Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo, declared a state of emergency on Friday following a gas pipeline leak. Photo from Caroline Brehman/EPA-EFE
Feb. 11 (UPI) — Nevada’s governor has declared a state of emergency after a leak was discovered in a pipeline that supplies fuel from California to Las Vegas.
Gov. Joe Lombardo said that the declaration would help mitigate the impacts of the leak, and he urged residents not to create shortages by panic buying.
“To avoid any unnecessary shortages, I strongly urge all Las Vegas residents to avoid panic buying while awaiting repair timeline updates,” Lombardo said,” according to KTNV.
Clark County officials said that the state of emergency would allow trucks to bring fuel into the county.
“This leak has not impacted the supply of fuel, but rather the method in which this fuel normally comes into Southern Nevada,” county officials said in a tweet. “Clark County is in regular communication with Kinder Morgan and they are working as quickly as possible to repair the leak.”
The officials added that “this declaration allows for our region to leave no stone unturned as we seek to continue to provide unleaded and diesel fuel to our residents as well as our emergency response providers.”
The county added that its officials are communicating with Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, the company that operates the pipeline.
Nye County officials said that fuel would be coming back soon after the shutdown.
“Fuel should be flowing within the next few hours,” the county tweeted, telling residents “to delay fuel purchases if possible to allow supply to refill due to recent panic purchasing.”