In Alabama Gov. Bentley said gas prices in parts of the state rose 20 cents over the weekend after a pipeline leak but he didn’t consider that price gouging.
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The effects of the Colonial Pipeline leak in Alabama were felt all the way in Morganton, as some local stations ran out of fuel as residents lined up to fill their tanks.
“We certainly expect the gas prices to increase, certainly while this line is under fix and not at full capacity”, AAA spokesman Garrett Townsend said Monday. The pipeline runs from Houston to NY and though the impact so far to New Jersey has been minor, gas prices have started to go up across the East as the supply becomes more limited.
AAA Carolinas said the average price for a gallon in North Carolina was $2.16 – up from $2.05 last week.
But the repairs and restart process on the pipeline were nearly complete on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press, and one GasBuddy petroleum analyst says that means fuel supply will return to normal within the next week or so.
Areas nearby Minnesota and their current gas price climate: Wisconsin-$2.18/g, down 0.9 cents per gallon from last week’s $2.19/g.
ATLANTA (AP) – Gasoline should begin flowing again Wednesday – through a temporary bypass on a critical pipeline – after a major leak in Alabama forced a shutdown that led to surging fuel prices and scattered gas shortages across the South, a company official said Tuesday.
“It changes overnight sometimes that much”, he said.
Alabama state workers discovered the leak September 9 when they noticed a strong gasoline odor and sheen on a man-made retention pond, along with dead vegetation, according to a report by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration part of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The shut-down of the pipeline led to dry pumps at gas stations in Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas.
A disaster drill was held coincidentally past year near the scene of the spill, he said, and that helped the company plan and execute a response that included about 700 people so far. At $2.361 per gallon of regular gasoline, the cost of fuel has risen by more than 25 cents in a week, compared with an increase of just over 3 cents nationwide, according to motorist advocacy group AAA.
The cause of the leak remains unknown. Further recovery efforts and assessment will continue with pond two and the adjacent pond three, as will additional remediation activity working in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Alabama Department of Environmental Management (ADEM) and the Cahaba River Keeper.
The pipe that failed is one of two Colonial lines connecting dozens of refineries in Texas and Louisiana with cities from Atlanta to NY.
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Colonial Pipeline, headquartered in Alpharetta, Georgia, says the company “transports more barrels of refined petroleum products more miles than any other pipeline in the world”. Usually running at full capacity, it provides almost 40 percent of the Southeast and East Coast region’s gasoline. In South Carolina, a gallon was selling for an average of $2.04. Most were caused by problems with materials, welding or some other equipment failure, according to federal records.
