The Latest: Colonial Shuts Down Gas Pipeline After Blast
The Latest on the Alabama pipeline explosion (all times local):
Noon:
Experts say motorists could soon begin seeing higher costs at gas pumps in some Southern states after a pipeline explosion in Alabama.
Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline said it shut down both of its main lines after Monday’s blast, which killed a worker and injured several others. Both lines, which supply gasoline to millions of people across the South, remained closed Tuesday morning.
AAA spokeswoman Tamra Johnson says that if both lines remain shut down, drivers could begin to see higher prices at the pumps within about a week.
Johnson noted that Colonial was able to open its second main line soon after last month’s leak was detected, and began moving products through it. This situation could be different, if both lines remain closed for days.
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3:15 a.m.
An explosion has shut down a pipeline that supplies gasoline to millions of people for the second time in less than two months, raising the specter of gas shortages and price increases.
One worker was killed and a half-dozen were injured in Monday’s blast in Alabama.
An earlier pipeline leak not far from Monday’s explosion led to Colonial Pipeline to shut down the delivery system in September. That prompted dry pumps and higher prices in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina.
The effects of the latest disruption aren’t immediately clear.
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