Colonial Pipeline Shuts Vital Gasoline Pipeline because of a Leak in Georgia

Colonial Pipeline has temporarily shut its main gasoline line – America’s largest fuel pipeline – because of leak in Georgia, the pipeline’s operator and local officials said.

Line 1 of the 5,500-mile Colonial Pipeline had a “gasoline release,” according to Stephen Dooley, Paulding County Director of Emergency Management. Although Dooley said Colonial told him the leak was “not an emergency event,” the pipeline has been shut down as the company works on repairs. At the “release” site — at Peg Cole Ridge Trail in Villa Rica, Georgia – Dooley said a number of Colonial Pipeline vehicles were present as employees tried to fix the leak.

The Colonial Pipeline is one of the most important pieces of energy infrastructure in the United States, providing nearly half the gasoline and diesel fuel consumed by the East Coast. The impacted pipeline, Line 1, is a vital part of the biggest pipeline system in the United States and carries 1.5 million barrels of fuel per day from Texas into North Carolina.