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Colonial Pipeline Says Broken Pipeline Has Been Safely Restarted & Returned To Service

Last Updated on September 21, 2016 7:12 pm

Colonial Pipeline issued the following update on Wednesday evening regarding the ongoing response to the product release in Shelby Co., Alabama.

Colonial Pipeline Line 1 has been safely restarted and returned to service.

Following several days of around-the-clock operations to fabricate, construct, position, and connect a bypass around the impacted segment of Line 1, today Colonial Pipeline removed the inline plugging devices that were installed at points on both sides of the impacted pipeline segment during the initial incident response operations and completed all other preparatory work necessary to initiate restart procedures safely.

Subsequent to this afternoon’s successful restart, it is expected to take several days for the fuel delivery supply chain to return to normal.  Some markets served by Colonial Pipeline may experience, or continue to experience, intermittent service interruptions. Colonial continues to move as much gasoline, diesel and jet fuel as possible and will continue to do so as markets return to normal.

Human and Material Resources Recap

In just the last 24 hours, over 800 personnel have been on site to assist in restart and remediation efforts. Throughout this process, nearly 100 federal, state and local officials have also been on site, working alongside Colonial Pipeline to assure safe operations.  Numerous pieces of equipment – including but not limited over 6,000 feet of boom, 60 pieces of heavy equipment, 15 industrial pumps, 50 vacuum trucks, 31 storage tanks, five cranes, and 400 vehicles – have also been used for repair and remediation efforts and will continue to assist efforts in upcoming days.

Line 1 Release Site Excavation and Investigation

Colonial Pipeline and the Unified Command continue to focus on remediating the site and ensuring the safety and protection of all workers and the environment.  Environmental protection efforts have successfully contained the release to the immediate site and there have been no impacts to the safety of the general public. Colonial Pipeline will continue to work in close consultation with federal, state and local officials to continue to monitor environmental conditions, assess impact, and implement appropriate remediation efforts.

Colonial will continue to excavate and remove the impacted segment of the pipeline so that a full and complete investigation can be conducted to determine the cause of this incident.  It would be premature to speculate on the cause of the September 9 release until the pipe has been excavated, inspected, and investigations are complete.

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