Six states across the region – Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia – have declared states of emergency, relaxing limits on fuel transportation to try to stave off shortages and price spikes.
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Federal regulators from the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration are on scene to investigate the cause of the leak.
Colonial pipeline says it is beginning construction of a temporary pipeline that will bypass a section that’s leaking.
The spill involving Colonial Pipeline’s Line 1 was first noticed September 9 near Birmingham, Alabama.
It’s not yet known when the spill actually started, but company officials said at least 250,000 gallons of gas spilled as a result of the leak.
Fuel retailers in North Carolina are closely monitoring developments regarding fuel supply levels given the temporary shipment disruption due to the Colonial Pipeline leak in Alabama.
“We’re going to have to put a couple jobs together to help cover the gas and the fuel prices”, said Carl Howard.
The agency said the spill is “within an unusually sensitive ecological area” and it ordered Colonial to take action “to protect the public, property and the environment from potential hazards”.
GasBuddy analyst Patrick DeHaan predicts that prices may rise 20 to 40 cents in Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia and SC. Running all the way from Houston to NY, the pipeline services over 50 million people and is the main gasoline vein connecting Houston to the entire Eastern Seaboard. Pat McCrory issued a statement Sunday night saying they are working with fuel suppliers to “monitor and quickly replenish” supplies. The situation is more dire for states like SC, which don’t have many other sources of gas, he says.
Sunday many local gas stations were closed, which left long lines at the ones still open.
One Raleigh gas station owner said he placed an order for gas four days ago and still hasn’t received it.
“You may have read or heard about the leak in the Colonial Pipeline that transports gasoline from the Gulf Coast to the East Coast”.
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The Colonial Pipeline spans 5,500 miles across 11 states, from Texas to New Jersey. First, the Governor has to declare a state of emergency for the state, which is already in place. Gov. “We are still recovering product off of the pond, but work at the actual leak site because it was being impacted by the vapors, we have made a decision to go to the bypass solution”.
