No. 6 - One Hour - Changing lives in Mayflower, Arkansas

We've been studying the Exxon Spill of Mayflower for months now and have compiled 10,000 documents which tell the story below. Here are the facts:

The critical period for maximum exposure during the Exxon Spill, March 31, 2013 in Mayflower, Arkansas was short.

However, maximum exposure is not necessary for the effects to be life altering, causing permanent damage to people, especially children, which will not be visible for years.

Exxon refused to turn over information, stalling during the time the impact of those impacted should have begun treatment. This is their standard strategy, learned from the Koch Brothers to maximize their profits by minimizing their costs.

We have the composition of what came out of the broken pipe, and we have used it, beginning with the material below. 

One Hour 

Benzene, highly cancer causing, Toluene, toxic to the nervous system, especially in children, and Hydrogen Sulfide,very poisonous, corrosive, flammable, and explosive, surged out of the broken pipe with explosive speed, filling the air and rapidly moving out into the entire community.

The damage was being done to everyone before any warning took place. People reported they were not told to leave the area.

MAXIMUM EXPOSURE IN FIRST HOUR 
Significantly, there were NO monitors during this time.
 

PPM – Parts Per Million – This does not sound like a lot, but – it is, like a poison, it does not take much to disable and kill. 

Total Spill = 210,000 gals of dilbit, a highly toxic substance itself, only able to move through the pipe because Benzene and Toluene were added.

BENZENE

1% of Condensate

4000 ppm to 25 yds

800 ppm to 75 yds

50 ppm to 300 yds = approx. odor threshold

“If you can smell the chemical, the level is too high to be safe.”ⁱ

TOLUENE Acute Symptoms ⁱⁱ

2% of Condensate

4500 ppm to 30 yds

Narcosis, impairment of reaction time and coordination

1200 ppm to 75 yds 

 Weakness, Anorexia, staggering gate, nausea,nervousness, momentary loss of memory, significant reduction in reaction time
200 ppm to 200 yds

            Mild throat and eye irritation, prolonged eye-to-hand reaction time, some impaired
            cognitive function, mild headache, dizziness, sensation of intoxication, fatigue, general
            confusion and moderate insomnia

Hydrogen Sulfide                                                                                ACUTE EXPOSURES

4% of Dilbit

50 ppm to 500 yds

Maximum level of 50 ppm allowed for 10 minutes maximum duration if no other measurable exposure occurs.

Mild conjunctivitis, respiratory tract irritation in 30-60 minutes

25 ppm to 750 yds

Strong, unpleasant odor, but not intolerable.

OSHA has established an acceptable ceiling concentration of 20 ppm for hydrogen sulfide in the workplace.

8- 10 pm to 2 miles

Easily detected, moderate odor

Beginning eye irritation. 

Permissible Exposure Level, 8 hours

 

NIOSH has set a maximum Recommended Exposure Limit (REL) ceiling value of 10 ppm for 10 minutes maximum duration.

Since these chemicals are heavier than air they also fill depressions and holes in the ground, waiting like stalking predators for victims. 

 

Everyone in Mayflower could smell the Exxon Spill

Everyone was at risk

But Rex Tillerson,the Kochs and President Obama

do not think

Exxon Mobile

should be responsible for the damage still being done to the folks of Mayflower. 

Where were those who should have taken immediate action? 

Was any action taken to ensure the well being of the people of Mayflower?

The Answer is - NO

 
Charles Koch was in Wichita, Kansas 

                   - 429 miles from Mayflower, Arkansas 

See a larger picture of Charles' home. 

Charles has built out a huge operation which uses deceit, lies, and stalling to optimize his profits instead of doing business responsibly. 

David Koch was in New York City, or may be his posh place in Southampton, NY 

                       - 1,248 miles from Mayflower, Arkansas

See a larger picture of David's home in Southampton.

David never opposed his brother as Koch Industries built out a huge operation using deceit, lies, and stalling to optimize his profits instead of doing business responsibly.  But today he complains about the negative press. 

Rex Tillerson was in Bartonville, Texas 

                          - 363 miles from Mayflower, Arkansas

See a larger picture of Rex's Home. 

Rex is responsible for the corporation he heads.  He failed to ensure safety and followed the Koch Method for evading the consequences of causing harm to others.  

Barack Obama was in Washington DC
   - 1,028 miles from Mayflower, Arkansa.

See a larger picture of the house where Obama resides. 

And Obama enjoys his time in office, looking forward to a lucrative retirement, paid for by Koch and his friends. 

 We have more coming. 

 

i

Wisconsin Dept. of Health Services 2013 Benzene http://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/eh/chemfs/fs/benzene.htm

ii

International Programme on Chemical Safety, Environmental Health Criteria 52: Toluene, 1986.

FRIDAY NIGHT SPECIAL No. 5 The Koch's Secret Sauce

The Koch's Secret Sauce – The Profit is in the Poisons 

(Sort of like those special spices in your Indian food!)

Of course, it is not likely Charles himself was hunkered down in the secret laboratory under his mansion in Wichita, Kansas.  But he certainly knew the formula.  

Koch Truths and Green Fields Renewal will now reveal the actual content of the ugly substance which bubbled out of the broken pipe in Mayflower a little over a year ago. Notice, this information has been carefully sequestered by ExxonMobil.

Believe us, they have their reasons for this.

This sample of Wabasca Heavy was taken at the Suspected Source, (the pump station about 20 miles upstream from the Pegasus pipeline rupture). From there, it was sent by the USCG for analysis in Canada in June 2013, a few months after the Mayflower disaster. This is typical of what was in the pipe just before it ruptured.

 

Gas Chromatogram of Mayflower Suspected Source  - These are the fingerprints, what ExxonMobil has worked so hard to hide from the public and their victims. 

Source: EPA/ ESTS

Above we see a hybrid Dilbit mixture, with virtually identical distribution of heavy hydrocarbon molecules (on the right) as we saw in the Wabasca Heavy sample in Part 1.

But this Secret Sauce has special additions. These new additions include the toxic BTEXs like benzene, a virulent carcinogen, and toluene, a neurotoxin.

And the concentration levels were very, very high in the Secret Sauce.


Would having know about this made a difference in treating the victims? Absolutely.

But then the evidence would also have been presented in court, an eventuality to be avoided at all costs, especially if those costs can be externalized to small children and other victims.