It was, one analyst said, as if lightning had struck twice in nearly the same spot.
In early September, a crucial pipeline operated by Colonial Pipeline developed a massive leak near Helena, Ala., spilling about 310,000 gallons of gasoline and forcing the line to be shut down for more than a week. Prices spiked in metro Atlanta and some stations ran out of fuel.
Then last Monday, the flow was again choked off, this time because of an explosion and fire apparently caused by an excavator hitting the same pipeline just a few miles from the earlier spill.
The accident returned the spotlight to Alpharetta-based Colonial, a company little known outside the industry despite its crucial role in the mobility of millions of Americans along the eastern seaboard.
The price hike since last week’s shutdown has not been dramatic. Colonial got the line flowing again early Sunday, which should avert a second round of shortages. Yet the second event had a more tragic tinge: Anthony Lee Willingham, a 48-year-old employee of a Colonial contractor, died and five workers were injured.
Almost 5,000 workers a year are killed on the job, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. But for Colonial, this was a shock, said spokesman Steve Baker.
“The individual who died was well known by many of his Colonial colleagues,” he said. “The entire company mourns his loss.”
Baker said there had not been a fatal work accident on Colonial’s system since the 1990s.
But the odds of accidents increase when large numbers of workers are doing extensive physical labor with potentially dangerous materials. And, with 5,500 miles of lines, Colonial is the nation’s largest refined products system.
An AJC analysis after the September leak found that Colonial was the sixth-worst polluter among 208 companies that have spilled fuel into the environment during the past six years. But when spills are calculated per 100 miles of pipeline, Colonial ranks in the middle of the pack, the AJC analysis showed.
Two major pipeline problems within two months does not mean Colonial is reckless or badly managed, said long-time industry analyst Tom Kloza.
“They are very conservative – I do not mean politically – but they are careful and they take safety very seriously,” said Kloza, the global head of energy analysis at the Oil Price Information Service.
“That is the oddity that something like this happened twice. It is like lightning striking twice. It just looks like incredibly bad luck.”
Mike Thornbrugh, a spokesman for convenience store chain QuikTrip, said his company has “a lot of respect for Colonial. They’re good operators.”
But he added, “Once again, it just shows how fragile the infrastructure is. It just takes one incident to set the market on ends.”
The two incidents were related, Colonial said.
After the September leak, Colonial built a bypass around the bad section so that service could resume. A week ago, they were trying to drain sections of the pipe so they could remove the bypass and install a more permanent tube.
As they cleared brush and dirt, the machine struck the pipe and triggered the explosion.
The company has about 900 employees spread through 13 states. Willingham was one of about 400 others employed by L.E. Bell Construction, a contractor Colonial.
The company has worked with Bell for more than 30 years, Baker said.
"They are trained and certified to do the work we ask of them."
The September leak apparently got started without human involvement and was discovered by an inspector who smelled gasoline.
The company says that incident is still under investigation and the cause of the leak still isn't determined. But age and corrosion are an increasing concern: More than half the nation's pipelines were built before 1970, the Wall Street Journal reported last week.
Pipeline problems are investigated by the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, whose investigators have been at the site of last week's fire, said Damon Hill, spokesman for the agency. They are also looking into the causes of the September incident, Hill said.
If the PHMSA concludes that Colonial violated any federal pipeline safety standards, it can "issue an enforcement action, levy civil penalties, or refer the case for criminal investigation," he said.
In September, the PHMSA issued an order requiring Colonial “to take a number of corrective actions,” later adding an update that included other requirements.
The required actions were technical and routine, Baker said.
Officials said the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is also looking into the fatal accident.
The Environmental Protection Agency also investigates workplace events that potentially add pollution or toxic materials into the air, ground or water. The EPA did not respond to a request for comment.
For metro Atlanta drivers, it's mostly about the pump. By Friday the average price of gasoline had risen to $2.31 a gallon – up 12 cents since the explosion, according to Gas Buddy.
After the September shutdown, the price jumped about 35 cents a gallon and had only recently subsided.
— Russell Grantham contributed to this report.
ABOUT COLONIAL
Headquarters: Alpharetta
What it does: Operates a nearly 5,600-mile pipeline network from Houston to New York that ships gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, heating oil and other refined oil products.
2015 volume: 38 billion gallons (equivalent to 9 tanker ships a day)
History: Founded in 1961 as Suwannee Pipe Line Co. by eight oil companies. Changed to Colonial Pipeline in 1962. Completed its first main pipeline in 1964. 2015 revenue: $1.3 billion
Leadership: Tim Felt, president and CEO Employees: About 700
Ownership: Privately held with largest stakes held by a collection of investment companies or subsidiaries of major oil and gas companies. As of March the breakdown was: Koch Capital Investments Co. LLC, 28.09%; KKR-Keats Pipeline Investors LP, 23.44%; Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, 16.55%; Shell Pipeline Co. LP, 13.12%; Shell Midstream Partners, LP, 3% (a subsidiary of Shell Pipeline Co. LP); IFM Colonial, 15.8%
Sources: Filings to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, Colonial Pipeline, Fitch Ratings
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