ATLANTA — The pipeline company working to repair a leak that led to gas outages and higher prices for drivers across the South says its bypass repair is complete and it expects to restart its main gasoline line Wednesday.
Colonial Pipeline spokesman Steve Baker tells The Associated Press that testing is now being done on the line.
Baker said crews have been working around the clock to get fuel to markets, and that it will take a few days for the fuel supply chain to fully recover after the line restarts.
The 500-foot (152- meter)bypass was needed to move fuel around the leak of its main gasoline pipeline in Shelby County, Alabama. The leak, which spilled 6,000 barrels of gasoline into a detention pond, was detected Sept. 9.
>>MAP: COLONIAL PIPELINE NETWORK THROUGH METRO ATLANTA<<
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Colonial representatives in metro Atlanta told Channel 2 consumer investigator Jim Strickland that once they start pumping through that bypass, it'll take only hours to fully pressurize the line, and that the bypass is capable of handling the usual flow rate.
Colonial Pipeline says it should restart the damaged gas line tomorrow, will still take several days for gas deliveries to return to normal.
— Richard Elliot (@RElliotWSB) September 20, 2016
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Channel 2's Steve Gehlbach talked to Mansfield Oil Company's VP of supply Tuesday on their trading floor in Gainesville.
They've been forced to truck in supplied from the coast, as far away as Tampa and New Orleans.
The prices are also up on their end, which ultimately gets passed onto stations then drivers.
The problem is the Colonial Pipeline supplies most of our region's gasoline and the inventory usually restocks every five days.
"When you go from 100 percent down to sub-50 percent… 30 to 40 percent range, physically not enough around to meet the demand… that's what we're seeing right now,” said VP Andy Milton.
WHERE TO TOP OFF
Your nearest Costco or Sam’s Club are often where gas prices will be cheapest.
In northwest Atlanta, regular gas at Costco was $1.99 at 2900 Cumberland Mall.
In College Park, gas was $2.26 at the BP at 5097 West Fayetteville Road.
In Midtown, many gas stations offered the same $2.69 regular gas price. This includes the Shell at 1184 Spring St.
In East Point, gas was $2.19 at BJ's at 3585 North Commerce Drive and $2.39 at Exxon at 3241 Camp Creek Parkway.
In Alpharetta, gas was $2.39 at the RaceTrac at 1545 Mansell Road and the Kroger at 12460 Crabapple Road. RaceTrac offers a list of Georgia gas stations with fuel.
In Roswell, gas was $2.39 at the RaceTrac at 420 East Crossville Road, the QuikTrip at 20 East Crossville Road and the Chevron at 11000 Crabapple Road.
In Marietta, gas was $1.99 at the Sam's Club at 150 South Cobb Parkway.
In Lawrenceville, gas was $2.39 at the Kroger at 950 Herrington Road and $2.25 at the QuickTrip at 3747 Lawrenceville Highway.
In Duluth, gas was $2.29 at the Costco at 3980 Venture Drive and $2.35 (cash only) at the Valero at 1932 Pleasant Hill Road.
(The list of GasBuddy gas prices includes only stations where reports were made in the last hour as of 1 p.m. Prices are unofficial.)
HOW TO FIND GAS WITHOUT DRIVING AROUND
tracks information such as gas prices.
and
offer similar services.
All three apps are available for download in the Apple app store and on Google Play.
If those don’t work, try the old fashioned way: calling nearby gas stations directly.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Cox Media Group
