The Gas Crisis of 2016: What We Know

Gasoline – it is a necessary commodity in our modern world. We take a trip to the gas station to fill up our car for granted. We would like to assume that there is an infinite supply of gas beyond the gas pump. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Gasoline is considered a non-renewable source of energy. Eventually, the supply of fossil fuel on Earth will be gone, forcing humanity to adapt and create newer, more renewable sources of energy.

So what happens when the supply of gasoline becomes very limited?

Almost always, panic ensues. Everyone rushes to their local Exxon station to fill up their cars and gas cans. The owners of gas stations raise gas prices drastically to make an extra buck. It seems almost apocalyptic. . .

September 9, 2016-- An inspector with the Alabama Surface Mining Commission was performing a monthly check of an abandoned coal mine in Shelby County when he reportedly noticed a strong odor of gasoline. This smell was coming from Colonial Pipeline’s Line 1. This gas line is three feet in diameter, and it pushes (on average) 1.3 million barrels of gasoline per day. The Line starts in Houston, Texas and pushes gas to distribution centers all across the Southeast and Eastern Seaboard.

An aerial view of the spill site in Shelby County. (Credit: Marty Sellers, sellersphoto.com for al.com)

The three-foot-wide Line 1 was built in 1963. It is estimated that this line supplies the East Coast with 40 percent of its gasoline. Colonial Pipeline shut down the line within twenty minutes of receiving a report about a potential leak. Gasoline is being rerouted through an alternate pipeline—even being shipped via tanker ship from Houston to New York.

With the flow of gasoline interrupted, six states have declared a state of emergency. This is so truck drivers may work longer shifts to head off shortages at the pump. On Saturday, Colonial announced that it would be constructing a temporary pipeline in order to bypass the spill site in an effort to restore the flow of gasoline more quickly.

Gas stations all around the Southeast have reported shortages of some or all grades of gasoline. Fear of shortages has sparked long lines at gas stations in Nashville, Tennessee. As expected with the fear of shortage, gas stations have raised their prices. Gas prices have started to creep up all around the region; however, Alabama law limits how much gas stations can raise prices during declared states of emergency.

Credit: Google Images

An estimated 340,000 gallons of gasoline have been lost since the leak was discovered on September 9th.  Over 700 workers have been working around the clock to dig up the pipeline, repair it, and to clean up the spill around the old mining property South of Birmingham.

The average price of a gallon of gas went up by 8 cents in Tennessee, 10 cents in Georgia, five cents in South Carolina, and 3 cents in Alabama.

Officials announced on Sunday that Colonial’s Line 1 has been repaired. The pipeline could be restarted as early as this week. The rise in gas prices will only be temporary, officials say.