Two residents of the polluted Northwoods subdivision, Kimla Greene and Kathryn Jane Roachell Chunn, filed a class action lawsuit in federal court in Little Rock on April 5, seeking an unstated amount of damages on behalf of themselves and their neighbors, anyone living within 3,000 feet of the burst pipeline.
The suit seeks compensation for damage caused by the pipeline failure, including lost property values, environmental damage, and other harm, the value of which could reach several million dollars, if they win the case.
Who Decided Who
Should Be Evacuated?
The Mayflower Incident Unified Command includes ExxonMobil, Faulkner County, the EPA, and the City of Mayflower. Local officials reportedly recommended the evacuation of 22 houses closest to the pipeline soon after the spill occurred. There seems to have been no resistance. ExxonMobil has promised to pay the expenses of the some 40 people evacuated. The City of Mayflower maintains a website [4]with[4] details of the spill and response.
Residents may not be allowed to return to their homes for a month or more. So far they have filed about 140 claims with ExxonMobil.
Who Instituted What Amounts to Martial Law in the Subdivision?
Nobody, at least not officially. Some reporters have complained about the heavy-handed
controls imposed by authorities, who have effectively closed off the spill zone
as they see fit. Suzi Parker in
Grist argued [5]that[5]
ExxonMobil "has instituted something like martial law."
Lisa Song from Inside Climate News and Michael Hibblen of local public radio KUAR described similar encounters with the Falukner County Sheriff's Department. Both recount the sheriff's deputies first denying them access to the site and herding them into a restricted area. Then, soon after, without explanation, the deputies ordered the reporters to leave within 10 seconds or face arrest for criminal trespass.
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