Colonial operates a parallel pipeline adjacent to Line #1.
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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. The company expects to restart its main gasoline line tomorrow.
Even though Colonial expects to resume full-service this week, it will take several days for the delivery supply chain to return to normal, which means there is still a shortage threat for our area.
Colonial Pipeline Co. was ordered by the U.S. Department of Transportation to “take corrective action before the fuel starts flowing again”, and the company said it was constructing a temporary pipeline to bypass the leak.
The leak, which was discovered on September 9, released about 6,000 to 8,000 barrels (252,000-336,000 gallons) of gasoline in Shelby County, Alabama.
In the Chattanooga, Tennessee, area, the price of regular gas jumped 6 cents in one day, AAA reported.
States of emergency have been declared in Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia with prices jumping as much 16 cents in Georgia and and 10 cents in Tennessee in the last week, according to Auto Club. South Carolina’s regular gas rose almost 4 cents from Monday to Tuesday, and almost 18 cents from a week ago.
A company spokesman said testing is now being done on the line.
“The price of fuel fluctuates with the world market daily, so it has changed this time due to the freight and time spent to locate and load fuel”, Woodcock said.
“It’s fantastic to see how quickly everybody has reacted”, Bentley said.
Hundreds of Colonial employees and contractors have been working around the clock to respond to the spill, but hazardous fumes from the spilled gasoline limited the response activities around the site of the leak. And as the weather gets colder, she added, demand for gas lessens, which should provide further price relief at the pump.
Robeson residents panicking over the prospect of a gasoline shortage can exhale.
“Let me say first how really impressed I am with Colonial”, Governor Robert Bentley said.
McCrory issued a state of emergency on Thursday, Sept. 15, that temporarily waived hours of service restrictions on fuel trucks. “Tennessee has seen an increase of 13 cents, SC 13 cents and North Carolina 11 cents as well”.
The report does not identify the cause of the leak.
Each day, Colonial Pipeline delivers more than 100 million gallons of refined products, including gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, home heating oil and fuels for the USA military, to markets between Houston and New York City.
The pipeline that created the concern runs from Texas to NY and supplies an estimated 40 percent of the region’s gasoline supply.
From an ecological standpoint, the spill couldn’t have happened at a better place or time because the terrain funneled the fuel into the pond and the water was low enough in the small lake to enable it to hold the gas, said Butler, of Cahaba Riverkeeper.
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The pipeline system runs from Houston to Linden, New Jersey. Most were caused by problems with materials, welding or some other equipment failure, according to federal records.
