This map, provided by the federal Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, shows the locations of various types of pipelines in the U.S. The Colonial Pipeline, which carries gasoline and other refined petroleum, enters North Carolina south of Charlotte and continues northeast through Guilford County and onto its end point in New Jersey. There are offshoots of the Colonial Pipeline in other counties, including Johnston.
Record gasoline spill in Huntersville was Colonial Pipeline’s 32nd accident in N.C. since 2000
When Colonial Pipeline initially estimated it had spilled 63,000 gallons of gasoline from a ruptured pipeline in Huntersville last August, that sounded like a lot, about twice the amount in a backyard swimming pool. Now, five months after the disaster, town residents’ fears have come true: At 1.2 million gallons, the accident was the largest individual gasoline spill in U.S. history since at least 2000. To illustrate how many gallons escaped from the pipeline, the “Giant Peach” water tower in Gaffney, S.C., holds 1 million gallons of water.