US agency says Exxon tries to dodge blame for Arkansas leak

LITTLE ROCK — Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. is trying to “escape responsibility” for not considering that a pipeline that ruptured in Arkansas was susceptible to seam failure despite a history of such problems, according to a federal agency.

Exxon Mobil is challenging a finding by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration that the oil giant violated safety regulations, which led to the pipeline’s rupture in Mayflower in 2013. The company, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corp., also has challenged the $2.6 million fine levied by the agency, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported.

In a document filed with a

federal appeals court, the safety administration said the Pegasus pipeline, built in 1947-48, “had experienced numerous seam failures, both during testing and in-service.”

Those included an in-service “leak” in 1984 as well as leaks during hydrostatic, or water-pressure, testing in 1969, 1991 and 200506. The failures had been increasing while also occurring at lower test pressures over the years, the agency said. Both factors indicated “a likelihood that seam degradation was taking place,” it said.

Exxon Mobil is especially concerned about an agency order that the company revise its seam-failure susceptibility process for all such pipes in all of the pipelines it operates, not just the Pegasus.

The company has said it operates more than 1,000 miles of pipeline that is in similar condition as the Pegasus and is subject to federal safety regulations. The same kind of pipe is used in 25 percent of the nation’s oil pipelines, it said.

The Mayflower rupture led to the long-term evacuation of 22 homes. Three of those were demolished, and many residents never moved back into the neighborhood. Exxon Mobil shut down the roughly 850-mile pipeline running from Patoka, Illinois, to Texas shortly after the accident. All but a 211-mile section in Texas remains closed.

UN, Arkansas nonprofit launch $4 million program in Africa

LITTLE ROCK — A United Nations agency is partnering with an Arkansas-based nonprofit group to launch a $4 million program for dairy farmers in East Africa.

The three-year initiative between the International Fund for Agricultural Development and Heifer International will set up dairy hubs to help farmers in Tanzania and Rwanda collect and sell their milk. The program will involve 3,850 families in the two countries.

Heifer International is contributing $2 million to the project. A $2 million grant will be provided by the specialized U.N. agency, which works to end rural poverty.

Half the funds will be spent in Zanzibar, Tanzania, where five dairy hubs will be established. The rest will set up six hubs in Rwanda. The participants will be men, women and youth living on less than $2 a day.

Helena-West Helena police investigating 6 fires as arson

HELENA-WEST HELENA — Police in Helena-West Helena say six separate fires that caused about $120,000 in property damage are being investigated as arson.

The first occurred on Friday close to a public housing development where firefighters found a vehicle fully engulfed in flames. As firefighters and police worked the scene, officers began to get calls about other fires around the area.

Television station KATV reports that one involved a nearby house where police say a suspect set two separate fires, one at the front door and another under a carport. Authorities were able to get everyone out safely. The house sustained about $20,000 in damage.

Police say a total of five vehicles were also destroyed by flames.

Investigators say clothing was taken from a person of interest in the case for testing.