MAYFLOWER, Ark.-U.S. Justice Department attorneys have asked an appeals court to deny Exxon Mobil's request that the court delay a federal order requiring the company to comply with safety directives following the 2013 Pegasus pipeline oil spill in Mayflower.
Heavy crude oil spilled into a subdivision in the city of Mayflower, drainage ditches and a Lake Conway cove when the pipeline cracked in March 2013.
The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Exxon Mobil Pipeline Co. it's being singled out with "extensive and costly" directives that don't apply to its competitors. Exxon Mobil said that the compliance order would put it at a competitive disadvantage.
The compliance order includes an inventory of the company's ores 1970 electric resistance welded pipe.
The company wants those directives to be placed on hold while the court decides whether to uphold the compliance order issued by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.
Justice Department attorneys said in a court filing Tuesday that Exxon has over a thousand miles of pipeline similar to the Pegasus pipeline and that the compliance order will ensure that necessary procedures are in place to assess future risk of seam failure along the pipelines.
The attorneys said the company did not follow its own procedures when it assessed the safety of the Pegasus pipeline, which was constructed in 1947-48.
"A stay of the order would undermine that significant safety concern," they wrote.