Spilled crude oil is seen in a drainage ditch near evacuated homes in Mayflower, Arkansas, on Sunday, March 31. An Exxon Mobil pipeline carrying Canadian crude oil ruptured on March 29 causing the evacuation of about two dozen homes. Mayflower residents have filed a class-action lawsuit against the company.
(CNN) -- Residents in Mayflower, Arkansas, have filed a class-action lawsuit against ExxonMobil after a pipeline rupture that allowed thousands of barrels of heavy crude oil to flow into a residential area.
They are seeking more than $5 million in damages.
"This Arkansas class action lawsuit involves the worst crude oil and tar sands spill in Arkansas history," read the lawsuit, which was filed Friday in U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Arkansas.
Exxon Mobil promises to cover oil spill cleanup costs
Rivers of oil in Arkansas town
According to the lawsuit, more than 19,000 barrels were spilled.
ExxonMobil has said that between 3,500 and 5,000 barrels of heavy crude leaked from the ruptured pipeline. It has promised to cover cleanup costs.
Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel opened an investigation into what caused a 2- or 3-inch gash in the underground Pegasus pipeline, which began spewing crude on March 29.
The pipeline carries Canadian crude from Illinois to Texas.
Opinion: Maybe this oil spill will stick
CNN's Joe Sutton contributed to this report.
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Dawson Cove in Mayflower is coated with oil on Saturday, April 6.
Oil covers the water and underbrush in Dawson Cove on April 6.
Workers scrub crude oil from their boots in Mayflower on Monday, April 1.
Emergency crews work near Interstate 40 on March 31.
Emergency crews clean up more of the spill in Mayflower.
Crews clean up in front of evacuated homes on Starlite Road in Mayflower.
A duck from Mayflower is washed at The HAWK Center, a wildlife rehabilitation center.
A duck is cared for at the HAWK Center.
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