[4] Exxon's Pegasus pipeline carries 95,000 barrels per day (15,100 m3/d) of crude a distance of 850 miles (1,368 km) from Patoka, Illinois to Nederland, Texas.

[5] On April 2, 2013, PHMSA, the federal pipeline regulator, issued a corrective action order until repairs have been completed and all safety concerns addressed.

It was built in two segments between 1947-1954 as an oil pipeline, which shipped products from Corsicana Texas, both north for industrial uses, and south to Gulf Coast refineries.

In his response on April 10, Richard Byrne, Exxon's assistant chief attorney of environmental and safety law stated: "Canadian producers report their production of Wabasca Heavy as bitumen.

First responders, including fire fighters, city employees, county road crews and police built dikes to block culverts and stop the crude from fouling the lake.

[3] On April 10, UPI reported that around 5,000 barrels (210,000 US gal; 790 m3) of oil were spilled but quoted Exxon as saying that the final volume would not be known until after the pipeline was repaired and refilled.

[2] On April 1, 2013, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it was closing the airspace from the ground to 1,000 feet (300 m) over the disaster area; the restriction spanned a 5-mile (8.0 km) radius.

[13] The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported that the FAA's restriction stated "only relief aircraft operations under direction of Tom Suhrhoff" were permitted to enter the designated airspace.

"[22] Exxon reported detecting benzene and other harmful chemicals in early sampling at Mayflower but said air and water quality was within safe limits.

However, the report, released by the Faulkner Citizens Advisory Group, said residents were still showing symptoms of exposure to harmful chemicals, including benzene and toluene, more than four weeks after the spill.

The article notes that a report from the Canadian Energy Pipeline Association, put together by oil and gas consultancy Penspen, argues that "diluted bitumen is no more corrosive than other heavy crude.

[24] On July 22, 2013, InsideClimate News and the Arkansas Times announced that a crowdfunding initiative had amassed over $25,000 to fund two reporters to investigate the causes and consequences of the spill.

The Inside Climate News article stated: "That leaves two critical questions unanswered: Did Exxon manage and test its broken Pegasus pipeline according to established guidelines?

McGowan was part of the InsideClimate News team that won the 2013 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for its coverage of the 2010 Kalamazoo River oil spill.

Commenting about ExxonMobil, McDaneil added: "I think that they have done a really good job with response and cleanup, but then they break the law when they store the stuff that they removed from the site."

The company had stored materials, including soil, water, concrete and wood chips, in large barrels at a company-owned site nearby.

[27] Since that time, in addition to the State action file by the Attorney General, a mass action has been filed by two law firms in Arkansas state court in Faulkner County, Arkansas: Johnson & Vines[28] (member of the American Injury Attorney Group)[29] and partnering firm, Hare, Wynn, Newell & Newton.