Yellowstone Oil Spill disaster 63,000 barrels 240 miles estimated

ExxonMobil and the Obama administration faced a growing credibility gap on Thursday over their management of a pipeline break that has fouled the Yellowstone river.

Clean-up crews have yet to reach the site of the pipeline break nearly a week after the rupture, which leaked 42,000 US gallons (159,000 litres) of oil into the Yellowstone, one of the last undammed rivers left in America. State officials in Montana criticised oil company executives for offering conflicting accounts of the pipeline breach and its safety record.

SkyTruth, which came to prominence last year for satellite maps tracking the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, has also questioned Exxon's initial estimates of the size of the leak. SkyTruth's founder, John Amos, said his calculations suggested a leak of 63,000 US gallons, or nearly half again as much as Exxon's estimate of about 42,000 US gallons.

Environmental organisations, meanwhile, accused federal government regulators of failing to ensure safe operation of the pipeline until it was too late.