[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 57 (Tuesday, April 8, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E551]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING JIMMY JOE JOHNSON

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. TIM GRIFFIN

                              of arkansas

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 8, 2014

  Mr. GRIFFIN of Arkansas. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize Jimmy 
Joe Johnson, whose quick thinking, expertise, and determination helped 
save Lake Conway from free flowing crude oil on March 29, 2013, when 
the ExxonMobil Pegasus Pipeline ruptured.
   Jimmy Joe has been the Mayflower Street Department Supervisor for 15 
years. His swift plan of action helped protect a critical natural 
resource in central Arkansas. Along with a crew of city, county and 
local volunteers, he deployed every resource available, including dump 
trucks and backhoes to construct a barricade that isolated the surging 
oil.
   Racing against time, they first plugged a pair of 48-inch metal 
pipes that isolated the oil to a 30-acre cove beside Lake Conway, a 
6,700-acre body of water.
   He then instructed his crew to create a dike the length of a 
football field with gravel and pipes, allowing the oil to pool where it 
could be removed with vacuums and skimmers. By the time rain began 
falling that evening, the Mayflower Street Department had exhausted a 
supply of 75 tons of gravel.
   Lake Conway was created by an Arkansas conservation agency and is 
the largest man-made lake in the United States. It is renowned for its 
catfish, crappie, bluegill, and bass. The lake is approximately eight 
miles long with 52 miles of shoreline.
   Jimmy Joe claims that he did what anyone else would have done during 
the oil spill, but his swift actions demonstrated a tremendous amount 
of excellence and leadership in the midst of a crisis.
   On behalf of Arkansans and Americans everywhere, I honor Jimmy Joe 
Johnson and his entire crew for their heroic actions.

                          ____________________