by A pipeline facility in California that was forced to stop deliveries of gasoline and diesel from the East Los Angeles area to areas including Las Vegas and Phoenix due to a leak, resumed operations on Saturday, according to the pipeline operator.
The source of the leak was isolated inside its Watson Station in Long Beach, Calif., and the facility began delivering fuel Saturday afternoon, according to pipeline operator Kinder Morgan.
The amount and cause of the leak are under investigation, according to Kinder Morgan communications manager Katherine Hill. Clark County officials said they believed supplies would not be affected by the leak.
The video showed drivers in long lines at gas stations in Las Vegas, many waiting for an hour to fill their tanks.
“As the pipeline is expected to be fully operational tonight, I urge Las Vegas residents again to refrain from panic buying fuel,” said Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, who declared a state of emergency on Friday to help to mitigate the impact of the disaster. leak out.
Kinder Morgan said the leak was discovered Thursday afternoon at a company station near Los Angeles and that its CALNEV and SFPP West pipelines were closed while the Houston-based pipeline operator worked to resolve the problem.
The pipeline supplies fuel storage facilities in southern Nevada with unleaded and diesel fuel, according to Clark County officials. Another pipeline operated by UNEV Pipeline LLC serves the Las Vegas area from northern Utah.
Kinder Morgan’s website says its 566-mile CALNEV pipeline transports gasoline, diesel and jet fuel from Los Angeles refineries and marine terminals via parallel 14-inch, 8-inch-diameter pipelines to Barstow, California, and the area of Vegas.
Hill later said that only the larger 14-inch pipeline to Las Vegas had been closed.
Airports it serves include Nellis Air Force Base and Harry Reid International in Las Vegas and Edwards Air Force Base in California’s Mojave Desert, the company said.
Kinder Morgan’s SFPP West pipeline runs approximately 515 miles to transport petroleum products from the Los Angeles area to Colton and Imperial, Calif., and east to Phoenix.
CBS News reached out to several agencies but did not hear back as of Saturday night about any potential environmental damage caused by the spill.
