Giving Compass' Take:

• David Hasemyer covers the affects of Exxon's oil pipeline burst in Mayflower Arkansas, and how much of the information is kept from the public.

• How can transparency on the health affects of this bursting pipeline help climate advocates?

• Read about weakened safety rules for offshore drilling.

It was March 29, 2013. Few in Mayflower will ever forget it. As Hays ran her errands, ExxonMobil's Pegasus pipeline, which ran beneath this small town, burst without warning along a defective 22-foot seam, spewing 210,000 gallons of heavy Canadian crude oil diluted with large quantities of harmful solvents onto quiet residential streets.

Hundreds of people in this working class community of about 2,000 near Little Rock reported being sickened by an odor that was almost thick enough to feel. Residents soon began to complain about grinding headaches, diarrhea, swollen eyes, dry heaves and burning lungs.

Hays is among more than two dozen Mayflower residents who described their symptoms and their anxiety in depositions that were sealed as part of a 2017 settlement with Exxon but obtained by InsideClimate News.

The depositions, along with other court documents, provide the most complete account to date of the health impacts of the oil spill, which in some respects has remained shrouded in secrecy because the federal agency in charge of pipeline oversight restricted the public's access to the information, and because of the confidentiality agreements Exxon demanded in exchange for the settlements.

An environmental consultant hired by the plaintiffs' lawyers, whose report is part of the court file, concluded that those nearby residents faced "significant risks" after being exposed to a cocktail of chemicals, including benzene, a known carcinogen; cyclohexane; naphthalene; and toluene. His findings have not previously been reported.

Public access to both the sealed depositions and to the more extensive health record from the Pegasus spill in Mayflower are critical as tar sands oil becomes more prevalent among the U.S. energy mix, including in the fuels sold by Exxon.

Read the full article about devastating affects 6 years after oil pipeline burst by David Hasemyer at Inside Climate News.