On Friday night, Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo (R) declared a state of emergency after a fuel leak was detected in Southern California, causing the pipeline that supplies Las Vegas and southern Nevada to shut down.
“Tonight, I am declaring a state of emergency for the fuel pipeline leak impacting Southern Nevada,” Gov. Lombardo said in a release late Friday night.
“This emergency declaration will allow us to receive federal waivers and resources as we navigate the evolving repair timeline, and it will allow us to increase transportation of fuel by other means during this time. As we continue to monitor this dynamic situation, our office will remain in constant communication with Kinder Morgan, the Nevada Division of Emergency Management, and Clark County officials,” he added.
Gov. Lombardo urged his constituents to avoid panic buying.
“Once estimated repair times are finalized, our office will provide an update. To avoid any unnecessary shortages, I strongly urge all Las Vegas residents to avoid panic buying while awaiting repair timeline updates,” he concluded.
Drivers are already waiting in huge lines to fill up their tanks as the shutdown of the pipeline causes widespread concern despite the governor’s appeal.
According to Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, which operates the impacted pipeline, the leak was first discovered on Thursday at a pumping station in Long Beach, California.
On Saturday afternoon, Clark County released an update on the Kinder Morgan pipeline leak/fuel transmission situation.
“Clark County officials continue to monitor the Kinder Morgan fuel transmission situation and the County plans to keep our emergency declaration in place until we are confident our regular amount of fuel is passing through the pipeline and into our region. Kinder Morgan reports that it has isolated the source of the leak within its facility in Long Beach, Calif. The company expects pipeline operations to resume this afternoon and deliveries of this fuel will begin,” the county said in a statement.
“As a precaution, local residents are encouraged to help with conserving fuel and avoid panic buying to limit potential impacts due to this temporary disruption.”
“Moving forward, Clark County will continue to work in coordination with local, state and federal stakeholders as well as our transportation partners who help to move fuel into and around the region to ensure we continue to be equipped to weather such an emergency like this in the future.”