Colonial Pipeline is committed to business practices that protect the environment and the public at all times. We hold our employees to the highest standards and expect them to abide by our environmental commitments. We’ve pledged to consistently operate in an environmentally responsible manner and we meet applicable environmental laws and regulations.
Protecting the environment is a key priority and top commitment at Colonial. Pipelines are among the safest, most environmentally responsible, and lowest carbon intensive methods for transporting refined energy products. We empower all employees and contractors to stop, correct, and report unsafe conditions that might jeopardize the environment. We live and work among the beautiful landscapes of this nation and provide energy for its enjoyment.
Environmental Commitment
At Colonial Pipeline, we commit to:
- Consistently operate in an environmentally responsible manner and meet applicable environmental laws and regulations. We monitor our performance and take appropriate corrective actions, if necessary.
- Maintain a state of readiness for effective spill response to minimize environmental damage and potential threats to public safety if an event occurs.
- Handle waste using safe and responsible methods per applicable standards.
- Employ pollution prevention measures to minimize potentially adverse environmental impacts of our operations.
- Promote open dialogue with regulatory agencies and communities about our environmental program and seek cooperative solutions to environmental issues.
- Train employees to abide by all relevant regulations and the highest safety standards.
- Evaluate our environmental efforts and use the findings to continuously improve our performance.
Our Approach to Sustainability
Colonial employs a collaborative, data-based management approach to drive improvements in environmental, social, safety, and governance performance.
Our sustainability program is overseen by our board of directors, governed by our leadership team and a sustainability steering team, and supported by a sustainability program manager. Each member of the sustainability steering team brings his or her respective expertise into crafting topic-specific strategies that advance the overall goals of our sustainability program.
Spill Prevention & Control
At Colonial, we are committed to the safe and secure transportation of liquid energy products. Through a combination of internal, external, and data-based methods, we take a systematic approach to keeping our pipelines in reliable operating condition.
We employ real-time leak detection programs designed to minimize the impact of releases across our pipeline system. Part of this effort is spent engaging with our communities as partners in safety. We share important pipeline safety information across a broad audience and are committed to building trust with and protecting our local communities.
In the event of an incident, Colonial employees are trained to safely and immediately respond and engage local first responders. Our planning and mitigation efforts are in accordance with U.S. Department of Transportation Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration and Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
Spill prevention is a continuous journey of learning, improving, and incorporating new and emerging technologies. We are focused on the continued evolution in this space to accomplish our goal of zero releases.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Management of greenhouse gas emissions is important to the entire energy industry. For Colonial, our primary source of emissions is from the energy we use to operate the pipeline. To minimize our energy consumption, we track certain energy efficiency metrics and data across our operations.
We are engaged in opportunities to develop and deploy an energy management plan that aims to reduce carbon intensity through solar photovoltaic distributed generation; supporting renewable energy usage through the generation of renewable energy certificates; optimizing system-wide use of Drag Reducing Agents; and evaluating electric utility green tariffs. We track our Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions and use data to monitor our year-over-year emissions.
Transporting Energy Sustainably
In 2024, Colonial Pipeline generated 80 percent fewer greenhouse gas emissions than using trucks to ship the same amount of refined products, over the same distance, would generate, and 53 percent less than using trucks and rail would. Since the introduction of a Drag Reducing Agent (DRA) in 2015, Colonial has saved 1,969,113,733 kWh of electricity, equivalent to 90,544 homes’ electricity use for a year. (Source, EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator)
Colonial has also transported Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to New York Area airports. SAF is a potential replacement for conventional jet fuel, subject to current blending limitations, and is made from renewable waste, residues and other biomass. When used in neat form, SAF reduces greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80 percent over its lifecycle when compared with conventional jet fuel. (Source, Neste Press Release 6/15/2022)
Since their installation in 2019, our solar arrays in Woodbury, NJ and Allentown, NJ have generated over 39,727,346 kWh of electricity — enough to power nearly 3,700 homes for a year.
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At Colonial, we integrate best practices in safety into every element of operational and occupational processes.
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