The broken pipeline that supplies Las Vegas and the rest of Southern Nevada with gasoline and diesel fuel has been fixed over the weekend. Fuel was expected to begin running again, officials declared on Saturday.
Las Vegas gas stations experienced lines this weekend due to a rush of panic buying after a major fuel pipeline was closed down due to a leak. Fortunately, the pipeline was successfully repaired. (Image: KTNV )
The pipeline operator, Kinder Morgan , a Houston-based energy company, declared that they had to completely shut down the entire pipeline on Friday due to a leak at their Watson Station facility in Long Beach, California.
The workers identified the leak, determined its cause, and the pipeline was up and running again by Saturday afternoon.
This enabled the company to announce that they could now use the 566-mile, 14-inch CalNev pipeline to supply fuel to Clark County.
Additionally, the SFPP West pipeline, which stretches from California to Phoenix, Arizona, was also available for fuel flow over the weekend.
Emergency Declarations Remain in Place
Despite this, states of emergency issued on Friday by Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo and Clark County officials remain in effect as of Saturday.
This morning, we received an update that Kinder Morgan anticipates the gas pipeline to get back to normal operations by this afternoon.
Please read my full statement below. pic.twitter.com/fPcuJktgUf
— Governor Joe Lombardo (@JosephMLombardo) February 11, 2023
No timeline was provided when the emergency declarations would be lifted.
“Clark County authorities are continuing to monitor the Kinder Morgan fuel transmission issue and the County plans to keep our emergency declaration in effect until we are certain our regular amount of fuel is flowing through the pipeline and into our region,” Clark County spokesperson Erik Pappa said on Saturday.
Kinder Morgan also reported that they are informing government regulators as progress is made on the situation.
We are still in close communication with our customers and the appropriate regulatory agencies as we work to resolve this issue,” Kinder Morgan said in a Saturday statement.
On Thursday, approximately 205 gallons of fuel spilled from the Kinder Morgan pipeline in Long Beach, reported by the Las Vegas Review-Journal .
The CalNev pipeline supplies 90% of the fuel to the Las Vegas Valley, according to KLAS
