Gas line expected to restart; customers still face problems at the pump
ATLANTA (WTVD) -- Although company officials said the main gas line is expected to restart Wednesday, drivers in North Carolina are still facing problems at the pump.
The roughly 500-foot section of pipe that will serve as the bypass is now complete, and the company expects that will allow it to restart the main gasoline line, Colonial Pipeline spokesman Steve Baker told The Associated Press.
"Tomorrow's restart of the main gasoline line is a key milestone," Baker said. "However, it will take a few days for the fuel supply chain to fully recover."
Our crew was out in the Triangle Tuesday afternoon and saw long lines and gas stations without any fuel.
North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory cheered the announcement at a news conference in Charlotte Tuesday morning.
He said North Carolina has been getting only about a third of its normal fuel supply since the pipeline went offline.
"We've successfully weathered fuel shortages before and we will do it again," Governor McCrory said. "Now is the time to pull together as a state and to conserve fuel when it's possible. We look forward to returning to business as usual in the near future."
He said his chief goal during the shortage has been to get fuel to first responders. He said state employees have been told to minimize non-essential travel.
He said he expected the shortage to only last 2-3 more days and asked North Carolina residents to avoid the temptation to constantly top off their tanks - as that only makes the problem worse.
The pipeline bypass was needed to move fuel around the leak of its main gasoline pipeline in Shelby County, Alabama. The leak, which spilled between 252,000 gallons and 336,000 gallons of gasoline into a detention pond, was detected Sept. 9.
In addition to shortages, the leak has led to higher prices at the pumps in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina.
On Tuesday, gas prices continued to climb in several southern states, the auto club AAA reported.
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Governor Pat McCrory and Attorney General Roy Cooper have warned fuel sellers that price gouging rules are in effect.
The Attorney General's office said it had received more than 1,000 complaints as of noon Tuesday.
Read more about price gouging here.
In Georgia, Tuesday's average price for regular gas rose about 5 cents from Monday, to an average $2.36 statewide - up nearly 27 cents over the past week. Alabama, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia also saw prices climb since Monday, AAA reported Tuesday.
In Alabama, Gov. Robert Bentley said gas prices in parts of the state rose 20 cents over the weekend after the pipeline leak, but said he didn't consider that price gouging.
"It changes overnight sometimes that much," he said.
Bentley toured Colonial Pipeline's emergency response center, in a luxury resort hotel about 12 miles from the pipeline breach, and spent much of a news conference Monday praising the company's response.
A disaster drill was held coincidentally last year near the scene of the spill, he said, and that helped the company plan and execute a response that included about 700 people so far.
"Oh, yeah, I've noticed that the prices have just gone up - I mean, through the roof!" Tom Wargo said at a gas station northeast of Atlanta.
Wargo runs a nonprofit organization that supplies pet food to people in need and spends much of his time on the road. He just returned from a road trip to Louisiana, where he helped people after the floods there, he said.
"I tried getting gas yesterday and a lot of the stations had no gas at all, except diesel," Wargo said Monday.
"We certainly expect the gas prices to increase, certainly while this line is under repair and not at full capacity," AAA spokesman Garrett Townsend said Monday.
In Georgia, Gov. Nathan Deal issued an executive order Monday aimed at preventing price gouging.
"There have been recent reports that wholesale and retail gas prices have substantially increased in some markets," he said.
According to a preliminary report, it wasn't possible to immediately pinpoint the leak, partly because highly flammable benzene and gasoline vapors hung in the air and prevented firefighters, company officials and anyone else from being near the site for more than three days.
State workers discovered the leak when they noticed a strong gasoline odor and sheen on a man-made retention pond, along with dead vegetation nearby, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration said in the report.
The report does not identify the cause of the leak. The agency, part of the U.S. Department of Transportation, is investigating the leak in a section of the pipeline constructed in 1963, it said.
Governors across the South issued executive orders last week to suspend limitations on trucking hours, allowing drivers to stay on the road longer to bring fuel to gas stations.
Associated Press writers Jeff Martin, Kate Brumback and Kathleen Foody in Atlanta; Alex Sanz in Suwanee, Georgia; Jay Reeves in Helena, Alabama; and Bruce Smith in Charleston, South Carolina contributed to this report.
