Gas prices spike in GTA as pipeline woes continue in U.S.
Posted September 18, 2016 2:52 pm.
Last Updated September 18, 2016 3:03 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Colonial Pipeline says it is beginning construction of a temporary pipeline that will bypass a leaking section of its main gasoline pipeline in Shelby County, Alabama.
According to AL.com, Colonial gave no timetable Saturday as to when that bypass line would be completed or what path it would take.
Fuel supplies in at least five states – Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas – were threatened by the spill, and the U.S. Department of Transportation ordered the company responsible to take corrective action before the fuel starts flowing again.
The spill and subsequent shutdown of the pipeline is also having an effect on Canadian gasoline prices. The price at the pump has increased five cents since Friday and it could jump a total of six cents by Wednesday if the situation isn’t resolved soon.
The company has acknowledged that between 252,000 gallons and 336,000 gallons of gasoline leaked from a pipeline near Helena, Alabama, since the spill was first detected Sept. 9. It’s unclear when the spill actually started.
In a statement Saturday, the Alpharetta, Georgia-based company said that repair work had begun in an effort to return the pipeline to service “as rapidly and safely as possible.”
The company said it is shipping as much gasoline as possible on its distillate mainline, Line 2, in order to mitigate the impact of the pipeline that has been shut down. Colonial earlier said most of the leaked gasoline is contained in a retention pond near the city of Helena and there’s no public safety concern.
Motorists could pay even more for gasoline in coming days, although experts say that any spike in service-station prices should only be temporary.
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. Governors can suspend federal transportation regulations during emergencies.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency waived requirements this week that metro areas with air quality issues in Georgia and Tennessee use a cleaner-burning type of gasoline during the summer months. That requirement of the Clean Air Act expired at midnight Thursday.
