Pipeline rupture spills oil into flooded Yellowstone River

Environment News Service: An ExxonMobil pipeline running under the Yellowstone River in south central Montana burst Friday night, spilling black crude oil rushing into the river and forcing residents downstream to evacuate. The rupture occured in a pipeline at Riverside Park near Laurel, a town of about 6,500 people about 10 miles west of Billings.

For fear of an explosion, officials in Laurel evacuated about 140 people on Saturday shortly after midnight, then permitted them to return at 4 am once tests showed fumes from the leaked oil had dispersed.

The oil spill comes after the swollen Yellowstone River overtopped its banks Saturday, flooding Riverside Park and closing a county road south of the Laurel. An ExxonMobil official said the damaged pipe is buried six feet below the riverbed. The park has been closed for since late May because of high water and flooding.

In a statement, ExxonMobil said, "At this early stage, we have no information on the cause of the incident, and we are working to determine the amount of oil released." The company said it "deeply regrets this release and is working hard with local emergency authorities to mitigate the impacts of this release on the surrounding communities and to the environment."...

Seven Mile Hole, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, Yellowstone River, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming