Michigan Gas Spill May Raise Prices

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Michigan Gas Spill May Raise Prices

By DEE-ANN DURBIN .c The Associated Press

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Residents forced out of their homes by a broken pipeline and gasoline spill were allowed to return Friday, though effects of the accident could linger as higher fuel prices.

The broken pipeline dumped up to 100,000 gallons of gasoline into a drain leading to the Grand River on Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of 1,200 people from 450 homes in Jackson County, about 70 miles west of Detroit.

Returning residents were escorted by officials from the Environmental Protection Agency and Consumers Energy Co., who tested the air for harmful fumes.

Until the pipeline is reopened, Michigan consumers might face higher prices at the pump.

Ron Embry, a chemical engineer for the Wolverine Pipe Line Co., said the spill was caused by a several-inch crack in a fitting welded to the pipe. What caused the crack was unknown.

The pipeline runs from Joliet, Ill., to Detroit and pumps about 14 million gallons of gasoline a day into Illinois, Indiana and Michigan.

Michigan depends on the pipeline for 7 million gallons of gas each day, about a third of the state's daily consumption, said John Griffin, a spokesman for the Associated Petroleum Industries of Michigan.

Gas is still coming into Michigan on barges and trucks as well as from increased capacity in other pipelines, Griffin said. But prices could go up nevertheless until the rupture is fixed.

``There's enough crude oil on the market,'' he said. ``It's just a matter of getting it to the gas stations.'

Aol news no URL

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), June 09, 2000

Answers

Although it is a race weekend at Michigan International Raceway which is usually excuse enough to raise gasoline prices, this leak has produced a "shortage" that drove prices to 1.99 & 9/10ths a gallon for regular!

-- Frank Hill (fhill@absolute-net.com), June 09, 2000.

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