday, April 6.)

I am not saying that I dont believe them but this statement sucks. When you are trying to be taken seriously you cannot have stuff like this. Fix your camera.

Interesting video.... It'll be more interesting to see what the site looks like when the clean up is finished and not still a crisis management in progress. Some people from up here in Missouri got sent down there as part of the clean up. I'm hoping to get some information out of that when they get back.

I wonder if people like this bother to read an MSDS sheet for hazmat exposure before walking right up to something like this? There is no telling what chemicals are in the mix yet to be cleaned up at the end ...and some could be real dangerous by just air exposure, being right next to it. That wouldn't be the best way to go ....after crossing the yellow tape I noticed just a few yards behind the oily mud pit with the paper towels.

It's a story I'm certainly following closely tho, being so close to home and all.

S/F for a good catch!

You are now witnessing first hand, a Corporate-Fascist Government at play. Exxon is a trillion dollar company so they say what goes. No fly zone, no media, tax payers money used for clean up, and Hu$h money for everyone else.

Nah, nothing to see here, move along folks

Exxon said in a statement that the oil did not reach Lake Conway, although "ducks, turtles, a beaver and a muskrat" were affected.
About 5,000 barrels of oil spilled, although the final figures have not yet been released, the company said.
Read more: www.businessinsider.com...

www.businessinsider.com...

Originally posted by dominicus
You are now witnessing first hand, a Corporate-Fascist Government at play. Exxon is a trillion dollar company so they say what goes. No fly zone, no media, tax payers money used for clean up, and Hu$h money for everyone else.

And how many times has this happened?
Bet you can count it on two hands and both feet.

I don't think everyone realizes how dire the need is for the oil. Your government doesn't care about bleeding hearts. They will frac the whole of the nation if they have to. They will obliterate foreign governments for it. You think they care one iota about some muddy piece of land in Arkansas?? Should anybody care about an idealist who will do nothing to change the world but cry like a child "Waaahh...! I'm idealistic, gonna take some pics, some vid, cry out into the ether for somebody to care about my indignation" when 99.999% of the people don't give a rats.

It's not that I don't think this is wrong. I think there is a ton of # wrong in the world. But I know they can get away with this all people care about is themselves. That's why this oil spill does not matter.

Very Very easy to believe.

reply to post by goou111


No fly zone over spill, sort of makes sense... but also, in my opinion, indicates the spill is larger than reported. Apparently an Exxon employee is in charge of the no fly zone.

According to an FAA website, the restriction went into effect Monday and will remain in place "until further notice."
The FAA site noted earlier Wednesday that "only relief aircraft operations under direction of Tom Suhrhoff" are allowed in the zone. Lunsford said later Wednesday that officials were amending the restriction to also allow news media aircraft.
Suhrhoff is listed on a LinkedIn profile as an aviation advisor for ExxonMobil. A message left with a media line for the oil company wasn't immediately returned.

Since there is in fact an MSM black out, independent journalists/activists and the EPA (bought off way too easily) is all we have to rely on, so yes I believe what these activists are claiming is true.

reply to post by dominicus


Bingo!!!!!!!!!!!!!! in our corporate whore government money talks and we get to eat the oil spill, suckers!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we citizens and lesser humans in the food chain are nothing to the corporate wealth running the nation.

Wake up sheep

Depressing info. I hate to see nature hurt from our activities. Covering things up usually makes things worse. Accidents can happen but coverups don't have to. The people covering this up should be fired.

Just to toss a note in on this? The people working the clean up aren't imports from a thousand miles away and indifferent to the environment. It's a local spill with local damage and local labor in much of what is happening.

This is by NO means the Exxon Valdez or Deepwater Horizon. Locals, regional or neighborhood (doesn't matter HOW far within the general locla area they come from) aren't going to tolerate a clean-up half done. Exxon knows that as well as anyone. They aren't remotely powerful enough in rural Arkansas to play the games BP did with a whole Government wrapped around their finger like a pinky ring.

We'll hear ALL about it, soon enough. The guys covered in the mess right now won't be there forever and plenty are temp help, paid for this job. I.E. .. NO loyalties to Exxon or anyone else if it turns into a furball with environmental disaster left AFTER cleanup is declared done.

I'd just caution against a rush to Judgement on an incident of this scope and size. I live here. I know the general mindsets and attitudes of the people.....which don't change enough to comment about within just a couple hours south of here. If anything, they are more extreme to what I'm talking about than people are here...not less so.

Time will tell..but for the love of Darwin, I hope no one else gets stupid and goes wandering through what is clearly a high risk hazmat site with Walmart level painter's protection. That is a QUICK way to die and die real hard and badly, IMO. There are GOOD REASONS the clean up people are wearing near bunny suits for what they do ...and it's not to look cool. It's to LIVE through handling something that is incredibly toxic before the cleanup chemicals are even added to the mix.

Originally posted by kdog1982

Originally posted by dominicus
You are now witnessing first hand, a Corporate-Fascist Government at play. Exxon is a trillion dollar company so they say what goes. No fly zone, no media, tax payers money used for clean up, and Hu$h money for everyone else.

And how many times has this happened?
Bet you can count it on two hands and both feet.

Unethical & Illegal acts done by Corporate-Fascist Governments at play, happens hundreds of times a day, all over the world. Most of it done in back rooms and corporate meetings.

We, the People, only become aware, or uncover a small amount of it.

Long time reader, first time poster. I live about 10 minutes(Conway, Arkansas) from the spill area. The small drainage that the oil was in runs under interstate 40 here. We drove by it yesterday twice and it appears they've got most of the oil cleaned up in the wetland. Haven't been in the neighborhood that was affected but there are alot of cleanup
workers in there. I don't see how running the oil into the wetland could hide it since It's visible from the interstate. I'm an aspiring sports/wildlife photographer and I will get out there tmmw and get some shots. I haven't seen any oil in Lake Conway for the record.