6 Things to Know About Colonial Pipeline Shutdown
By Greg Lindenberg and Samantha Oller on Nov. 03, 2016HELENA, Ala. -- As work continues to repair the Colonial Pipeline after this week’s fatal explosion, the effect of the shutdown on the fueling infrastructure is still playing out in the Southeast.
Line 2, which carries distillates, was up and operational shortly after the Monday incident, when a contract crew sparked a fire after hitting the pipeline with a track hoe. One worker died and five others were injured.
Work to repair Line 1, which carries gasoline to the Southeast and East Coast, could restart as soon as this weekend, according to pipeline owner and operator Colonial Pipeline Co.
What follows are additional updates on efforts to repair the pipeline, along with the repercussions on states that depend on it.
Repair work underway
As of Thursday morning, Colonial Pipeline Co. was continuing to allow the fire affecting Line 1 to burn out, under the supervision of local fire officials. Colonial, based in Alpharetta, Ga., reported that the fire had reduced in size “significantly” and was not a hazard to workers or the public.
Of the five contract workers injured at the site, one has been released from the hospital. Alabama’s deputy coroner, meanwhile, identified the worker who died as 48-year-old Anthony Lee Willingham, who reportedly was a welder and heavy-machine operator with L.E. Bell Construction.
While Colonial reported that no fuel appears to have leaked into nearby waterways, the company has built earthen berms around the affected portion of the pipeline, and placed a containment boom at three different portions of the nearby Cahaba River.
Once the fire burns out, Colonial will begin excavation around the site and repairs to Line 1.
States of emergency
Governors of three of the states directly fed by the pipeline have issued states of emergency to ease any fuel supply crunches or pricing issues.
The states of emergency in Georgia and Alabama suspended federal rules limiting hours of services for fuel-truck drivers. In North Carolina, Gov. Pat McCrory not only suspended hours of service regulations, but also size and weight restrictions, and prohibited price gouging by fuel retailers.
Likely chain of events
The Colonial pipeline supplies much of the Southeast because of a lack of refineries in the area between Alabama and Pennsylvania, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) said in an explanation on the shutdown. The Colonial is the largest petroleum product pipeline system in the United States, with Line 1 alone carrying 1.4 million barrels per day of gasoline from Gulf Coast refineries to a junction and storage hub in Greensboro, N.C. Different branches of the pipeline feed parts of Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia.
“The supply-chain response to the current disruption is likely to follow the response to the previous incident, with a drawdown of in-region inventories and increased reliance on alternative sources of supply such as long-distance trucking, marine shipments from the U.S. Gulf Coast and imports,” EIA officials said. “Retail gasoline prices in the affected areas are likely to increase, as these alternative supply options are more costly than the pipeline transportation provided by Colonial.”
Panic-buying warnings
In North Carolina, which receives around 70% of its fuel supply from the Colonial pipeline, fueling industry representatives warned consumers against panic buying.
Gary Harris, executive director of the North Carolina Petroleum and Convenience Marketers Association, told WNCN that most gas stations in the Raleigh area had a good supply of fuel and were not seeing lines of customers.
“If people continue their normal buying habits, we should get through this,” said Harris. The pipeline was not designed to supply everyone at once, he said, which is why “the system collapsed” back in September, with supply shortages and long lines at the pumps, after the pipeline was shut down following a leak.
While the pipeline supplies most gas stations in the Triangle area of North Carolina, it might return to service earlier than it did after the September incident because much of the gasoline has burned. During the September leak, officials had to first clean up the spilled fuel before they could begin repair work.
Alabama’s aftermath
In Alabama, this second pipeline shutdown has thus far played out differently than the first in September. For one, fuel retailers were more prepared.
“My guys, especially the independents, because they are always the first ones who are cut off from their supply, they already knew where to go to get some product, how long it would take them to get there,” said Bart Fletcher, president of the Petroleum & Convenience Marketers of Alabama, Montgomery, Ala., told CSP Daily News.
However, because this incident was so visible, the public was aware of it much quicker than the leak in September, which was still a fairly recent memory.
“We saw a lot of people who went out and topped their tanks off,” said Fletcher. This could cause supply problems in some areas. In Montgomery, fuel prices appear to be holding steady, said Fletcher, who also had not yet seen any spot outages in the area.
Political plays
This second shutdown of the Colonial in only two months has become a political football as well in the week before the 2016 election.
In North Carolina, the state GOP executive director told the Associated Press that the party was telling conservative voters to vote early instead of waiting for Nov. 8, Election Day, because of potential issues in getting gasoline.
Meanwhile, five ranking Democratic members of U.S. House panels overseeing energy, transportation and infrastructure have sent a letter to Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx to investigate the Colonial Pipeline.