Although the pipeline outage caused by the Colonial Pipeline leak is reported to be causing problems in Georgia and Tennessee, as well as markets along the east coast, Glennie Bench, CFO of Southwest Georgia Oil Co., said on Monday that Bainbridge and surrounding areas should be OK, so long as people don’t panic and start to hoard fuel.

She assured that all vehicles involved in public and emergency services will be supplied.

“We are impacted as a result of the pipeline leak, as we are supplied by Colonial from a branch line through Georgia; but so many of the trucks that go in and out of Bainbridge go to other terminals,” said Bench, adding that over the weekend the trucks brought fuel from Montgomery and also from Florida.

Most of Florida gets their fuel shipped in by waterborne vessels from refineries in Louisiana and Mississippi. However, as Bench points out, that doesn’t move as efficiently as the pipeline method.

She said they received information Monday morning that Colonial received emergency approval from EPA and other agencies to do a bypass around the leak, enabling them to create a bypass sooner than waiting to repair the leak.

“It will be tight, but based on our news over the weekend, we’ll be okay,” Bench said.

So far gas prices at the pump have remained stable, currently averaging $1.91 per gallon in Bainbridge.