Update: Local, regional and national coverage on the Shelby county Colonial Pipeline explosion

Photo from Alabama EMA twitter feed
Photo from Alabama EMA twitter feed

Below is a compilation of local, regional, and national news stories on the Colonial pipeline explosion that occurred yesterday in Shelby county.

According to a Colonial Pipeline statement and multiple media reports, a contract crew working miles from the site of a Sept. 9 spill ran into the pipeline with a trackhoe, igniting gasoline and causing a fire. One person died at the scene and five others were transported to Birmingham-area hospitals for treatment.

The spill in September shut the line for 12 days, cutting supplies to 50 million Americans in the Southeast. As of right now it is too early to predict the impact the explosion will have on the environment and gas prices, but AAA has already predicted price hikes throughout the South.

Here is a compilation of stories and social media updates:

Governor Robert Bentley’s twitter feed with updates

Alabama Emergency Management Agency Facebook updates

WBRC FOX 6 – 10 p.m. update from Colonial Pipeline explosion in Shelby County

WIAT CBS 42 -Colonial Pipeline: 1 killed in Shelby County gas line explosion (includes helicopter footage)

al.com – 1 dead, several severely burned after Shelby County gas line explosion

al.com – ‘They are loved’: Families support Shelby County pipeline explosion victims at UAB burn unit 

Bloomberg News – Largest U.S. Fuel Pipeline Shuts After Work Crew Triggers Blast 

Reuters –Explosion, fire in Alabama on gasoline pipeline kills one 

 

Pat Byington
Pat Byington

Longtime conservationist. Former Executive Director at the Alabama Environmental Council and Wild South. Publisher of the Bama Environmental News for more than 18 years. Career highlights include playing an active role in the creation of Alabama's Forever Wild program, Little River Canyon National Preserve, Dugger Mountain Wilderness, preservation of special places throughout the East through the Wilderness Society and the strengthening (making more stringent) the state of Alabama's cancer risk and mercury standards.

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