An oil spill on the Yellowstone River, which runs through one of America's most famous national parks, has communities and environmentalists concerned about the consequences of building oil pipelines through the northern U.S. from Canada.
About 42,000 gallons of crude oil leaked out of an Exxon Mobil pipeline where it crossed under the Yellowstone River near Laurel, Montana. The oil company is still unsure what caused the accident, although some people speculate that water runoff from a big snow melt could have eroded soil covering the pipeline and exposed it to damage.
Those same flood waters from the snow melt are carrying the oil far from where the leak originated, onto farmers' and ranchers' lands. One rancher says he now has to make sure his livestock doesn't drink the polluted water.
Residents of towns near the spill attended meetings hosted by the Environmental Protection Agency and expressed their concern about what could happen to them and the land they live on as a result of the spill.
"I want to know, is this going to be like Agent Orange in Vietnam and, five years from now, my lungs are going to go haywire on me? I want to know that right now," said one resident.
Quotes
"And these aren't the kind of headlines people want in Montana. This isn't the way we like to talk about our state." - Kendall Van Dyk, Montana State Senator
"If it takes anywhere from six weeks to a year to a year-and-a-half, whatever it takes, we want to make sure that all of this area and the landowners that are affected are happy with the results." - Bill Kennedy, Yellowstone County Commission
Warm Up Questions
1. Where is Yellowstone National Park? What is it famous for?
2. What is an oil pipeline? What is its function?
3. What do humans use oil for?
Discussion Questions
1. According to the video, what inconveniences is this oil spill causing for people living near the Yellowstone River?
2. How is this oil spill similar to and different from the BP oil spill that happened in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010?
3. If you lived in a community near where an oil spill happened, what do you think you would be most concerned about? Why?
4. Do you think the oil pipeline project from Canada mentioned at the end of the video should move forward despite this oil spill? Why or why not?
Additional Resources
Lesson Plan: Capping and Cleaning Up the Oil Spill
