Colonial Pipeline has released news that the pipeline successfully restarted gas flow in the afternoon of Sept. 21, 2016, two weeks after the company discovered a product spill from the Line 1 pipeline in Shelby Co., Alabama.
Colonial delivers over 100 million gallons of refined products daily to markets between Houston and New York City. In the 24 hours before the pipeline restart, the federal, state, and local officials as well as over 800 Colonial employees were on site working to make sure safety protocols were followed so that repair and remediation efforts were accomplished.
After the leak was discovered on Sept. 9, Colonial began constructing a 500-foot bypass segment to allow the return of gas flow to the pipeline. A successful hydrostatic test using the completed bypass confirmed the integrity of the pipeline. While restart procedures have begun, Colonial released that it may take several days for all markets affected by the gas shortage to return to normal.
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In the meantime, Colonial will continue to excavate and inspect the site of the product spill so investigators can determine a clear cause for the impacted segment. Currently there have been no impacts on the safety of the public as environmental safety efforts have been successful in containing the release site. Until gas flow has been successfully restored in all of Atlanta, companies such as Mobile Fuel and Yoshi are delivering gas to customers in need.
