ATLANTA (AP) – A main gas line is expected to restart Wednesday with a temporary bypass after a leak and spill in Alabama led to surging fuel prices and some gas shortages across the South, a company official said Tuesday. The leak, which spilled 250,000 gallons of gasoline into a detention pond, was detected September 9.
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Colonial announced Saturday they would build the bypass segment around the leak rather than waiting for the fumes to dissipate and the gasoline to be pumped out of a mining retention pond, where they say most of it gathered.
The average price for a gallon of regular gasoline in Valdosta, Ga., Saturday was $2.02, unchanged from seven days earlier, according to AAA’s Daily Fuel Gauge Report.
AAA Mid-Atlantic said Monday that seasonal gas price savings “stalled”, reporting that the cost per gallon rose five cents since September 16.
But it will take several days for gas to reach stations, easing shortages and bringing relief to higher prices in some of the 13 states served by the line.
The biggest refined products system in the US restarted parts of the line a few days after a leak was discovered on September 9. It said “In an effort to minimize supply disruptions, last week Colonial Pipeline gathered gasoline from Gulf Coast refiners in order to ship supplies on its distillate line to markets throughout the affected region”.
The preliminary report does not identify the cause as the federal investigation continues.
In Robeson County, many gas stations had bags or “Out of Order” signs covering some or all of their pumps.
“Gas prices in Virginia rose eight cents per gallon on average since Friday of last week and will likely continue to rise until the pipeline issue is resolved”, said Tammy Arnette, Senior Public Affairs Specialist for AAA.
“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 company said it has more than 700 employees and partners on site working on correcting the leak.
Since 2006, the company has reported 178 spills and other incidents that released a combined 193,000 gallons of hazardous liquids and caused $39 million in property damage.
Colonial Pipeline announced Tuesday morning that the bypass segment it announced late Saturday is complete and that they are now conducting structural integrity tests following a leak in a major pipeline in Alabama that provides fuel throughout the South and along the East Coast.
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A QuikTrip spokesman says 21 of their 37 stores in the Charlotte, North Carolina area were out of unleaded gas Monday afternoon.
