Posted on 08/18/2003 3:57:26 AM PDT by RockChucker
(when I hear officials say 'don't panic' I immediately look for someone to knock over on the way to the exit)
Motorists drove on fumes from gas station to gas station Sunday night, searching for one that still had fuel. The stations still open had drivers lined up for hours waiting for their chance to pump -- and pay an increasingly high price......
(Excerpt) Read more at newsday.com ...
By BETH DEFALCO Associated Press Writer
August 18, 2003, 12:22 AM EDT
PHOENIX -- Gasoline here has been treated like liquid gold in the week and a half since a rupture forced the sole pipeline to the city to shut down.
Motorists drove on fumes from gas station to gas station Sunday night, searching for one that still had fuel. The stations still open had drivers lined up for hours waiting for their chance to pump -- and pay an increasingly high price for the privilege.
"I've been losing money for the last week," cab driver Dominick Santandrea said, complaining about prices in the $1.90-a-gallon range Sunday. "If this keeps up, the cab rates will go up."
The gas pipeline between Phoenix and Tucson ruptured July 30 and was shut down Aug. 8. Since then gas has been trucked up from Tucson, and AAA has been urging drivers not to panic.
"If people are panic buying, there is no need to panic. There is fuel coming into Arizona at the same amount as two weeks ago. It is just extremely slow," AAA Arizona spokeswoman Kim Pappas-Miller said.
"People are mistaking slow distribution with a fear that we are running out of gas, and that is not happening at all."
The pipeline first came under scrutiny after part of it ruptured in Tucson on July 30, causing about 12,000 gallons of gas to leak, Pappas-Miller said.
Executives from Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, the Houston company that operates the pipeline, met with federal regulators Thursday in Houston, where their plan to test the line for safety and fix the rupture was approved.
But company officials say it would be one or two weeks before the pipeline is running again. The pipeline is now undergoing testing to make sure it can withstand the pressure of the gas when it is operating again.
The Arizona Corporation Commission, which oversees pipeline safety, is expecting to have an investigation into the line break finished within two months, spokeswoman Heather Murphy said.
About 70 percent of the gas Phoenix uses comes from California, and the rest from Texas.
"People are mistaking slow distribution with a fear that we are running out of gas, and that is not happening at all."
That doesn't make a lick of sense. Is it just me?
Don't you just LOVE the way they spin it???
I don't care how much gas they say is in Tucson...it ain't in Phoenix!!
THAT is where the rubber meets the road!!
A pipeline breaks in JULY. The governors office is silent on the issue until some docs. were uncovered last week on KFYI about how badly this line has been patched.
On Sunday, this is when the *(^& hit the fan as people have been attempting to find gas.
The worst place to find it is in the Deer Valley section of Phoenix where there is none.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.