A Shell station in Carrollton only has premium grade to offer drivers.
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Colonial, which has not said what caused the leak, resumed repairs on Friday after vapors delayed work and it projects a full restart by this week.
According to reports, a spill happened in a part of the pipeline in Helena, a rural part of Birmingham, Ala. The pipeline which runs from Houston to NY had a 250,000-gallon leak last week in Alabama.
Gas prices have jumped in six states across the Southeast after a pipeline leak in Alabama forced a shutdown that created major fuel shortages.
Drivers in Atlanta found some pumps completely dry or they had to pay 20 cents more because, according to a sign on the pump, the gas had to be pulled from Savannah. It’s building a temporary bypass line around the leaking segment.
Colonial operates seven “stublines”, or shorter pipelines from Atlanta that transport gasoline to places like south Georgia, Nashville and Knoxville.
Colonial Pipeline assured customers and outlets that gasoline has either been delivered or is en route to stations in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina.
In Youngsville, Michelle Bowers tried three stations that had sold out before discovering gas at the Harris Teeter in Wake Forest on Monday.
“I just came in to town so this is shocking to me”, said Gina Dorman, as she filled up her almost empty tank.
It’s not yet known when the spill actually started, but company officials said at least 250,000 gallons of gas spilled as a result of the leak. To help alleviate the gridlock, the Wilmington Police Department closed the southbound lane of South Front Street from Castle Street to Greenfield Street for much of Monday afternoon to allow tankers to park while waiting to be loaded. Its statement Monday did not say when that temporary pipeline is expected to be running.
The Carolinas are seeing temporarily higher prices due to a pipeline disruption moving shipments from the Gulf Coast, AAA Carolinas said Monday.
Colonial continues trucking and re-supplying gasoline to the areas that need it.
AAA Mid-Atlantic said Monday that seasonal gas price savings “stalled”, reporting that the cost per gallon rose five cents since September 16. It was unclear if the outages were a result of crimped supply or a run on gas by anxious drivers.
Nationally, the average price of gasoline has barely moved: $2.18 a gallon a week ago, $2.20 a gallon today, said GasBuddy.
Knoxville- $2.02, up 6.5 cents per gallon from last week’s $1.96.
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In Lexington, the average is up 14 cents from last week, but it is 13 cents lower than this time a year ago.
