A section of the Colonial Pipeline, which runs from Houston to NY, has been closed since September 9 after a spill of roughly 250,000 gallons was discovered in rural Shelby County, Ala. The company says spilled gasoline is being taken to the storage facility for storage.
Advertisement
“The top priority of the unified response effort – which includes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other federal, state and local agencies – remains the safety and protection of the public, responders, and the environment”, the Alpharetta-based company said in a statement. It runs through parts of Fauquier, western Prince William and Fairfax counties.
Crews with Colonial Pipeline are continuing to work to fix a gas line break in Alabama that’s disrupted delivery of the fuel to several states along the East Coast.
A massive Colonial Pipeline oil spill in Shelby County, Alabama, caused four states – Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and SC -.
Gov. Nathan Deal signed an order that temporarily allows truckers to stay on the road longer to bring more fuel into Georgia.
Colonial said in addition to its project to bypass Line 1, the company is pumping gasoline in another key pipeline to help relieve disruptions.
Gas prices are up on average 16 cents in Georgia and 10 cents in Tennessee since last weekend, according to AAA.
Gas stations throughout central North Carolina are having to turn away customers because they are out of gas due to the leak in the Colonial Pipeline.
The governors of both Alabama and Georgia have declared a state of emergency. The company doesn’t know when the spill started.
The company has said it is shipping gas on its secondary line to mitigate the service interruption.
“We have focused on the bypass at this time”, Pozin said.
More than 700 people are now working at the site, attempting to excavate and fix the damaged section of pipe as well as construct a temporary line to bypass the leaked section.
However, James Williams of WTRG in London, Arkansas, said the projected timeline for restart is possible, even with testing required by federal authorities.
Advertisement
Coming into this week, U.S. East Coast inventories of total motor gasoline, which includes blending components, was higher seasonally than in the past 10 years, according to the U.S. Energy Department. The disrupted service has already caused gas prices to spike at the pump, driving the cost of fuel up about 15 cents per gallon.
