DeSantis proclaims state of emergency due to Colonial Pipeline cyberattack and shutdown. Motorists dash to pumps.

This photo was taken at the pumps of a gas station, Tuesday evening, in Lake City, along I-75 and may get worse before it gets better. -SVT Photo

By Tami Stevenson

Governor DeSantis, last evening, issued Executive Order Number 21-105, declaring a state of emergency for the State of Florida. According to the Order, on May 7, 2021, Colonial Pipeline, a major U.S. fuel pipeline operator, was the target of a cyberattack that disabled certain computer systems responsible for sustaining pipeline operations. As a result of the cyberattack, Colonial Pipeline was forced to temporarily halt all pipeline operations in order to contain and respond to the attack.

Colonial Pipeline is responsible for transporting a substantial percentage of all fuel consumed on the East Coast of the United States, including gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, and other refined petroleum products.

The disruption of Colonial Pipeline operations poses a significant and immediate threat to the continued delivery of such fuel products to the State of Florida and many other states located in the Eastern United States.

The sudden and unexpected closure of Colonial Pipeline and the attending disruption of fuel supplies poses a severe threat to the State of Florida and requires that immediate measures be taken to protect and to facilitate the continued delivery of such fuel products to this State, until such time as Colonial Pipeline operations have fully resumed.

This Executive Order will expire thirty (30) days from this date unless extended.

In a statement from Colonial Pipeline they said: (We) are continuing to make forward progress in our around-the-clock efforts to return our system to service, with additional laterals operating manually to deliver existing inventories to markets along the pipeline. Markets experiencing supply constraints and/or not serviced by other fuel delivery systems are being prioritized. We are collaborating with the Department of Energy (DOE) to evaluate market conditions to support this prioritization.

Consistent with our safety policies and regulatory requirements, Colonial has increased aerial patrols of our pipeline right of way and deployed more than 50 personnel to walk and drive ~5,000 miles of pipeline each day.

We will continue to provide updates as restoration efforts progress.