Colonial Pipeline Fix Expected As Georgia Gas Prices Remain Higher Than National Average

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Colonial Pipeline's Expected Temporary Fix

The Colonial Pipeline leak should be patched Wednesday, according to a release from the company. Gas prices across Georgia have averaged out to $2.37, with some places seeing prices as high as $3.00 per gallon.

On Friday, September 9 a mining inspector in Shelby County, Alabama smelled gasoline on an old mining property. He alerted Colonial Pipeline, which operates two separate gas and diesel pipelines nearby. Both were shut down as a precaution and Colonial employees were sent to survey the site of the leak.

So far, more than 336,000 gallons of fuel have leaked from the broken line since Friday. Colonial Pipeline has around 700 employees working to fix the leak. The company plans to implement a temporary fix on Wednesday by tying a bypass segment into the main line. Colonial expects the pipeline to start supplying again sometime shortly after the fix goes in place.

Andy Milton is head of the supply team at Mansfield Energy, an energy provider in the United States and Canada. “The reroute is going to go around the spill area,” he said. “That’s a temporary fix, not a long term fix. That will at least buy them time to at least work around the problem area, do the cleanup, and start working on a long-term solution.”

When Line 1 restarts, it will take several days for the fuel delivery supply chain to return to normal.  Accordingly, some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may continue to experience service interruptions.  Colonial and other providers are working to transport as much gas as possible throughout the shortage.

No cleanup date for the leak has been set. Colonial is expected to work with local and state authorities to mitigate any potential damage.