McCrory: Gas shortage possible after pipeline explosion
By Melinda Harrell
Published in News on November 1, 2016 1:34 PM
Submitted photo
A plume of smoke rises from a Colonial Pipeline explosion Monday in Helena, Alabama. Colonial Pipeline said in a statement that it has shut down its main pipeline in Alabama after the explosion.
Gov. Pat McCrory addressed the potential impact North Carolinians might suffer from today's deadly explosion of the Colonial Pipeline in Alabama.
A state-wide gas shortage similar to that which took place several weeks ago after an earlier incident with the same pipeline is possible, but as of yet, unpredictable, McCrory said.
Speaking to media via teleconference this afternoon, McCrory said the explosion caused damage to two pipelines that service this state and others.
One line carries airline fuel, heating fuel and diesel, and was reopened at 12:45 this morning.
The other pipeline, refereed to as "line One," provides 70 percent of the state's fuel. This crucial artery is still shut down, McCrory said, and it remains unclear when it will be brought back on line.
"Line One was definitely shut down," McCrory said. "That is very, very important to us."
"We do not have a prognosis for a time for when that line will be fixed," he added.
McCrory said the state hopes to more within the next 24 hours.
"We also hope to get more information on how much fuel has been replenished from the last time Line One was impacted," McCrory said referencing the fuel shortage of a month and a half ago when the Colonial Pipeline was shut down due to leaks.
McCrory said the state was developing a plan in case there is an extensive delay in the pipeline's repair.
Today's explosion -- caused when a track hoe struck the pipeline -- sent flames and plumes of thick-black smoke into the air. One worker was killed and six others were injured, according to an Associated Press report.
It remains unclear how significant an impact the line being shut down will have on fuel supplies or prices in the state and region, but September's shut down led to consecutive-days of dry pumps and yellow plastic bags placed over nozzles.
That drought -- preceded by several days of rising gas prices ahead of the shortage -- were a result of 252,000 to 336,000 gallons of fuel having escaped the leaking pipeline, the AP report said.
Higher prices and shortages were felt across the South in states including Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas.