Alabama pipeline restarts Sunday, 6 days after explosion

ATLANTA — The Colonial Pipeline restarted Line 1 of the pipeline Sunday morning.

The company says a trackhoe operated by a veteran and highly trained contract crew from eastern Alabama struck the pipeline Monday afternoon, causing a massive explosion that killed one person and injured several others in Helena, Alabama.

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Line 1 of the pipeline feeds the majority of the gas supply for metro Atlanta.

The explosion happened while those contractors worked on final repairs to a section of the pipeline that ruptured in September, causing widespread gas outages across metro Atlanta.

The Alpharetta-based company posted an update on its website Sunday morning saying Line 1 has been safely restarted and returned to service.

>>MAP: Colonial Pipeline network through metro Atlanta<<

“All product was removed from the affected segment of pipe yesterday evening. Excavation operations commenced shortly thereafter and continue this morning. Once excavation is complete, the affected segment of pipe will be removed and a new segment will be tested and installed. Based upon the latest information, we continue to project a Sunday afternoon restart of Line 1,” the company said.

Since the pipeline outage began on Monday, the average price of gas rose 7 cents in Georgia, according to AAA.

The average price of gas across the state was $2.24 a gallon, about .02 cents above the national average, according AAA’s website Saturday.

"Once the pipeline is restarted, there could be a week long delay in resupplying the market," AAA Georgia Public Affairs Director Garrett Townsend said. "If it were not for this break, we would be seeing some of the deepest discounts at the pump in months. Instead, we're likely to see prices linger where they are for a week, with the possibility of inching up a little more. While there could be the occasional outage at some of the unbranded gas stations, the fallout should not be nearly as bad as it was in September, as long as the pipeline is restarted on Sunday."

Colonial Pipeline transports more than 100 million gallons of products daily to markets between Houston and New York City, serving more than 50 million people, according to its website.

They include petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel fuel and jet fuel.

Authorities have not said what type of fuel was involved in the explosion Monday.

PRICE GOUGING? Any concerns regarding gas prices and gouging should be reported to the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs at 800-869-1123 or go to www.consumer.ga.gov/.

Cox Media Group