Gas Pipeline Resumes Operation After Leak in California, Las Vegas Unaffected

LAS VEGAS – The operator of a pipeline facility in California that was forced to stop gasoline and diesel deliveries from the Los Angeles area to areas including Las Vegas and Phoenix due to a leak restarted operations on Saturday.

According to pipeline operator Kinder Morgan, the source of the leak was found within its Watson Station in Long Beach, California, and fuel deliveries resumed by Saturday afternoon.

The volume and cause of the leak are being investigated, according to the communications manager at Kinder Morgan, Katherine Hill. Clark County officials stated they did not expect the spill would harm supplies.

“Since the pipeline is projected to be fully functioning by this evening, I advise Las Vegas residents not to panic-buy gasoline,” said Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, who had proclaimed a state of emergency to offset the effects of the leak.

Kinder Morgan reported that the leak was found Thursday afternoon at a company station near Los Angeles and that the company’s CALNEV and SFPP West pipelines were shut down as the Houston-based pipeline operator attempted to remedy the issue.

The pipeline supplies unleaded and diesel fuel to fuel storage facilities in southern Nevada, according to Clark County officials. From northern Utah, a second pipeline operated by UNEV Pipeline LLC serves the Las Vegas area.

According to Kinder Morgan’s website, its 566-mile (911-kilometer) CALNEV pipeline transports gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel from Los Angeles refineries and marine terminals to Barstow, California, and the Las Vegas area via parallel 14-inch (35.5-centimeter) and 8-inch (20-centimeter) diameter pipelines.

Hill stated subsequently that only the 14-inch (35.5-centimeter) pipeline to Las Vegas was shut down.

The airline services airports such as Nellis Air Force Base and Harry Reid International in Las Vegas and Edwards Air Force Base in the Mojave Desert of California.

The approximately 515-mile-long (829-kilometer-long) SFPP West pipeline owned by Kinder Morgan transports petroleum products from the Los Angeles area to Colton and Imperial, California, then east to Phoenix.

Credits: KOLOTV