After a Halloween explosion rocked the Colonial Pipeline in Shelby County, Ala., the company is looking to reopen one of their lines before Monday.
According to a statement issued from the Colonial Pipeline Company response website, the company’s team on-site is constantly reassessing the timeline for restoration of service on Line 1. Based upon the newest information from the team, the Company is projecting a restart time for Line 1 – Sunday, Nov. 6, in the afternoon.
The news stems from the pipeline experiencing an explosion on October 31 in the same location where a gas leak was reported back in September. A crew working the pipeline experienced an incident when the track hoe it was operating hit the pipeline causing a fire. Due to the explosion, Line 1, which services gasoline fuel, was shut down. Line 2, which services diesel, is currently operational.
Gregg Laskoski, senior petroleum analyst with GasBuddy, provided an update on the situation to Elizabethton Star on Wednesday, Nov. 3.
“It’s an unfortunate situation,” he said about the incident. “They one state we’ve seen really any real impact, as far as prices go, is in Georgia.”
Following Friday’s update, Laskoski added the Tennessee would only see a nominal increase in gas prices due to the Line 1 announcement.
“Tennessee would see a modest increase,” Laskoski said. “There are still places in Tennessee where you can buy gas for as low as $1.83.”
GasBuddy.com offers a crowdsourcing effort which details a real-time update on gas prices across the state. As of Friday, gas prices in Elizabethton, according to the site,  were locked at $1.93 at four gas stations with only one station at $2.04.
“It’s really going to be a blessing for motorists,” Laskoski said about this incident compared to September. “In this type of situation, there was a quick reaction compared to the leak, where (the leak) happened for a few days before it was discovered.”
Governors of Alabama, Georgia and North Carolina issued executive orders waiving regulations for commercial truck drivers transporting fuel in their states. Colonial Pipeline Company added the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has waived the federal reformulated gasoline requirements under the Clean Air Act for certain markets serviced by Colonial and shippers to make contingency plans to deliver gasoline to their customers.
The EPA issued the letter to 13 states, including Tennessee, and the District of Columbia.