Tainted fuel at gas station causes vehicles to break down

A $9 gas purchase from the Madison Food Mart Shell station cost Andrew Carpenter $505.89 by the end of Wednesday. He and four other customers, including a U.S. Postal Service truck, bought gas that had been tainted with water and caused their cars to break down almost immediately.

It cost $290 to pump the water out of his 2006 Chevy, then hundreds of dollars more to have it towed and the fuel pump replaced.

On Thursday, police ordered the Shell station to bag all of its pumps pending further investigation.

The Butler County auditor's office receives complaints about vehicles shutting down or running poorly after drivers bought fuel at Butler County gas stations every year, according to Butler County Auditor Roger Reynolds.

"Just a few months ago, we found roughly 3 feet of water and sediment mixed in with the fuel in a fuel tank at a Sunoco in West Chester," he said.

Read more: http://www.weny.com/story/40012434/tainted-fuel-at-gas-station-causes-vehicles-to-break-down