Arkansas Probing Oil Spill

ExxonMobil pipeline released thousands of gallons, forcing the evacuation of 22 homes

Arkansas opened an investigation into an ExxonMobil pipeline that unleashed thousands of barrels of crude and forced the evacuation of 22 homes, the state's attorney general said Tuesday.

The spill comes weeks before what is expected to be a raucous public hearing on the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, a $5.3-billion project to bring oil from Canada's tar sands all the way to refineries in the US state of Texas.

ExxonMobil said its vacuum trucks had collected about 12,000 barrels of oil and sullied water and that crews have begun digging up oil-soaked soil and plants.