# If You Live on the East Coast Fill Up Your Gas Tank Now (Major Fuel Pipeline was Shut Down: update, now open) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 10, 2021, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734 "2021-05-10T04:48:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/41 "2021-05-13T14:06:31Z")
That actually happened two years ago. > **[Are People Hoarding Gas in Plastic Bags During the Shortage?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hoarding-gas-plastic-bags/)** > > Bad decisions beget bad decisions. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/42 "2021-05-13T14:34:47Z")
Yeah, that’s the video I saw on the news this morning. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/43 "2021-05-13T17:58:02Z")
This may sound dense, but even in this modern age you can’t go out and manually throw open a valve? ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/44 "2021-05-13T19:16:50Z")
> [@PastTense](#): > > This raises the question as to why Colonial simply didn’t pay up. The latest report is they paid about $5 million: [https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-13/colonial-pipeline-paid-hackers-nearly-5-million-in-ransom](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-13/colonial-pipeline-paid-hackers-nearly-5-million-in-ransom) ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/45 "2021-05-13T19:40:25Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > The right end! A great place, but the cost of living is high. Nowhere to go and all day to get there. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/46 "2021-05-13T19:42:56Z")
I’m surprised there’s only a week’s storage of fuel. Seems like it should be longer for natural disasters and such. This would be such. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/47 "2021-05-13T19:47:38Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I’m surprised there’s only a week’s storage of fuel. Seems like it should be longer for natural disasters and such. The problem with that stored fuel is moving it from where you got it to where you need it. Which is–you know–what failed this time. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/48 "2021-05-13T20:55:49Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > This may sound dense, but even in this modern age you can’t go out and manually throw open a valve? I have a suspicion that it might be a bit more complex than simply opening a valve, but I don’t really know that much about pipelines. From reports it seems that some parts of the pipeline were being worked using manual controls but apparently running the entire thing was problematic. > [@Magiver](#): > > I’m surprised there’s only a week’s storage of fuel. Seems like it should be longer for natural disasters and such. We go through quite a bit of fuel on a daily basis, it could be that the week limitation is due to both how much we can produce and how much we would need to store (which would also lead to the question of where to store it). Also, as noted by @Darren_Garrison, in this case the means of transporting that fuel to where it was needed was what failed. I heard something on the news today from an “industry expert” saying we actually had plenty of fuel, we just didn’t have a means to get it to where it needed to go. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/49 "2021-05-13T21:01:38Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I have a suspicion that it might be a bit more complex than simply opening a valve, but I don’t really know that much about pipelines. And I obviously don’t either. It seems like a good thing to have a computer controlled flow system, but when that gets hacked, the bottom line problem is that you have this stuff at point A which flows down to a pipe to point B. When push comes to shove it seems like you could send a guy out with a wrench to open it up to feather the immediate crisis… ETA: Unless you have HAL 2000 overriding your desires at all times. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/50 "2021-05-13T22:16:12Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I heard something on the news today from an “industry expert” saying we actually had plenty of fuel, we just didn’t have a means to get it to where it needed to go. I hears the same thing on NPR this morning. From what I understand there was enough fuel in the tank farms to supply enough fuel to gas stations if people had maintained their normal buying patterns. The problem was that people weren’t maintaining their normal buying patterns, and gas stations were selling out before trucks could deliver more fuel from the tank farms to the stations. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/51 "2021-05-13T22:33:42Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > The problem was that people weren’t maintaining their normal buying patterns, See tile of this thread for an example. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/52 "2021-05-13T22:39:08Z")
> [@UltraVires](#): > > > [@Broomstick](#): > > > > I have a suspicion that it might be a bit more complex than simply opening a valve, but I don’t really know that much about pipelines. > > And I obviously don’t either. It seems like a good thing to have a computer controlled flow system, but when that gets hacked, the bottom line problem is that you have this stuff at point A which flows down to a pipe to point B. When push comes to shove it seems like you could send a guy out with a wrench to open it up to feather the immediate crisis… In a pipeline that long it can’t all be downhill, especially at one point it crosses the Appalachians, there has to be pumps involved at some point. That might or might not complicate things. > [@UltraVires](#): > > ETA: Unless you have HAL 2000 overriding your desires at all times. That might also be a possibility ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/53 "2021-05-13T22:57:50Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I heard something on the news today from an “industry expert” saying we actually had plenty of fuel, we just didn’t have a means to get it to where it needed to go. That just means the storage tanks aren’t well distributed. If that’s how they want to do it that’s fine but there should be a national strategy to move fuel via trains on short notice. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/54 "2021-05-13T22:59:28Z")
There is the difficulty that not many people want a giant fuel storage tank in their backyard. They just want easy access to gas whenever they feel a need for it. I’m wondering if the shut down of the I-40 bridge over the Mississippi at Memphis further complicated things. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/55 "2021-05-13T23:10:39Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > If that’s how they want to do it that’s fine but there should be a national strategy to move fuel via trains on short notice. I don’t understand how trains would help. The problem wasn’t getting fuel to the tank farms. The problem was getting it from the tank farms to the gas stations, because people were buying it up faster than usual, faster than trucks could deliver it. Like a run on the bank, but for gas. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/56 "2021-05-13T23:21:34Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > In a pipeline that long it can’t all be downhill, especially at one point it crosses the Appalachians, there has to be pumps involved at some point. That might or might not complicate things. So you send a guy to turn the pump switch on. Unless, again, HAL 2000. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2021, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/57 "2021-05-13T23:31:17Z")
CHRIS KREBS: The underlying enabling factors for this cybercrime explosion are rooted in the digital dumpster fire of our seemingly pathological need to connect everything to the internet, combined with how hard it is to actually secure what we have connected. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/58 "2021-05-14T02:13:29Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I don’t understand how trains would help. The problem wasn’t getting fuel to the tank farms. The problem was getting it from the tank farms to the gas stations, because people were buying it up faster than usual, faster than trucks could deliver it. Like a run on the bank, but for gas. If that is true then there was never a problem with the pipeline shut down. Which is it? If the pipeline is down you move it by rail. If there is a distribution problem at destination you send in trucks. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/59 "2021-05-14T02:34:17Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > That actually happened two years ago. > > [Are People Hoarding Gas in Plastic Bags During the Shortage? | Snopes.com](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/hoarding-gas-plastic-bags/) But this happened now. > **[Florida Driver Packs Hummer With Gas Cans And Also Fire](https://jalopnik.com/florida-driver-packs-hummer-with-gas-cans-and-also-fire-1846887831)** > > A Hummer burned in Homosassa, Florida, Wednesday while attempting to haul four filled five-gallon gas cans in the back seat. The Citrus County Fire Rescue is investigating the cause of the fire, but I have a hunch on what probably caused it to do as... ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2021, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734/60 "2021-05-14T02:38:08Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > That just means the storage tanks aren’t well distributed. If that’s how they want to do it that’s fine but there should be a national strategy to move fuel via trains on short notice. Yeah, there really are easy and obvious solutions to the whole problem, especially when you have billions of tiny robots. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-you-live-on-the-east-coast-fill-up-your-gas-tank-now-major-fuel-pipeline-was-shut-down-update-now-open/941734.md?page=4)