Colonial Pipeline Co. temporarily shut down two fuel lines that run through the Charlotte area after Hurricane Ida made landfall Sunday, but the company assured consumers there was sufficient supply.
“Fuel supply continues to be available throughout the southeast from the numerous terminals located along the supply route,” Colonial said in a statement on its website.
Ida, a Category 4 storm with winds of 150 mph, made landfall early Sunday afternoon near the barrier isle of Grand Isle along the Louisiana coast, The Associated Press reported. That’s about 45 miles west of where Category 3 Katrina first struck land on the same date 16 years ago.
Colonial’s 5,500-mile pipeline carries 45% of fuel to areas in the Southeast and along the East Coast, the Observer previously reported.
In Charlotte, the pipeline passes through Tank Town, a cluster of petroleum tank farms in the northwest Charlotte neighborhood of Paw Creek. A smaller company, Plantation, also operates a pipeline in Tank Town.
At 3:30 p.m., Colonial shut down Lines 1 and 2 from Houston to Greensboro as “a precautionary and routine safety measure,” the company said on its website. Two other lines that serve areas from Greensboro to Linden, New Jersey, continued normal operations, Colonial said.
“Colonial expects operations to resume full service following evaluation of infrastructure and successful execution of the company’s startup plan,” the statement said.
The temporary shutdown came as no surprise to one fuel industry analyst.
“This is not uncommon,” Patrick De Haan, oil and refined products analyst for GasBuddy.com, said in a tweet. “Once the storm passes, damage assessments will be made and I would expect a quick return to service.”
In May, a ransomware attack forced Colonial to shut down the pipeline, sending prices soaring and triggering a gas panic across the Southeast.
Last week, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein filed a price-gouging lawsuit against a Charlotte gas station owner, the Observer previously reported. Mansa Travel Center Charlotte LLC increased its prices for mid-grade and premium gas to $9.99 per gallon on or before May 13, according to the lawsuit filed in Wake County on Thursday.
State law prohibits businesses from excessively raising prices during a crisis and goes into effect when the governor declares a state of emergency, which Gov. Roy Cooper did on May 10.
“Many people apparently concerned about #gasprices absolutely skyrocketing,” he said in an earlier tweet. “To those, I say this: there is 0% chance that the national average rises to some of those apocalyptical figures. No to a *national average* of $3.50. No to $4. No to $5. It’s just not in the cards.”
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