A fuel pipeline leak in California forced the shutdown of gasoline and diesel deliveries from Los Angeles to areas including Las Vegas and Phoenix and caused an emergency to be declared in Nevada.

Energy infrastructure company Kinder Morgan announced Saturday that it resumed operations after a fuel leak was detected this week in a Southern California gasoline pipeline that supplies unleaded fuel and diesel to storage facilities in Southern Nevada.

Pipeline operator Kinder Morgan told The Associated Press that the leak was discovered Thursday afternoon at a company station near Los Angeles and that its CALNEV and SFPP West pipelines were shut down while the Houston-based pipeline operator worked to resolve the problem.

Kinder Morgan spokeswoman Katherine Hill said in a statement Saturday that “restart activities are complete for Watson Station’s associated SFPP West and CalNev pipelines, and have resumed operations.”

Hill said the company expects “the pipelines to resume operations this afternoon and begin delivering fuel to their respective market areas later today.”

The fuel leak occurred on Thursday

The fuel leak was detected Thursday and had prompted Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo to declare a state of emergency overnight.

The declaration allows the state to receive federal resources and waivers as it deals with the pipeline repair schedule and finds alternative sources of fuel.

Kinder Morgan’s latest statement said the company had “isolated the source of the leak within our Watson station in Long Beach, California.”

Kinder Morgan is still investigating the causes of the fuel leak.

Nye County, Nevada, tweeted Saturday, “Systems are now coming back online” and “fuel should be flowing in a few hours.”

Officials warned residents against panic buying while service is restored.

“Kinder Morgan operates approximately 3,000 miles of refined products pipeline serving Arizona, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Washington and Texas,” according to the company.

 

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