City of Atlanta closes 2 fuel stations

Hurricane Ike did not strike Georgia, but Atlanta officials are making operational changes to avoid the fuel shortages the storm created across the Southeast.

City officials said Tuesday they have temporarily closed two of Atlanta’s 11 fueling stations, they’re asking department heads to restrict the use of city-owned vehicles and they may ration fuel for city vehicles.

The city’s suppliers were unable to deliver any fuel last week because the storm temporarily stopped the flow of gas from refineries along the Gulf Coast.

“We are still getting deliveries, but the deliveries are slow,” said Valerie Bell-Smith, a spokeswoman for the city’s Department of Public Works.

Still, city officials said they want to be cautious. The city has closed the two fuel stations to create an emergency reserve. “It’s better for us to be safe and maintain our daily operations,” Bell-Smith said.

Atlanta government uses about 10,000 gallons of fuel a day. As of last week, city officials said they had 130,000 gallons, which amounts to a 13-day supply.

Bell-Smith said city officials will monitor the situation along the Gulf Coast to determine whether to make other changes. Gasoline suppliers blame Hurricanes Ike and Gustav for the difficulty of getting fuel from refineries. Supply problems have created sporadic outages at metro Atlanta gas stations and prices have risen above $4 a gallon.