Colonial seeks to restart amid emergency

MONTGOMERY, November 2, 2016 – Colonial Pipeline can reopen the largest fuel pipeline in the US by Saturday, the company said Tuesday. Alabama has declared a state of emergency to help contain damage from Monday’s explosion, which killed one.

The blast on Monday, which set off wildfires and shut down two pipelines carrying some 2.5 million barrels per day of petrol, diesel and jet fuel more than 8,850 kilometres from Texas to New York, also injured five workers and curbed supplies to millions of Americans.

“The state of emergency is effective November 1, 2016 through December 1, 2016 unless sooner terminated,” a statement from the governor’s office read, adding that the decree would waive federal limitations on the number of hours a driver can transport petrol to help alleviate the resulting fuel shortages.

The accident took place as workers were seeking to repair damage from a September leak that shut down the pipeline for 12 days and spilled hundreds of thousands of litres of petrol into the environment, according to the statement.

Analysts say the Saturday deadline is realistic.

“If they are properly motivated, they can do the investigation and get the line up a lot quicker than [after] the last [spill in September],” Richard Kuprewicz, president of pipeline advisory Accufacts, told Reuters. “My experience tells me that even with a fatality, I would not expect this to go as long as the last one.”

The incident has also raised further concerns over pipeline safety, especially as protests and acts of sabotage continue against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. In 2016 alone there were five different spills in Alabama, including the one in September, Reuters reported.

The Colonial pipeline itself, completed in 1964, has experienced a number of incidents over the years. In 2003, the EPA fined the company USD 34 million, the largest civil penalty in the history of the agency at the time, over seven separate spills.

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