As a result of seven different spills on Colonial Pipeline in four years in the 1990s, the
United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) filed a complaint in 2000 against Colonial for violations of the
Clean Water Act. It alleged gross negligence specifically in three cases noted above: 1996 Reedy River, 1997 Bear Creek, and 1999 Goose Creek/Tennessee River. The parties reached a settlement with Colonial Pipeline that was announced on April 1, 2003. Colonial was required to pay a civil penalty of $34 million, the "largest a company has paid in EPA history." In this period, Colonial received the
American Petroleum Institute (API)'s Distinguished Environmental and Safety award for four consecutive years (1999–2002).
Spill history • Early on September 2, 1970, residents of
Jacksonville, Maryland, detected gasoline odors and noticed gasoline in a small creek flowing beneath a nearby road. That afternoon, a resident notified Colonial at 6:19 p.m. of concern. Colonial had 30-inch-diameter pipeline situated about east of the point where the creek passed under the road, and shut down the Dorsey Junction, Maryland, pump station (the initial pump station for this section of the pipeline) at 6:34 p.m. About 12 hours later, on the morning of September 3, an explosion and fire occurred in a ditch in which Colonial contract workers were manually digging to expose the pipeline and catch gasoline trickling from the ground. Five persons were injured, none fatally. The leak point was found four days later. The failure resulted in a release of 30,186 gallons (718 barrels) of gasoline and kerosene. • At 9:51 p.m. on December 19, 1991, Colonial's Line 2, a 36-inch-diameter petroleum products pipeline, ruptured about 2.8 miles downstream of the company's
Simpsonville, South Carolina, pump station. The rupture allowed more than 500,000 gallons (13,100 barrels) of Diesel fuel to flow into Durbin Creek, causing environmental damage that affected 26 miles of waterways, including the
Enoree River, which flows through
Sumter National Forest. The spill also forced
Clinton and
Whitmire, South Carolina, to use alternative water supplies. • On Sunday, March 28, 1993, at 8:48 a.m., a pressurized petroleum product pipeline owned and operated by Colonial Pipeline Company ruptured near
Herndon, Virginia, a Washington, D.C., suburb. The rupture created a geyser that sprayed diesel fuel more than into the air, coating overhead power lines and adjacent trees, and misting adjacent
Virginia Electric & Power Company buildings. The diesel fuel spewed from the rupture into an adjacent storm water management pond and flowed overland and through a network of storm sewer pipes before reaching Sugarland Run Creek, a tributary of the
Potomac River. • In October 1994, after heavy rainfall in the Houston area, failures of eight pipelines occurred with damage to 29 others. Two of the failures included Colonial Pipeline lines. The failures occurred at a crossing of the
San Jacinto river. The river, which normally flows at 2.5 feet above sea level, crested at 28 feet above sea level on October 21. The flooding caused major soil erosion. Colonial's 40-inch gasoline pipeline failed on October 20 at 8:31 a.m. and by 9:51 a.m., explosions and fires erupted on the river. Colonial's 36-inch (Diesel) pipeline ruptured about 2 p.m. on the same day, although it had previously been temporarily out of service, limiting the amount of the spill. • On June 26, 1996, a 36-inch diameter Colonial pipeline ruptured at the
Reedy River, near Fork Shoals, South Carolina. The ruptured pipeline released about 957,600 US gallons (3,625,000 L) of fuel oil into the Reedy River and surrounding areas. The spill polluted a 34-mile (55 km) stretch of the Reedy River, causing significant environmental damage. Floating oil extended about 23 miles (37 km) downriver. Approximately 35,000 fish were killed, along with other aquatic organisms and wildlife. The estimated cost to Colonial Pipeline for cleanup and settlement with the State of South Carolina was $20.5 million. No one was injured in the accident. The pipeline was operating at reduced pressure due to known corrosion issues, but pipeline operator confusion led to an accidental return to normal pressure in that pipeline section, causing the rupture. • On May 30, 1997, Colonial Pipeline spilled approximately 18,900 US gallons (72,000 L) of gasoline, some of which entered an unnamed creek and its adjoining shoreline in the Bear Creek watershed near
Athens, Georgia. During the spill, a vapor cloud of gasoline formed, causing several Colonial employees to flee for safety. This spill resulted from a calculation error related to a regular procedure. No one checked the calculations, nor did Colonial have a procedure in place to check such calculations. The line carrying gasoline was repaired and the distillate line, which carries Diesel fuel, jet fuel and other products, was inspected and found to be undamaged. Both lines were restarted two days later on October 5, 2012. • September 21, 2015, a leak was discovered in
Centreville, Virginia, by a local restaurant employee. The leak was estimated to have released 4,000 gallons of hydrocarbon product over the course of the preceding 2 weeks. Product was located and removed from the downstream retention pond adjacent to a townhome community. • On Friday, September 9, 2016, a
leak was detected in
Shelby County, Alabama, spilling an estimated 252,000 US gallons (954,000 L) of summer-grade gasoline, requiring a partial shutdown of the pipeline and threatening fuel shortages in the southeastern United States. This was Colonial's "biggest spill in nearly two decades". On November 1, 2016, the
U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration had control of the site, where the fire was still burning. The shutdown was affecting primarily the Southeast, as Northeast markets can receive some oil by water. • In the summer of 2020, a Colonial Pipeline gasoline pipeline
leaked 2 million gallons into the Oehler Nature Preserve near Huntersville, North Carolina, without detection. After detection by a group of teenagers, it took Colonial five days to repair the in the pipeline. As of February 2021, Colonial recovered 800,000 gallons of gasoline and 200,000 gallons of contaminated water. Neither NC Department of Environmental Quality nor Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration assessed fines. ==Representation in media==