Dear Editor,

On Good Friday, March 29, 2013, the Exxon Mobil Pegasus Pipeline carrying tar sands through the community of Mayflower, Arkansas, ruptured, spilling 5,000 barrels of tar sands crude into that neighborhood and surrounding area. 83 people and 22 homes needed to be evacuated. This pipeline comes down from Arkansas, into Texas, Wood County, down through the Winnsboro Area, shoots diagonally to Lake Fork, under Lake Fork, bordering Alba, to Corsicana, then back down to Nederland, Texas.

Despite a massive cleanup effort, ExxonMobil has recovered only 2,000 of the total 5,000 barrels of spilled Canadian tar sands crude in Mayflower, Arkansas, according to the accident incident report from last month's Pegasus pipeline disaster. The report was released by the Department of Transportation's Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) through a Freedom of Information Act request filed by the Sierra Club. Although 33 years ago, the section of this pipe in Lake Fork was replaced before filling the reservoir with water, it doesn't exclude the risks we face should 65 year old portion of the pipeline spill anywhere, even the portion under Lake Fork. The tar sands spill in Michigan was in a 42 year old pipeline, it ruptured 3 years ago and they are still cleaning it up! We have become a well educated community when it comes to the hazardous chemicals tar sands crude contains versus regular domestic crude. We should take action as a minimum to get Exxon Mobil to replace their antiquated pipeline, move it away from our waterways/lakes, and if possible avoid shipping tar sands through our pristine communities. Finally, don't let anyone try to convince you that it is not tar sands. According to the Wikipedia definition, oil sands, tar sands and bitumen sands are synonymous regardless if it is mined or pumped from the western region of Canada!

Eddie Radillo