Second Colonial Pipeline Class Action Filed on Behalf of Thousands of Gas Stations

CPW covered the Colonial Pipeline cyberattack earlier this year, in which a ransomware attack carried out by cybercriminals crippled the Colonial Pipeline’s functionality.

The Pipeline was taken offline as a remedial measure, causing significant gasoline shortages across the Eastern United States (as a reminder, the Colonial Pipeline supplies the east coast of the United States with gasoline.

The pipeline is a critical part of U.S. petroleum infrastructure, transporting around 2.5 million barrels per day of gasoline, diesel fuel, heating oil and jet fuel. It stretches 5,500 miles and carries nearly half of the East Coast’s fuel supply).

In the wake of the cyberattack, owners of the Colonial Pipeline were hit with a putative class action that was filed in federal court in Georgia. Dickerson v. CDCP Colonial Partners, L.P., Case No. 1:21-cv-02098 (N.D. Ga.).

Plaintiffs in Dickerson alleged that the owners of the Colonial Pipeline failed ‘to properly secure the Colonial Pipeline’s critical infrastructure – leaving it subjected to potential ransomware attacks like the one that took place on May 7, 2021.’