AAA’s Garrett Townsend tells us that prices statewide have increased in the past week but that Savannah area prices should still be “about $2.13 per gallon for regular unleaded”.
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Many gas stations in Cherokee County have since run out of gas or raised gas prices and officials are urging residents to use their fuel wisely.
The pipeline runs from Houston to NY and carries gasoline to the eastern part of the United States. On Sunday, in Raleigh, the Sheetz on Atlantic Avenue was completely out of gas while a nearby Shell only had 93 octane. At others that still had gas, cars were lined up – even for premium.
Colonial Pipeline went on to state: “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”. Tennessee Emergency Management Director Patrick Sheehan tried to reassure drivers. If a station is charging $2.15 or $2.25, they are overcharging for fuel.
Including the change in gas prices in Arizona during the past week, prices yesterday were 28.4 cents per gallon lower than the same day one year ago and are 7.8 cents per gallon higher than a month ago.
In metro Atlanta, Jim Altman had about a 1/3 of a tank left and said the first two gas stations he tried near his home had no gas. Signs were posted on their pumps over the weekend, explaining the shortage. Now he says he’ll think twice before deciding whether he needs to use his auto. “The pipe line should be repaired by the end of the week, so within a week or week and a half we should be back to business as usual”, said Ingram.
“We want to remind motorists that this issue is temporary and to continue normal habits at the pump”, said AAA Carolinas Public Relations Manager Tiffany Wright.
The problems so far don’t appear severe.
In response to the shutdown, the governors in Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee announced they would lift restrictions on the number of hours that truck drivers delivering fuel can work, in hopes of preventing fuel shortages.
Alpharetta, Ga. -based Colonial has acknowledged that between 252,000 gallons and 336,000 gallons of gasoline leaked from a pipeline near Helena, Ala., since the spill was first detected September 9. The company says spilled gasoline is being taken to the storage facility for. They have been working “around the clock” to get the system working again.
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The closure has set off an industry-wide scramble as suppliers seek alternative ways to transport gasoline to the East Coast.
