Gas Shortage, Price Hikes in Georgia: Company Promising Fuel Line Bypass

ALPHARETTA, GA — Drivers in Atlanta struggling to find gas or facing steep price hikes amid a shortage across six states in the Southeast are learning a temporary fix is on the way. A major pipeline serving most of the region was shut off last week due to a fuel leak, but the company in charge of the line says it will create a bypass to restore service as the leak is fixed.

Alpharetta-based Colonial Pipeline Company announced late Saturday it has received the necessary approvals from federal regulators to build a "bypass line" around the leak in rural central Alabama on Line 1, the major fuel supply artery for the East Coast.

The company did not say how long construction of the bypass would take, nor did it predict to what degree it would ease supply concerns in areas that rely on Line 1 for gasoline. Line 1 supplies about 40 percent of the gasoline used in the eastern United States, moving fuel from Gulf Coast refineries to shipping points as far north as New York City. Gas stations throughout the south are already out of fuel.

One Atlanta driver arriving at the pump Sunday morning found gas prices at $2.45. AAA reports Atlanta prices a week ago were $2.17, and are now averaging $2.40. Other area drivers are having a tough time finding gas at all.

Colonial estimates between 252,000 gallons and 336,000 gallons of fuel leaked in the spill, which was discovered Sept. 9, though it is unclear when the spill began. The company says it has more than 700 employees in the area working to repair the leak and mitigate environmental damage.

Image via Colonial Pipeline Company