State officials have warned it could be the weekend before fuel supplies stabilize and prices start returning to pre-break levels.
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“In this case they are really trying to encourage people not to buy outside their normal pattern”, he said.
At least 252,000 gallons of gasoline spilled from the pipeline into a pond.
PHMSA personnel are on the scene to investigate the cause of the leak as soon as the leaky pipeline can be excavated.
The Colonial Pipeline ends in Linden and is estimated to provide about 40 percent of the gasoline used on the East Coast.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley planned to tour the spill response center Monday afternoon.
Normally the pipeline carries more than one million barrels of gasoline a day, and filling the pipeline back up isn’t as easy as flipping a switch.
Baker said crews have been working around the clock to get fuel to markets, and that it will take a few days for the fuel supply chain to fully recover after the line restarts. Violators can be fined up to $5,000.
Workers say there’s no definite answer on when they will be supplied again, and they expect diesel could run dry here before other grades, which impacts truckers more than others.
“Oh yeah, I’ve noticed that the prices have just gone up, I mean, through the roof!” said Tom Wargo at a gas station northeast of Atlanta. As for his department, Crawford said they were conserving gas where possible, engaging in more bicycle and foot patrol than normal.
She says the law of economics now applies in this situation.
Drivers are finding some gas pumps completely dry in metro Atlanta.
Social media is abuzz with reports of gas stations shutting down pumps because they have no gas.
“We are going to have some spot outages, but ultimately I don’t think it’s anything to panic about”, he said.
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. The state’s average per-gallon cost was $2.21.
In Lexington, the average is up 14 cents from last week, but it is 13 cents lower than this time a year ago.
The difference in the prices between the states is North Carolina’s higher state gasoline tax. Alabama, South Carolina, and Georgia have also declared emergencies.
Posey said DeKalb’s prices will most likely increase but should remain stable.
WABE’s John Lorinc reports that gas prices are up 30 cents in the past week to $2.47 a gallon, and that stations are struggling to keep up with demand.
In the order signed Monday morning, Deal said there have been recent reports that wholesale and retail gas prices have “substantially increased” in some markets.
More than 360,000 gallons of gas have spilled out of the pipeline in Helena in rural Shelby County since the leak was discovered on 10 days ago on September 9.
In a statement early Monday, Colonial Pipeline said supplies of gasoline have either been delivered or are on their way to terminal locations in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina.
Fuel supplies in those five states were threatened by the Alabama pipeline spill last week. The company continues to use another line to offset the shortage due to the line with the leak. The first is to shop around for the best gas price.
Monday morning gasoline prices for regular unleaded was at $2.10 at the Community Stop gas station on US 401 across from St. Andrews University – by 2 p.m. the price had increased to $2.39, according to Caitlyn Graham, a clerk at Community Stop.
The national average is also seeing the effects of the shortage.
“The closure is already affecting some stations in the state”.
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Following the Colonial Pipeline leak in Alabama, drivers in the area formed long lines at gas stations, prompting an even greater shortage.
