Protecting Rockland: County Government Reassures Residents of Gas Supply

If there is one thing we here at the Rockland Times have learned over the past year and a half, it’s that people’s reactions to a problem can often dictate how  bad that problem will be. Case in point, the hacking of the Colonial Pipeline.

Though the pipeline has already resumed operation, after being forced offline by a cyberattack last Friday, and the disruption was largely limited to the southern half of the east coast, communities around the country that had no issues with supply have created shortages by panic buying petrol. The issue has become so prevalent that the county government has found it necessary to remind us that yes, Rockland still has enough gasoline to go around.

“To be clear, there is no shortage of fuel in our country but due to the Colonial Pipeline hack there has been difficulty moving fuel from refineries to gas stations,”  read a joint statement County Executive Ed Day and Consumer Protection Director Jim Elcik shared with the Rockland Times.  “This is a temporary issue which we expect to see corrected shortly.”

Executive Day and Director Elcik have promised to protect residents against potential price gouging, but again stressed that there have been no reported issues with gas supply or price hikes.

“By now we have all seen the scenes on TV and social media from the southeast of our country of cars lined up to purchase gasoline while prices rise exponentially. While small increases to the price of gas during a time of emergency or low supply are expected, we will not allow any business to take advantage of Rockland residents. Thankfully, we have not received any local reports of issues and have a great deal of faith in our business owners. We urge residents to report any gas station that has suspiciously high prices as we will not tolerate price gouging. You can make a report by calling 845-364-3901 or emailing [email protected]. Inspectors from the Office of Consumer Protection will also be patrolling the county to ensure residents are treated fairly.”

Disappointingly, the County Government also feels it necessary to remind residents that storing gasoline in plastic bags, disposable plastic containers, or other flammable objects is an incredibly poor decision.