An explosion on the Colonial Pipeline is expected to be contained by the weekend.
The Pipeline, which experienced a leak in the same location in Shelby County, Ala., in September, encountered an explosion on Halloween. The incident has been closely followed by emergency workers in the area.
The Colonial Pipeline Response website issued an update on the incident on Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 1:30 p.m. (CDT).
A crew working Colonial’s gasoline pipeline (Line 1) in Shelby County, Ala., experienced an incident when the track hoe it was operating hit the pipeline causing a fire. Local emergency responders contained the fire, which has been allowed to burn under the supervision of local fire and emergency management personnel. The size of the future has reduced significantly in the last 24 hours and does not present a hazard to response workers or the public.
Nine workers were on site at the Pipeline when the explosion happened, costing the life of one individuals and sending five others to area hospitals.
Colonial Pipeline issued a statement Wednesday to offer condolences for the deceased and their thoughts and prayers for those injured.
While steady flames are visible at the site, the Southeast should not expect a sizeable hit at the gas pumps, compared to the previous situation this year.
“Saturday is their target date to have Line 1 fixed,” spokesperson Stephanie Milani with AAA – The Auto Club Group said Wednesday. “During the September incident, the line was shut down for two weeks but for this, the time frame would only be for six days.
According to the Colonial Pipeline response page, once the fire is extinguished, excavation work at the incident site will commence and an operational plan will be executed, in consultation with the relevant authorities, to bring Line 1 back into the service in a safe and expeditious manner. Line 2, Colonial’s distillates line, was restarted on Monday evening.
“The sooner the line is reopened, the less of an impact the area will feel,” Milani added.
Elizabethton and Carter County has actually experienced a decline in fuel prices over the past week, according to the spokesperson.
“The average this time last week was $2.06 and now it is at $2.01,” Milani stated about Carter County. “And that is down from yesterday’s average, which was around $2.02.”
GasBuddy.com provided a looked at a variety of gas stations with the prices as of the late evening hours on Wednesday.
Elizabethton saw their Exxon stations with regular fuel encounter prices at $1.93 while the Murphy Oil station was at $1.94. In Hampton, the Shell Station saw it’s price at $1.97 while the Roan Mountain Valero and BP were both saw their cheapest gas price at $1.97.
While the future is still tentatively up in the air, Milani added that residents shouldn’t expect too much of a hit, if any at all.
“We’re not looking at any significant gas price increase compared to the situation that happened in September,” she said.