In fact, some folks in the Deep South are seeing flashbacks to the 70s, with shortages and outages at the pump, thanks to a pipeline rupture in Shelby County, in central Alabama. Prices were up 4 cents in North Carolina to $2.136 and 4 cents in SC to $2.011.
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The U.S. Department of Transportation has ordered the company responsible to take corrective action before the fuel starts flowing again, according to the AP.
The department’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Agency is investigating the spill.
Meanwhile, retail prices continued to spike on Saturday, according to motorists’ advocacy group AAA, and states, including Tennessee and North Carolina, joined others in temporarily waiving rules related to fuel transport to allow faster delivery of gasoline to filling stations.
As much as 336,000 gallons of gasoline is estimated to have spilled from the 36-inch pipeline since September 9, when a leak was discovered by an inspector for the Alabama Surface Mining Commission who was performing a routine check at an inactive coal mine.
Needless to say, the ruptured pipeline has created waves throughout the South.
“We are confident these measures will help ensure Georgians’ uninterrupted access to motor fuel until Alabama’s pipeline is fixed”, Deal said in a statement. It’s unclear when the spill began.
A spokeswoman for Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said Friday that he’s in communication with pipeline company officials along with state and federal officials assisting at the spill location.
“The analysts that we’ve spoken to really say there’s enough gas supply available; however, it’s tightened up a little bit, so it’s gonna take a little longer for those trucks getting to the stations, filling back up and that gasoline being available for motorists”, Garrett Townsend said.
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Colonial Pipeline Company announced late Saturday it has received the necessary approvals from federal regulators to build a “bypass line” around the leak in rural central Alabama on Line 1, the major fuel supply artery for the east coast. Colonial said that supply disruptions would be felt first in Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and SC.
