Who gains from saving nature
Ledger 1 : 33 — For each dollar financing nature-based solutions in 2023, about $33 financed activities harmful to nature. (UNEP)
Cases / Pipeline · United States · 2020–2025

Satartia CO2 pipeline rupture (Mississippi)

Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 2 none on record · 1 insufficient · 1 not measured · 2 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps

On 22 February 2020 a landslide ruptured a carbon dioxide pipeline near Satartia, Mississippi. More than 200 people were evacuated and at least 45 were taken to hospital.

200+ / 45+People evacuated / taken to hospital
Counts reported by NPR (2023). Denbury told investors that no injuries to local residents were reported.

Status As of January 2025: PHMSA proposed a further $2.4 million penalty against Denbury and its contractor; ExxonMobil, which acquired Denbury in 2023, said it was evaluating next steps; the outcome of the residents' lawsuit was not found.

What?
A landslide ruptured the Delta carbon dioxide pipeline near Satartia, Mississippi; more than 200 people were evacuated and at least 45 taken to hospital.
Where?
Satartia, Yazoo County, Mississippi, United States; the line ran from the Jackson Dome to the Tinsley oil field.
When?
22 February 2020, in the evening, after days of rain.
Who?
Gained
  • ExxonMobil — Acquired Denbury, owner of the Delta pipeline, in November 2023 for $4.9 billion, with more than 1,300 miles of CO2 pipeline and more than 200 million barrels of reserves. ExxonMobil
Lost
None on record
Harmed
  • Residents of Satartia and the surrounding area — More than 200 evacuated; at least 45 taken to hospital; three men found unconscious in a car lived on oxygen for months and one still had symptoms three years later.
Why?
A landslide moved the soil and pulled the pipe from a weld, according to NPR and HuffPost.
How?
The 24-inch pipe, built in 2007 to carry natural carbon dioxide for oil recovery, was torn at a weld and released a cloud of carbon dioxide; the company did not alert local responders for more than 40 minutes.
6 of 6 questions answered from the record

What happened

The record, in order.

Satartia is a village in Yazoo County, Mississippi, with 42 residents and about 250 more living around it, according to HuffPost (2021). A carbon dioxide pipeline owned by Denbury, called the Delta line, ran past it. Built in 2007, the 24-inch line carried carbon dioxide extracted from the Jackson Dome, a natural reservoir in an extinct volcano beneath the city of Jackson, to the Tinsley oil field, where it was used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR): carbon dioxide injected into an ageing oil field to push out remaining oil. HuffPost reported that the line did not carry carbon dioxide captured from an industrial plant, but is the same kind of line as those planned for carbon capture in the United States; citing a Princeton study, it wrote that US carbon dioxide pipelines could grow from about 5,000 miles to 65,000 miles by 2050.

On the evening of 22 February 2020, after days of rain, a landslide pulled the pipe apart at a weld. A man returning from fishing with his brother and cousin heard a blast and saw a white cloud; the three lost consciousness in their car from carbon dioxide. A fire coordinator, Jerry Briggs, and his crew found the three men unconscious and got them to hospital (NPR, 2023). All three lived on oxygen tanks for months. Three years later, NPR reported, the man still had headaches, difficulty concentrating and muscle tremors, could not do his construction and timber work, and took medication for anxiety attacks. HuffPost reported that his cousin could not return to work and that a 14-year-old lost consciousness and had worse asthma afterwards.

NPR reported that more than 200 people were evacuated and at least 45 were taken to hospital. The company's control centre saw the pressure loss immediately but did not alert local emergency services; Denbury confirmed the incident only after a local official called the company, more than 40 minutes after the rupture, and early 911 calls led dispatchers to think it was a natural gas leak (NPR, 2023; HuffPost, 2021). The Yazoo County emergency director, Jack Willingham, said that if the wind had blown the other way, or if people had been asleep, there would have been deaths (as quoted by NationofChange, 2021). At an investor meeting in 2020, Denbury said no injuries to local residents had been reported in connection with the leak (HuffPost, 2021).

The federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) proposed a $3.9 million penalty; Denbury paid $2.8 million without admitting the violations (NPR, 2023; Inside Climate News, 2025). Denbury filed for bankruptcy about five months after the rupture (HuffPost, 2021). ExxonMobil completed its acquisition of Denbury on 2 November 2023 for $4.9 billion; the assets included more than 1,300 miles of carbon dioxide pipeline, production of about 46,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day and more than 200 million barrels of reserves. The man, his brother and cousin and others sued the company; NPR reported the outcome could not be found. In January 2025 PHMSA proposed a new $2.4 million penalty against Denbury and its contractor because weld tests on the re-laid pipe were carried out without inspectors present; ExxonMobil said it was evaluating appropriate next steps (Inside Climate News, 2025).

