Time Magazine Reroutes Yellowstone River...Or Did It Move the National Park?

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on July 12, 2011 - 8:26am

Errors are part of life. Lord knows we've made them from time to time.

But you'd hope that the factcheckers at Time magazine would have a better grasp of either the facts or geography when they touch on an oil pipeline leak in Montana.

In the magazine's latest issue, the editors make a passing mention of the Exxon Mobil pipeline leak near Billings, Montana, that has dumped an estimated 1,000 barrels of oil into the Yellowstone River. Unfortunately, apparently no one glanced at a map of Montana before signing off on the blurb, as the leak occurred roughly 180 miles downstream of Yellowstone National Park.

Here's how the magazine mentioned the incident in its "Briefing" section:

42,000

Gallons of crude oil spilled into the Yellowstone River after a pipeline burst in Montana; rising water levels complicated the cleanup in the national park.

At last check, the river hasn't reversed direction.