As Native Americans protesters face arrest in North Dakota for blocking the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, TheAntiMedia’s Carey Wedler reports a gasoline pipeline spill is currently unfolding in the South. The leak has prompted Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley, Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, and Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to declare states of emergency.
The Colonial Pipeline, which runs from Houston to New York, began leaking on September 9, spilling 250,000 gallons of gasoline, or 6,000 barrels. The pipeline was built in 1962, and the current leak in Helena, Alabama, is the largest one Colonial Pipeline has experienced in 20 years, Reuters noted.
AL.com reported that according to the Colonial Pipeline company’s spokesperson, Bill Berry, the pipeline could still be leaking:
“The leaking pipeline was shut down [last] Friday after the leak was discovered, but Berry said there may be additional gas still inside the pipeline. The leaking section of pipeline hasn’t been excavated yet due to safety precautions, so Berry said the condition of the pipeline and cause of the leak is still unknown.”
Hundreds of employees and contract workers face health risks from inhaling vapor as they work overtime to clean up the spill, which the company says is contained to a mining retention pond. AL.com reports “the leak was discovered at the inactive mine site by employees of the Alabama Surface Mining Commission.”
The governors of Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama have declared states of emergency, not due to environmental concerns, but over the gas shortage that will result from the leak. After Colonial Pipeline announced Thursday there would be a delay in restarting the pipeline because “work activity was intermittent overnight due to unfavorable weather conditions that caused gasoline vapors to settle over the site,” the price of gasoline futures rose six percent… even as crude futures prices tumbled…
As CNN reports, The major pipeline, one pipe of which has been severed, provides gasoline for an estimated 50 million people on the East Coast each day, according to company estimates. The cause of the leak has yet to be determined, according to the company’s most recent statement.
The pipeline’s operator has said full service will not be restored until at least next week. The closure has set off an industry-wide scramble as suppliers seek alternative ways to transport gasoline to the East Coast.
According to reports, the leak will likely start affecting drivers in the nearby states of Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina within a matter of hours and may spread in coming days. Colonial Pipeline Co., which transports some 40% of the gas along the I-95 corridor says at least 250,000 gallons of gasoline have already been lost.
Senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan warned that some stations may run out as primary gasoline transportation shipping routes along the East coast have been temporarily closed.
Not every station will be able to get the gasoline it needs, he said.
“You’re going to see some places without gasoline,” he said. “It’s like a mini-hurricane.”
The pipeline operator said that based on its current projections, parts of Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina and South Carolina will be the first markets to suffer potential supply disruptions.
And sure enough the price of East Coast gasoline is soaring relative to the slide in West Coast… (4month highs for East Coast vs 1-month lows for West Coast)
Gas prices typically fall at this time of year. Thursday was the day that stations in most of the country could start using the cheaper winter blend of gasoline rather than the summer blend, which is formulated to combat smog. But East Coast gas prices are spiking already…
As SHTFPlan’s Mac Slavo notes, the massive pipeline leak in Alabama is threatening widespread gas shortages and significant price hikes on the East Coast of the United States. Though the leak reportedly poses no danger to the public, officials say it stands to affect drivers all along the I-95 corridor from Florida to Maine.
If you live in any of the aforementioned states then you may want to head to your local gas station and fill up the tanks. Though any shortages will be temporary, not being able to get gas for several days or a week could prove troublesome to the 50 million residents served by the Colonial pipeline. The shortage may also impact grocery store deliveries, so if you have anyessential items you absolutely must have it may be a good idea to pick those up before trucks stop delivering.
The declared states of emergency highlight the fragility of just-in-time delivery systems that include critical goods like gasoline, food and medicine. As we’ve previously noted, even a small emergency could wreak havoc on a local, state or nationwide basis with immediate and catastrophic consequences for the populace.
Mansfield Oil, a fuel distributor, has warned its customers to take fuel savings measures and to place their orders early. The company said the supply of gasoline is currently very thin along the closed pipeline, and that it was trucking in supplies from the coast to meet demand. The company said it was treating the situation “with the same importance and urgency as a natural disaster.”
Outcast_Searcher on Sat, 17th Sep 2016 2:50 pm
This is another example of neglected infrastructure that needs to be repaired/renewed. If the private FF shippers aren’t doing it proactively enough to maintain safe and reliable operation, then the government should use punitive regulation (big-assed fines).
OTOH, given how poorly the government is maintaining/replacing water mains, bridges, etc. proactively, it’s not like they have any moral authority, only the legal stick.
