By Briana Harris / Staff Writer

Colonial Pipeline crews began excavation work at about 3:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16, to unearth and repair the damaged section of Line 1 and operations continued intermittently throughout the night as work conditions were deemed safe.

According to an update from Colonial Pipeline on Saturday, Sept. 17, engineers decided to begin the execution of an alternative plan to construct a temporary segment of pipeline around the leak site to allow Line 1 to return to service as quickly and safely as possible.

On Friday, Sept. 9, a gasoline leak was discovered in the Line 1 pipe, which is located in an unincorporated portion of Shelby County. The leak is near the intersection of Shelby County 270 and Coalmont Road near Helena.

Initial estimates believed the gas leak dumped nearly 1,000 barrels of gasoline but a recent update on Sept. 16 now estimates between 6,000-8,000 barrels of gasoline has leaked from Line 1, which transports gasoline from refiners on the Gulf Coast to delivery locations along the Eastern seaboard.

The plan to construct a temporary bypass line around the leak site has been reviewed by all appropriate federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Transportation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The EPA issued an official waiver for federal gasoline evaporative emissions under the Clean Air Act for 13 counties in the metropolitan Atlanta and five counties in the metropolitan Nashville, Tenn., markets after the pipeline failure in Shelby County.

The EPA has issued a second waiver to allow for reformulated and conventional gasoline to be sold in markets that may be impacted by the disruption in supply caused by the leak. The waiver is effective immediately through Oct. 6.

Colonial Pipeline is shipping as much gasoline as possible on Line 2 to help mitigate the impact of the Line 1 service interruption. This has allowed all delivery markets to be served along the entire system, but in a more reduced capacity.

Normally, the Colonial Pipeline system transports about 2.6 million barrels of refined products each day with Line 1 accounting for half of the volume.

Colonial Pipeline has more than 500 employees on site who have been working with local, state and federal officials around-the-clock to try and resolve the issue.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley declared a state of emergency on Thursday, Sept. 15, as the shutdown of the pipeline has caused a disruption of gasoline distribution for the use of citizens throughout the state. Bentley said the gasoline shortage could impact the safety of the residents in Alabama.

The Cahaba Wildlife Management Area between State Highway 270 and Copperhead Road remained closed to all non-local residents throughout the weekend. The Cahaba Wildlife Management Shooting Range and access to ATV trails in the area are also closed.

Colonial extended a ‘thank you’ to thank the EPA, U.S. Coast Guard, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, the U.S. Department of Energy, the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, Shelby County Emergency Management Agency, the cities of Helena and Pelham and all other agencies and emergency responders for their quick response to the gas leak.