  1. 2007Delta pipeline built to carry natural carbon dioxide from the Jackson Dome to the Tinsley oil field
  2. 2020Landslide ruptures the 24-inch pipe near Satartia (22 February); more than 200 evacuated, at least 45 hospitalised; Denbury files for bankruptcy about five months later
  3. 2023ExxonMobil completes $4.9 billion acquisition of Denbury (2 November); NPR reports on survivors three years on
  4. 2025PHMSA proposes a new $2.4 million penalty over weld testing on the re-laid pipe (January)

What was said

Claims, in the words of those who made them.

Where accounts differ

Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.

Were local residents injured?
Company or project
Denbury

At a 2020 investor meeting, said no injuries to local residents were reported in connection with the leak.

Press and investigations
NPR

More than 200 people were evacuated and at least 45 were taken to hospital.

Government and regulators
Jack Willingham, Yazoo County emergency director

Said that with a different wind direction, or had people been asleep, there would have been deaths.

Did Denbury violate pipeline safety rules?
Government and regulators
PHMSA

Proposed a $3.9 million penalty.

Company or project
Denbury

Paid $2.8 million without admitting the violations.

How it looked

What was shown, beside what was recorded.

Shown

  • No injuries to local residents were reported in connection with the leak.
    Denbury, at a 2020 investor meeting (as reported by HuffPost, 2021)

Recorded

  • More than 200 people were evacuated and at least 45 were taken to hospital.
  • Three men found unconscious in a car were taken to hospital; all three lived on oxygen tanks for months.
  • The control centre saw the pressure loss immediately but did not alert local emergency services; the incident was confirmed after more than 40 minutes, when a local official called the company.
  • The Yazoo County emergency director said that had the wind blown the other way or people been asleep, there would have been deaths.
  • PHMSA proposed a $3.9 million penalty; Denbury paid $2.8 million without admitting the violations.
  • ExxonMobil completed the $4.9 billion acquisition of Denbury, with more than 1,300 miles of CO2 pipeline, on 2 November 2023.
    ExxonMobil

Who gained

Money that reached nature, beside money that stayed elsewhere.

Reached nature or the ground

Not published
No figure published.

Gained elsewhere

Not totalled
Currency: USD · Window: 2020–2025. All figures cover the same period. * Estimate built from cited figures.

Responses on record

  • denbury (2020): Said no injuries to local residents had been reported in connection with the leak.
  • denbury (2023 report): Paid $2.8 million to PHMSA without admitting the violations.
  • exxon (January 2025): Said it was evaluating appropriate next steps after PHMSA's January 2025 penalty proposal.

In court and with insurers

Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.

Lawsuits and rulings

  1. Settled$2.8m Paid by Denbury (USD m); $3.9m was proposed
    PHMSA enforcement against Denbury over the 2020 rupture
    Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration · Administrative · PHMSA → Denbury

    PHMSA proposed a $3.9 million penalty; Denbury paid $2.8 million without admitting the violations.

  2. Outcome not on record
    Residents v. Denbury
    Not stated in the record · Civil · A man, his brother and cousin, and other residents → Denbury

    Residents sued the company; NPR (2023) reported the outcome could not be found.

  3. 2025-01–Ongoing$2.4m Proposed penalty (USD m)
    PHMSA proposed penalty over weld testing on the re-laid pipe
    Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration · Administrative · PHMSA → Denbury and its contractor

    PHMSA proposed a $2.4 million penalty because weld tests on the re-laid pipe were carried out without inspectors; ExxonMobil said it was evaluating appropriate next steps.

Insurers

No insurer decision on record.

What nature saw

Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.

Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.

People evacuated
200+
As reported by NPR (2023)
People taken to hospital
45+
At least; reported by NPR (2023)
Delay before the incident was confirmed to local officials
40+ min
After a local official called the company, per NPR (2023)

What we don't know

Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Case pending / contested

Nature

  • Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.

Court

  • Unclear Residents v. Denbury: outcome not on record.

Accounts

  • Disputed Were local residents injured?
  • Disputed Did Denbury violate pipeline safety rules?

Record

  • None on record Outcome of the residents' lawsuit against Denbury: NPR (2023) reported it could not be found.
  • None on record No record found of company executives being prosecuted personally.
  • Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: experts disagree whether hydrogen sulfide or carbon dioxide caused the illnesses; this comes.

Did the harm stop?

The rupture was a single event on 22 February 2020. A January 2025 PHMSA proposal concerns weld testing on the re-laid pipe.

Who paid?

Residents bore the physical harm; Denbury paid $2.8 million to PHMSA; the outcome of the residents' lawsuit is not recorded.

Sources

Voices on record: ✓ Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers

Company or project

Connected cases

Related matters, and cases linked to this one through the same organisations, with the role each played in both.
Terms used on this page

Bonds and banking

Liquidation, insolvency, bankruptcy
Legal processes that apply when a company cannot pay its debts; its assets are sold and claims against it may go unpaid.

Law and courts

Arbitration
A private dispute process in which an appointed arbitrator, instead of a court, decides the case.
Plea
In a criminal case, the defendant's formal answer to a charge. A plea agreement settles a case with a guilty plea on agreed terms.
Punitive damages
Money a court orders a defendant to pay to punish especially reckless conduct, on top of compensation for losses. Mainly used in US courts.
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