Exxon Mobil Corp is working on a plan to repair and restart a ruptured Montana pipeline that spilled up to 1,000 barrels of crude into the Yellowstone River last weekend, but restoration is not expected for at least two weeks, an executive said on Wednesday.
“Restoration of the line is something we’ll look at separately,” said Gary Pruessing, president of Exxon Mobil Pipeline Company. “It’s not something that’s going to happen in the next day, or week, or couple of weeks.”
He said the immediate concern is cleanup of leaked oil from the Silvertip line.
The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and the Environmental Protection Agency are investigating the cause of the spill, along with Exxon Mobil and Montana state environmental regulators.