Buckeye Product Line in Wisconsin Shut as Leak Investigated

Buckeye Partners LP (BPL) shut its West Shore pipeline on July 17 after a leak of gasoline near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, and a federal agency is investigating the spill.

The area where the leak occurred has been secured and the company is reviewing the incident, according to a statement by the company issued late yesterday. The 70,000-barrel-a-day line transports refined products including gasoline, jet fuel and diesel from Chicago to Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration is investigating, Jeannie Layson, a spokeswoman for the agency in Washington, said in an e-mailed statement.

There’s been no update to the information at this time, Martin E. White, a Breinigsville, Pennsylvania-based spokesman, said in an e-mail today.

“Upon detection of an abnormality in pipeline pressure, indicating a possible release, the pipeline’s Control Center took immediate action and shut down the pipeline system,” the company said in the statement.

The line spilled 1,000 barrels of unleaded automotive gasoline, according to a filing with the National Response Center taken yesterday.

The closed section of pipeline is 10 miles (16 kilometers) northwest of Milwaukee.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Burkhardt in New York at pburkhardt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net