US Pipeline Explosion Kills 1 and Sends Pump Prices Rocketing

An explosion along the Colonial pipeline in Shelby County, Alabama killed one worker, injured five others and shut down a major gasoline and diesel artery that moves fuel from Texas to New York.

The blaze was sparked around 2 p.m.local time when a crew of contract workers using a trackhoe was performing maintenance on the system, according to Colonial Pipeline Co., which operates the network. The machinery breached the pipe and ignited gasoline inside the line, causing a fire that continued to burn late Monday night.

The injured workers, some in critical condition, were transported to hospitals in Birmingham, Alabama, about 30 miles north, said Lt. Russell Bedsole of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office.

The accident occurred in a remote area, and emergency officials worked Monday afternoon to clear the few residents in the area.

“This appears to be an accident,” Lt. Bedsole said. “There is no suspicion of terrorist activity.”
The Colonial pipeline moves gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from Texas to the Atlantic Coast, supplying more than a dozen states across the Southeast and eastern seaboard with refined petroleum.

The explosion is the second accident for the company in Shelby County in recent weeks. In September, a huge gasoline leak in the pipeline crimped fuel supplies and caused prices to climb at gas stations in parts of the region.

Colonial installed a new section of pipe to bypass the leak and get fuel flowing again. Colonial’s two main pipelines, which traverse Shelby County, are shut down. It is unclear when the pipelines will begin moving fuel again.

As a result of the leak, gasoline prices in the U.S. Southeast spiked in September. The temporary shut-down was a problem for the U.S. Southeast because “there are no refineries between Alabama and Pennsylvania that produce substantial quantities of transportation fuels,” the U.S. Energy Information Administration said in September, adding that “the U.S. Southeast is supplied primarily by pipeline flows from refineries along the U.S. Gulf Coast and supplemented by marine shipments from the U.S. Gulf Coast and imports.”