Although Kentucky doesn’t get a supply from this pipeline, leaders at AAA said that prices locally could be bumped, costing drivers more to top off their tank.
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Tanker trucks line up at a Colonial Pipeline Co. facility in Pelham, Ala., near the scene of a 250,000-gallon gasoline spill on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016. Clerks there said they weren’t sure when more gas would be available.
However, his concerns about any shortage or unavailability of fuel now lies with not being able to minister to those who are homebound or hospitalized should area gas station reserves run dry.
The fix work should be completed shortly and then we can enjoy the lower fall prices. “It’s not like the Carolinas where they’re driving five hours to get gas”.
That’s 30 cents higher from last week. Gas prices spiked and drivers found “out of service” bags covering pumps as the gas shorta.
“It changes overnight sometimes that much”, he said.
Gov. Robert Bentley planned to tour the site Monday before being briefed on the response and remediation efforts by officials from Colonial Pipeline, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management and the Alabama Emergency Management Agency.
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. Some southeastern states served by the pipeline – such as Georgia and North and SC – are seeing gas prices increase.
Average retail gasoline prices in Alabama have risen 7.3 cents per gallon in the past week, averaging $2.01 per gallon Sunday, according to GasBuddy’s daily survey of 3,348 gas outlets in Alabama.
Prices of a gallon of gas have increased 14.4 cents in North Carolina; 16.3 cents in SC; 9 cents in Alabama; and 7.7 cents in Virginia.
“Oh, yeah, I’ve noticed that the prices have just gone up – I mean, through the roof!”
The closure has set off an industry-wide scramble as suppliers seek alternative ways to transport gasoline to the East Coast.
Including the change in gas prices in IL during the past week, prices are 19 cents a gallon lower than one year ago and 3 cents lower than a month ago. “We already see they’re running out of gas in South Carolina”, Waye said.
The leak, which was discovered on September 9, has released about 6,000 to 8,000 barrels of gasoline in Shelby County, Alabama, and thrown the gasoline market into a tizzy in the past week, with East Coast and futures prices increasing and Gulf Coast prices weakening significantly.
Colonial Pipeline showed this map below, indicating its two main gas supply lines (1 and 2) and the terminals they deliver gas to. The following day, the governor issued a second executive order that waives additional trucking restrictions and protects consumers from price gouging at the pumps.
The spill itself resulted in 336,000 gallons of leaked gas and the shutdown of the pipeline. Still, some motorists discovered bone-dry pumps.
“I’m definitely on empty, so I’m going to have to figure something out”, she said. It’s unclear when the spill actually started.
Colonial Pipeline said it does not expect to fully reopen its primary gasoline pipeline until next week. The cause of the leak has yet to be determined.
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People with the pipeline said it would construct a temporary one which will bypass the damaged section.