Outcast_Searcher on Sat, 17th Sep 2016 2:53 pm
And this brings up the question of redundancy. So, apparently, for such an “emergency”, there aren’t plans in place to crank up alternate supplies.
What if a large section of such a pipe failed due to a major earthquake, terrorist attack, etc, and took, say, several months to repair/replace?
The government would yell “It’s not my fault!”? I think we should expect more for our $trillions in annual taxes paid.
Anonymous on Sat, 17th Sep 2016 3:26 pm
But the uS deep state has a global empire to maintain, ‘defence'(war) contractors to feed, wars to fund. It can’t be expected to actually allocate resources to you know, corporate regulatory compliance, or infrastructure or anything like that. In the empire, its the invisible hand that owns everything of importance(if they don’t yet, they are working on it). Let the invisible hand fix it when it breaks. After all, its not like your gov’t has been completely captured or anything…..
And besides, the invisible hands spokesman’s, Rockman etc, have told us repeatedly that pipelines are the safest and most cost-effective(but mostly cost-effective) way to move corrosive, flammable, toxic goop around the continent. And we all know the invisible hand has everyone’s best interests at heart.
rockman on Sat, 17th Sep 2016 4:18 pm
A – “…that pipelines are the safest and most cost-effective…way…”. And what would you recommended as a safer method to replace the 2.5 MILLION MILES of energy pipelines in the US alone? Rather easy to be critical of any system if one isn’t required to offer a replacement.
curlyq3 on Sat, 17th Sep 2016 4:41 pm
Howdy Peak Oilers … there are 660,000 gallons of water in an Olympic size swimming pool … so I ciphered that 250,000 gallons to be a little bit more than a third of that 660,000 gallons … not really a river of gasoline but I would not want it spilled in my backyard either!
curlyq3
ghung on Sat, 17th Sep 2016 4:46 pm
My wife and I just made a (necessary) loop out of Western NC into North Georgia and back. Every station we passed was out of gas except one small independent; had a sign “premium only”. There was a big line of cars being directed by a deputy Sheriff. On our way back, it was sucked dry; deserted. People cruising around everywhere looking for fuel. I had a feeling a couple of days ago and topped my wife’s car off, and my truck stays near full since I don’t drive much.
O_S said; ” If the private FF shippers aren’t doing it proactively enough to maintain safe and reliable operation, then the government should use punitive regulation (big-assed fines).”
Yeah, well the Republicans have been screaming to high heaven for decades about regulations and government meddling. Still are. Funny how that works (or doesn’t).
I spent a decade crawling around pipelines and powerlines doing surveys and assessments. Our clients rarely acted on our assessments regarding the condition of their infrastructure. The culture is one of “if it breaks, we’ll fix it”. The company I worked for surveyed large sections of the Colonial.
As for redundancy, it occurred to me driving around today that our county used to have over a dozen mom-and-pop ‘country stores’, all with fuel pumps and tanks. Now there are three; two of them in town at the grocery super-store and the giant chain convenience store across the street, and the small outlying store I mentioned above. So much for redundancy and distributed infrastructure. The corporations and their just-in-time ‘efficiency’ squashed that, along with regulations.
Anyway, we’re out of fuel for miles, and probably for a while, since we’re at the end of a long supply chain. My wife has a full tank and short commute, and I don’t go much of anywhere off the farm these days.
Wondering if they’ll cancel the big bass tournament scheduled on our nearby TVA lake this evening. Several big bass rigs were parked at the super-store; fishermen looking perturbed.
Brent on Sat, 17th Sep 2016 6:25 pm
I think it is strange that we are always told hey we are ok since there are now more oil rigs, we have an oil glut ect ect. Then just one oil pipeline ruptures and all of a sudden we have scarcity. This system is not as secure as they want us to believe it would seem.
makati1 on Sat, 17th Sep 2016 6:32 pm
Ghung, many are getting a taste of the future. I too remember when there were many small gas outlets but they have mostly been killed off by the big corporate chains or the government regs as you said.
Another reason was that most of those old tanks began to leak and the cost to replace even one can run into many tens of thousands of dollars. I used to bid on such removals and some ran close to $100,000 per tank if there was contaminated soil to dispose of. Few small mom and pop stores could afford to do that so they just closed the pumps when the tank went dry.
Yes, our “just in time” world is going to collapse someday and many will be shocked to see how fast the 3rd world moves into their neighborhood.
