"U.S. Allows Partial Restart of Exxon Pipeline a Year After Spill"

"A U.S. regulator on Monday allowed Exxon Mobil Corp to restart operations on the Texas leg of its Pegasus pipeline, which spilled thousands of barrels of oil into a residential area in Arkansas last year.

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) approved Exxon's restart plan for a 210-mile (338-km) stretch of the pipeline from Corsicana to Nederland at 80 percent of the operating pressure in place before the March 29, 2013 incident in the small town of Mayflower, Arkansas.

'This margin of safety should allow for the safe operation of the pipeline until the Remedial Work Plan can be approved and implemented,' PHMSA said in a letter to Exxon dated and made public on March 31.

The northern portion of the pipeline, which includes Mayflower, will remain shut down under the terms of a corrective action order, a PHMSA spokesman said."

Timothy Gardner, Selam Gebrekidan, and Sabina Zawadzki report for Reuters April 1, 2014.

SEE ALSO:

"Exxon, PHMSA Withholding Key Documents on Pegasus Pipeline as Restart Nears" (InsideClimate News)

"Keeping Secrets Has Been Exxon's Default in Ark. Oil Spill Case" (InsideClimate News)

"One Year After Exxon's Arkansas Spill, 8 Crucial Questions Still Unanswered" (InsideClimate News)