What Is this Pegasus Pipeline?
ExxonMobil owns and operates the Pegasus pipeline, a 20-inch in diameter pipe that is 858 miles long and is mostly buried between Patoka, Ill., and Nederland, Texas.
Pegasus was built in the 1940s, to bring refined oil north from Texas. In 2006, ExxonMobil reversed the direction of the pipeline's flow to carry Wabasca Heavy south. In 2009, ExxonMobil increased the carrying capacity of the pipeline by 50%, to 90,000 barrels per day. Published estimates of its carrying capacity range from 80,000 to 95,000 barrels per day.
An ExxonMobil press release announcing the expansion added [6]that[6]: "Operational enhancements, such as new leak detection technology, were also incorporated to support ExxonMobil Pipeline Company's primary focus on operating its pipelines in a safe and environmentally responsible manner."
The federal class action lawsuit alleges that these changes -- including reversing the flow and increasing the capacity -- weakened the pipeline and contributed directly to its failure in Mayflower.
On April 3, CBS News reported -- falsely -- that the pipeline had "carried crude oil from Canada to Texas for decades." CBS did not mention tar sands, bitumen, or dilbit, treating the spill by omission as if it was not unusual.
In 2010, ExxonMobil was fined $26,200 by the Pipeline and Hazardous Material Safety Administration for failing to inspect the Pegasus pipeline as frequently as required by law.
The pipeline was last inspected in February 2013, but the results are not public.
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