Dry gas pumps and long lines for metro Atlanta motorists

Headquarters: Alpharetta

About the company: Colonial pumps more than 100 million gallons of fuel daily to markets stretching from Texas to New York across a network stretching more than 5,500 miles. The company delivers diesel, gasoline, jet fuel, heating oil and refined products for the U.S. military.

Damaged pipeline: A leak was discovered in Line 1 near Birmingham, Ala., on Sept. 9. It is believed that 252,000 gallons to more than 336,000 gallons of fuel leaked from the pipeline, with is 36-inches in diameter. Line 1 runs from Houston to Greensboro, N.C., and the portion where the leak occurred was built in 1963.

Sources: Colonial Pipeline and Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration

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Drivers in metro Atlanta and across the state faced long lines and dry pumps over the weekend — as well as higher prices when they could find gas — as headaches lingered from an Alabama pipeline spill.

Colonial Pipeline over the weekend started a project to bypass the damaged stretch of pipe and leaders of several Southern states, including Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal, issued emergency declarations lifting certain restrictions on truck drivers to help speed fuel deliveries.

But it wasn’t clear Sunday how long supply disruptions or the price spike might last as commuters buckled up for the start of the work week.

The average price per gallon for regular unleaded gasoline in metro Atlanta was $2.40 on Sunday, up from about $2.32 the day before, according to AAA. The average price in the metro area was about $2.17 just a week ago.

The national average price Sunday was $2.20 per gallon, AAA said.

Jen Talaber Ryan, a spokeswoman for Deal, said in an email Sunday that the governor’s office is monitoring the situation and is prepared to take further action if needed.

“Gov. Deal has done everything possible, including seeking and receiving an EPA waiver and extending his executive order allowing commercial truck drivers hauling motor fuel, to mitigate the effects of the Alabama pipeline spill,” she said. “If people maintain normal consumption levels and travel routines, the measures Gov. Deal has put in place should be effective.”

Leonard McElhannon of Loganville said he filled up his wife’s car at a Kroger near his home for $2.09 a gallon Saturday and the price jumped to $2.39 a gallon Sunday when he gassed up his vehicle.

Stations were crowded with people preparing for Monday’s commute, he said, but he didn’t think people were hoarding. McElhannon said he thinks people should limit their travel in case the steps that Colonial and state leaders are taking to ease the supply crunch isn’t enough.

“I’m worried about the trucks being able to keep up with the demand,” he said.

Corrective action

Colonial, based in Alpharetta, said the leak in Line 1 was detected Sept. 9 by a mining inspector in Shelby County, Alabama, near Birmingham. The pipeline, a 3-foot in-diameter artery, is a critical connection from refineries along the Gulf Coast to numerous states along the Eastern Seaboard.

It is believed that from 252,000 gallons to more than 336,000 gallons of fuel leaked from the rupture. Line 1 runs from Houston to Greensboro, North Carolina, and the portion where the leak occurred was built in 1963.

The cause of the leak is under investigation by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Transportation. The agency issued an order Friday stating that the company must take corrective action before it can operate the damaged segment.

Colonial said in addition to its project to bypass Line 1, the company is pumping gasoline in another key pipeline to help relieve disruptions.

“This plan has been reviewed by all appropriate federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,” Colonial said of the bypass plan. “As this plan is implemented, the top priority of the unified response team remains the safety and protection of the public, responders, and the environment. Remediation efforts at the initial release site will also continue as conditions are deemed safe.”

Shortages, meanwhile, stretched across Georgia and parts of at least five other states, according to the Associated Press.

Colonial pumps more than 100 million gallons of various fuels daily across a network more than 5,500 miles long.

‘Still have some’

Station closures seemed to hopscotch around the metro area, with some looking ghostly next to stores with crowded pumps and lines into the street.

John Simpson of Alpharetta said he’s followed the Colonial situation since Friday and encouraged co-workers to fill up before the weekend.

A Kroger near his home had regular unleaded, but was out of higher-octane fuels, and a nearby QuikTrip was closed.

A BP station was selling unleaded for $2.79 a gallon Sunday morning, he said, and had a parking lot packed with cars.

“There was not a place to get into the parking lot,” he said. “The places that normally have cheap gas are out, but the places that are usually a bit higher still have some.”

Cars choked the parking lot and spilled onto the street at an Exxon station near Perimeter Mall where Ben Zimunya of Chattanooga was filling up around noon on Sunday.

He said he was aware of the pipeline troubles and rising prices, but didn’t know of shortages at stations around the metro area.

“I decided to fill up before I headed back [to Chattanooga],” he said. “I’m glad I did.”

Hailu Neri was manning the checkout counter of a Dunwoody BP station Sunday and gestured to the cars at every pump in the lot. The station had closed Friday after running dry.

It reopened Sunday morning after a pre-dawn shipment.

“A customer just came in and brought his two cars. He was so happy,” Neri said.