HELENA, Ala. (AP) — Colonial Pipeline says it has restarted one of its two main pipelines after an explosion in Alabama, but anticipates that its main gasoline line will remain down the rest of this week.
The Georgia-based company said in a statement Tuesday that it restarted its Line 2, which transports diesel, jet fuel and other products, around 11 a.m. Central Time Tuesday.
Colonial shut down both of its main lines after Monday's blast, which killed a worker and injured several others.
A Colonial Pipeline leak last month led to gas shortages and rising prices across the South.
After the September leak, Colonial said it made up some of the gasoline shortfall by sending gas through the line that usually carries diesel and jet fuel. The company has not said whether it intends to do so again.
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12:15 p.m.:
Witnesses say they heard two explosions in rapid succession when a pipeline exploded and caught fire in Alabama.
Eddie Moore and his wife were at home in their rural house a few miles from the site of Monday's blast when they heard loud, sharp sounds in the distance.
He said he heard "two quick sounds, like boom, boom!"
Moore said he drove closer to the sounds and saw flames shooting more than 100 feet in the air, plus thick smoke. Still, Moore said living so close to the blast doesn't bother him.
One worker was killed and several others hurt in the explosion.
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Noon:
Experts say motorists could soon begin seeing higher costs at gas pumps in some Southern states after a pipeline explosion in Alabama.
Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline said it shut down both of its main lines after Monday's blast, which killed a worker and injured several others. Both lines, which supply gasoline to millions of people across the South, remained closed Tuesday morning.
AAA spokeswoman Tamra Johnson says that if both lines remain shut down, drivers could begin to see higher prices at the pumps within about a week.
Johnson noted that Colonial was able to open its second main line soon after last month's leak was detected, and began moving products through it. This situation could be different, if both lines remain closed for days.
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3:15 a.m.
An explosion has shut down a pipeline that supplies gasoline to millions of people for the second time in less than two months, raising the specter of gas shortages and price increases.
One worker was killed and a half-dozen were injured in Monday's blast in Alabama.
An earlier pipeline leak not far from Monday's explosion led to Colonial Pipeline to shut down the delivery system in September. That prompted dry pumps and higher prices in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina and North Carolina.
The effects of the latest disruption aren't immediately clear.