HELENA, Ala. (AP) — For the second time in two months, a pipeline that supplies gasoline to millions of people was shut down, raising the specter of another round of gas shortages and price increases. AAA said the shutdown of the pipeline’s 1 and 2 lines are in response to what they’re calling an “integrity event.”

“An extended shutdown of both lines would have a major impact on supplies and prices from the Gulf Coast to East Coast,” the organization’s release read. The disruption occurred when a track hoe — a machine used to remove dirt — struck the pipeline, ignited gasoline and caused an explosion Monday that sent flames and thick black smoke soaring over a forest in northern Alabama, Colonial Pipeline said. One worker died at the scene and five individuals were taken to Birmingham-area hospitals for treatment, the company said. Colonial was working to restart a section of pipeline damaged after its biggest leak of gasoline in nearly two decades on Sept. 9, which released as much as 8,000 barrels (336,000 gallons) of gasoline in Shelby County. After the leak, the company used one of Colonial’s two main lines to move gasoline as it made repairs, but it still led to days of dry pumps and higher gas prices in Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas while repairs were made. NEARLY $1 MILLION POURS IN FOR ND ANTI-PIPELINE PROTEST, BUT IT MAY NOT LAST

The contractors were working on repairs related to the September leak when gasoline ignited and spread fire to the pipeline, the U.S. This accident has closed both pipelines, meaning the problem will be more widespread.
Robert J. Bentley, the Governor of Alabama, declares a state of emergency following Monday's gas explosion in a Colonial Pipeline pipeline. The explosion killed one person and injured five.