Colonial Pipeline Operations Back To Normal After Line Repaired

For more information, contact:
Steve Baker
Director of Communications
(678) 762‑2589
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SIMPSONVILLE, S.C. (April 16, 2015) – Colonial Pipeline operations returned to normal after crews repaired a section of the company’s main distillate line, which transports diesel fuel, jet fuel and other petroleum products on the Houston-to-New York pipeline system.

An undetermined amount of fuel escaped from the line but was contained primarily on Colonial’s right of way in a rural part of South Carolina. An investigation into the cause of the incident is under way, as is an analysis of how much fuel was released. 

The line was shut down Sunday when a resident alerted Colonial to an odor of diesel fuel. There were also reports of a light sheen on a small pond and dead grass on Colonial’s right of way. A Colonial inspector was dispatched and confirmed the reports, leading to the line’s shutdown. 

Protections were put in place to prevent fuel in the pond from reaching a nearby creek. There has only been approximately 20 gallons of free-standing product recovered as most of it is mixed with the soils that have been excavated as part of the response and repair. The incident area was about 500 feet by 50 feet and mostly limited to Colonial’s right of way.

The line restarted Tuesday morning, after about 40 hours of being down. Two shifts, totaling nearly 200 people, worked around the clock to install environmental protection measures at the site and complete the repairs. 

The work detail had three priorities: to protect public health, to protect the safety of workers at the site, and to minimize any environmental impact from the fuel release. There were no injuries, no reports of wildlife impacted, and no evidence any fuel traveled beyond the immediate vicinity of the pipeline and the right of way.

Based in Alpharetta, Ga., Colonial is a 5,500-mile pipeline system transporting gasoline, diesel fuel, jet fuel, home heating oil and fuels for the U.S. military. The network of underground pipelines originates in Houston, Texas, and terminates at Linden, N.J., on the New York harbor. For more information, please visit www.colpipe.com.

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