Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2005 | ||
Bad Links? | Gas pipelines up and runningBy JOHN MUNFORD Both gas pipelines serving Georgia are back up at 100 percent capacity as of Tuesday afternoon, according to a spokesperson for Gov. Sonny Perdue. There will still be some spot outages at gas stations in the state, according to Heather Hedrick of the governors office. Perdue is urging Georgians to remain conservative in their gas use, as there are still some questions about the abilities of various oil refineries delivering gas to the state, Hedrick said. Other states are feeling the same crunch, Hedrick said. There are a lot of people who need it, so we must remain conservative. Motorists throughout Fayette went into a tizzy last Wednesday as news reports detailed problems with the states gas pipelines, which were restricted in flow thanks to damage from Hurricane Katrina. Autos lined up onto the road at some gas stations Wednesday afternoon, but few altercations were reported as most people patiently waited in line to gas up. Some said the sight of long lines at the pumps recalled the national gas crisis of the early 1970s. Friday, Perdue signed an executive order enacting a moratorium on collection of all state motor fuel and sales taxes, which was expected to shave about 15 cents per gallon off gas prices. Last week, the governor signed another executive order which increased the fine for price gouging to $5,000 per incident, which in the case of gas stations could lead to one separate charge for each automobile, officials said. Perdue also secured permission from the federal Department of Transportation to lift restrictions so gas trucks could travel in Georgia 24 hours a day. Regulations requiring special gas additives in the summer months were also waived so more gas could be delivered to Georgia. |
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