Tanker trucks line up at a Colonial Pipeline Co. facility in Pelham, Ala., near the scene of a 250,000-gallon gasoline spill on Friday, Sept. 16, 2016. The company says spilled gasoline is being taken to the storage facility for storage. Some motorists could pay a little more for gasoline in coming days because of delivery delays. (AP Photo/Jay Reeves)Half the gas pumps outside the Tiger Market at Hixson Pike and Lupton Drive were occupied Sunday evening.
Above them, an electronic sign advertised regular gas at $1.99.
It felt like a normal setting, but a routine fill-up carried a greater-than-usual sense of relief for some customers
“We were just happy to find some,” said Charles Pray, a moment after his son, Cole, finished filling up his sedan for a trip to Ellijay, Ga.
The father-and-son made more than one stop around town before finding fuel on Hixson Pike, where gas prices ranged from $1.95 to $2.26 per gallon on a day when some stores in the tri-state area reportedly ran out of gas.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam declared a state of emergency Friday in the wake of last week’s Colonial Pipeline spill in central Alabama that affected fuel supplies in five states.
His measure was precautionary – there are other pipelines contributing to the state’s fuel supply – but some rushed to the pumps this weekend anyway, despite the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency’s advice that drivers continue their usual fuel-consumption habits.
Still, there were no apparent widespread shortages in Tennessee, just some slightly higher prices and a few longer-than-usual lines.
“I saw a photograph Saturday of someone in Williamson County in a pickup truck that had four empty water coolers in the back of his truck, filling them up with gas,” TEMA spokesman Dean Flener said by phone from Nashville on Sunday. “We can’t do that. That’s excessive, irrational demand on the supply.”
No one was spotted filling up water coolers outside the Tiger Market on Hixson Pike, but Dave McCurdy said he was filling up his vehicle out of precaution.
“My wife called and said I might want to check on gas,” McCurdy said, adding that he was a bit surprised to fill up for under $2 a gallon at the first gas station he drove past. “I just got lucky. This is right down the road from me.”
Some social media users in the Chattanooga area lamented over their struggle to find gas. Some said they could find only high-octane gas, while the Murphy Oil station on Signal Mountain Road had signs on its pumps saying only regular was available.
AAA Tennessee spokeswoman Stephanie Milani said that, based on her discussions with colleagues around the state, social media chatter over the weekend seemed to make the situation seem worse than it was.
“It’s just been spotty here and there,” Milani said. “I think once everyone gets back to work and resumes their normal routine, it may get back to normal even before the pipeline is fixed.”
A spokesman for AAA Georgia could not be reached Sunday night, but the state’s governor, Nathan Deal, said his office hasn’t received complaints of gas shortages, according to The Associated Press.
Deal said through a spokeswoman that he would “act accordingly” if the situation changes.
“As of now we’ve not received any complaints. If that changes on Monday or at any time in the coming days, the governor’s office will act accordingly,” Deal spokeswoman Jen Ryan said in a statement Sunday.
Deal, Haslam and Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley all issued executive orders last week to suspend limitations on trucking hours, allowing drivers to stay on the road longer to bring fuel into their states. The order said, however, that no motor carrier “shall require or allow an ill or fatigued driver to operate a motor vehicle.”
Colonial Pipeline announced Saturday it was beginning construction on a temporary pipeline that will bypass a leaking section of its main gasoline pipeline in Shelby County, Ala.
The company has acknowledged that between 252,000 gallons and 336,000 gallons of gasoline leaked from a pipeline near Helena, Ala., since the spill was first detected Sept. 9. It’s unclear when the spill actually started, the AP reported.
Deal believes his plan will be an effective one if people maintain normal consumption levels and travel routines.
“We are confident these measures will help ensure Georgians’ uninterrupted access to motor fuel until Alabama’s pipeline is fixed,” Deal said in a statement on his website on Friday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Contact staff writer David Cobb at dcobb@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6249.