Mont. looks for Exxon oil on river; 1 site clean

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) ? Montana officials said Wednesday that they are investigating several sites with suspected oil left over from an Exxon Mobil Corp. pipeline break last year, but recent testing shows one such site just downstream of the spill to be crude-free.

The July 1 accident spilled an estimated 1,500 barrels of crude, or 63,000 gallons, into the Yellowstone River near Laurel.

In recent weeks, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks workers have found sheens or other evidence of oil at several sites downstream of the spill, said agency spokesman Bob Gibson.

Department of Environmental Quality scientist Laura Alvey said that includes a sheen she saw last week on an island east of Laurel. She said there was "no question" the sheen came from oil.

However, recent tests on water and sediment samples at another site, a riverfront residence near Laurel, were negative for crude contamination.

Homeowner Jim Swanson had contacted the DEQ after seeing sheens along the river. His property suffered extensive contamination last year, which Exxon workers attempted to remove as part of an estimated $135 million in cleanup and pipeline repair work.

The company recovered an estimated 1 percent of the oil spilled.

"I was looking at Mr. Swanson as a worst-case scenario and thinking if (the sample results) came back dirty, we would have to do more work or have Exxon go out and do more work," Alvey said.

That could still happen if the sites with suspected oil identified by Fish, Wildlife and Parks are confirmed for contamination. Gibson said it is uncertain when the test results will come back.

As part of a settlement over state water pollution law violations, Exxon is obliged to do any additional cleanup work that is necessary. However, government regulators and the company already have agreed that much of the remaining contamination should be left in place to naturally degrade.

Exxon is monitoring 45 such sites along the river to gauge whether that is working, Alvey said.

Swanson welcomed the news that there were no toxic compounds in the sheens found on his property, but said it "boggles my mind" that they could be from something other than oil.

Swanson said he can still see rings of degraded oil around trees and rocks on his property and oil in brush that was left to break down naturally.

"The fact remains they only recovered 1 percent," Swanson said. "There's still an ugliness there but at least it's not toxic and at least it's going away."

Additional lab tests are pending on fish collected from the river last month. Evidence of oil was found in some fish last year, but officials said it was not at high enough levels to pose a threat to people who might eat them.

The latest round of tests is meant to determine if there were any residual effects on fish that came into contact with oil.

Although the oil itself likely would have worked its way through a fish's system, Gibson said, a fish still "may have liver problems or gall bladder problems, some residual damage that would indicate petroleum hydrocarbons."

That information will be used in part to determine how much Exxon will be asked to pay to cover natural resource damages from the spill. The investigation into those damages could take years to complete and is separate from the DEQ cleanup-related work.

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