County Situation Report on gas shortages from Colonial Pipeline hack

Late Wednesday afternoon Warren County Emergency Services Coordinator Rick Farrall released the following report on expected consequences of the Ransomware hack of the Colonial Pipeline running from Texas to New Jersey and supplying a significant amount of gasoline to Virginia. Here is his report in its entirety:

Regarding the Colonial Pipeline Cyberattack:

– VDEM hosted a teleconference this afternoon (May 12, 2021) to update localities on the situation.

– The Colonial Pipeline is one of three pipelines that serve Virginia.

– The Colonial Pipeline anticipates beginning to return to function as early as this weekend; full restoration is expected to take at least another week to 10 days.

– Virginia is still receiving fuel into the state; everyone should expect the distribution process locally will be slower, pending remaining supplies at regional fuel storage facilities. For example, it is reported to take 14 days for fuel to flow from Houston, TX-based refineries to New Jersey – then additional days down to Virginia.

– Bottom Line: We should all expect fuel shortages over the next week to 10 days. Colonial Pipeline is making better than expected progress to restore the applicable IT systems that automate the flow of fuel into Virginia.

Locally: As of this afternoon, seventeen different gas stations/agencies were contacted regarding the current status of fuel. Most of the larger corporations have unleaded, midgrade, premium, and diesel. They have reported that their drivers are working around the clock to keep up with the demand. Smaller stations are either low on unleaded and midgrade or completely out of gas.

Key Messages: (1) Limit travel to essential travel only; (2) Maximize telework; (3) Only get fuel when needed to mitigate local fuel shortages.

We will continue to monitor the situation closely and provide additional updates as appropriate.