Sissyfuss on Sat, 17th Sep 2016 11:00 pm
Our just in time world becomes less just and never on time. The infrastructure of the US has been neglected in favor of more visible projects and give-a-ways that translate into loyal voters. The just in time form of democracy is leaking badly too.
makati1 on Sat, 17th Sep 2016 11:22 pm
Nice summary, Sissy. ^_^
makati1 on Sun, 18th Sep 2016 1:37 am
Things are getting interesting in the Empire these last few days…
“IED Explodes In New York City; 29 People Injured, 1 In Serious Condition”
“String Of Deadly Arsons Strike Chicago Leaving 1 Dead And Dozens Homeless”
“Pipe Bomb Explodes At Marine Charity Run In New Jersey”
“Cop Violence Returns: Police Officers Shot In Philadelphia, Fort Worth”
“U.S. Among Most Depressed Countries in the World”
Glad I don’t live there any more. Shades of the 60s.
Cloggie on Sun, 18th Sep 2016 3:44 am
It is always good that accidents like this one with the “Colonial pipeline” happen. The public gets reminded of what it means if fuel supplies halt.
CAM on Sun, 18th Sep 2016 10:19 am
A pipeline built in 1962 from Houston to New York. Can only wonder what condition the rest of the structure is in.
As for the size of the spill we will have to wait and see. It could have been leaking small amounts for years, which of course become in total large amounts. But if most of it percolated down it may not have been discovered until the leak became much larger.
In any event, oil companies tend to greatly underestimate leaks and spills knowing that assessed damages are frequently related to the size of the spill.
rockman on Sun, 18th Sep 2016 10:52 am
Brent – “This system is not as secure as they want us to believe it would seem.” Not a “system” but multiple systems: drilling new wells, producing existing wells, importing oil, refining oil, regional fuel distribution and, lastly, local distribution. Difficulties with any one system can be completely unrelated to the other systems. For instance when local electrical power is lost and gas stations shut down that problem has nothing to do with how much we’re drilling, importing or refining.
If folks want redundancy that’s not economical for investors then the govt (i.e. the tax payers) will have to poney up the capex. As an example the SPR is essentially a redundancy for imported oil availability. Just as those who have called for the govt to spend many tens of $BILLIONS to establish large fuel reserves in the NE connected to the distribution system.
Designing fall back plans is easy. Paying for them…not so much. LOL.
Kenz300 on Sun, 18th Sep 2016 11:41 am
Solar Cost Hits World’s New Low, Half the Price of Coal
http://www.ecowatch.com/solar-price-chile-1982242311.html
Wind, solar and geothermal continue to grow in use every year while fossil fuel use declines………..
Climate Change will be the defining issue of our lives…
23 States to Rely on Geothermal, Solar, or Wind Power as a Primary Source of Electric Generation in 2016
http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/articles/2016/09/23-states-to-rely-on-geothermal-solar-or-wind-power-as-a-primary-source-of-electric-generation-in-2016.html
mx2000 on Sun, 18th Sep 2016 12:22 pm
Find Rex Tillerson. He needs a profit bump to pay those expensive dividend payments.
So, you know what doesn’t spill? The electrons for a Chevy Volt.
Also, you now can lock in 30 year price guarantees on solar power. This being the perfect example where you can’t lock in price.
ghung on Sun, 18th Sep 2016 10:08 pm
Price limits invoked in NC; not in GA. Local Atlanta news reporting some stations charging $4.00 to $5.00 per gallon.
makati1 on Mon, 19th Sep 2016 6:48 am
Things seem to be heating up in the US…
“Bomb Explodes At New Jersey Train Station As Police Discover Five Explosive Devices”
Getting interesting.
Kenz300 on Tue, 20th Sep 2016 11:08 am
Electric cars, trucks, bicycles and mass transit are the future…..fossil fuel ICE cars are the past.
Think teen agers vs your grand father.
cell phones vs land lines.
NO EMISSIONS……..climate change is real.
Save money..no stopping at gas stations.no oil changes..less overall maintenance.
Climate change: Netherlands on brink of banning sale of petrol-fuelled cars
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/netherlands-petrol-car-ban-law-bill-to-be-passed-reduce-climate-change-emissions-a7197136.html
Scotland blows away the competition – 106% of electricity needs from wind – joins select club
https://electrek.co/2016/08/14/scotland-electricity-needs-from-wind/
orbit7er on Thu, 22nd Sep 2016 2:50 pm
the Dutch should not have this problem when they power 100% of their Electric Rail with distributed renewable energy by 2018! Would that the Auto Addicted USA did the same!