Colonial Pipeline Crisis: It's About a Lot More Than Rising Gas Prices

We end today’s show looking at another pipeline. In Alabama, at least one worker has died and five have been hospitalized after a section of the Colonial pipeline exploded in Shelby County on Monday. This is the second shutdown in just as many months. The column of fire burning from the punctured pipeline reportedly reached 150 feet. This comes after the same pipeline leaked nearly 340,000 gallons of gasoline in Central Alabama in September, forcing the line to shut down for 12 days and leading six governors to declare states of emergency as gas prices rose throughout the region. Since 2006, the company has reported 178 spills and other incidents that released a combined 193,000 gallons of hazardous liquids and caused $39 million in property damage. We speak to David Butler, the Cahaba Riverkeeper. He has traveled to the site of the Colonial Pipeline Company disaster and is monitoring its environmental impacts.