Nick Snow
Washington Editor
Yellowstone County Commissioner Bill Kennedy may not have been the most alert person at a US Senate Environment and Public Works subcommittee hearing on July 20, since he had just flown some 2,000 miles to testify. He nevertheless made a very strong point.
"We need to have a strategy to keep local government officials onboard and in decision-making capacities," he told the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee hearing on the ExxonMobil Pipeline Co. (Empco) Silvertip crude oil pipeline rupture and leak on July 1. "We have five other pipelines in the vicinity under the Yellowstone River. This was a wake-up call for our county to become involved."
Duane Winslow, Yellowstone County's disaster and emergency services director, opened an emergency response center soon after the leak was discovered, Kennedy indicated. Members of the City of Laurel's volunteer fire department and county deputy sheriffs evacuated about 125 people from their homes that night, he continued. Empco employees worked with county responders to quickly close the pipeline's valves.
Empco was involved from the start as the US Environmental Protection Agency and Montana Department of Environmental Quality were en route, he said. Soon after EPA took charge, "it was very evident that the local government was informed, but not involved, in decisions involving the next steps," the county official said.
"We need to have a strategy to keep local government officials on board and in decision-making positions," he maintained. "We know the residents, the geography and the companies in our community. This spill opened our eyes to what a leak can do and how our emergency planning works. We also know now that we need to work on being included in decisions on cleanup and future safety planning."
Positive outcomes
All parties seem to be working together and there were positive outcomes, he noted. They included the county's being invited to participate in daily briefings about the cleanup, local landowners meeting face-to-face with Empco and federal agencies, and Empco and EPA holding public meetings. "The people now know what to expect from the public response system," Kennedy said.
He added, however, that when he met with county officials from across the country the previous week at a National Association of Counties meeting, commissioners from the Gulf Coast particularly said that policies are needed to strengthen the involvement of counties in responses under the Oil Pollution Act.
The situation has improved in Yellowstone County, he told OGJ on July 26. "I met with representatives from EPA and the state DEQ when I got back, and we've been working with the unified teams. They're acknowledging our role and contributions, and it's working better," Kennedy said.
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