According to reports, a gas station mix-up caused thousands of dollars worth of repair bills for customers who believed they were pumping premium gasoline.
Local inspectors discovered that a fuel company accidentally had pumped hundreds of gallons premium gas into an underground tank at Cape Cop Station in Massachusetts. Authorities said that about 150 gallons were sold after the error was made last month.
The Barnstable Weights and Measures department, which monitors local fuel pumps, said Brown Bear Transportation had accidentally pumped diesel into the premium gasoline reservoir, and vice-versa, according to WFXT-TV.
This happened as diesel prices rose to their highest ever recorded price. Fuel costs reached $6 per gallon last week.
Jacqueline Rutkowski-Murgia’s tank was filled with she thought was premium gas, the station reported. Then, her 2019 Range Rover began acting strangely.
“I thought, there’s something wrong with this vehicle. I don’t know what it is, but there’s something wrong,”Rutkowski–Murgia explained to the station. “I noticed that when I was pressing the accelerator, the car didn’t seem to be responding correctly. And it’s a newer car.”
According to the woman, she finally stopped driving. “The car became undrivable to the point where I thought about calling for roadside assistance,” Rutkowski-Murgia said. “At that point, there was black smoke, and my engine light had come on already. I thought perhaps the engine was going to seize, that everything would lock up. And I was afraid my driving the vehicle any further would be damage further to the car, and also a danger to other drivers.”
Later, she received a $4,500 repair bill, she stated.
Authorities said that the fuel company went back to the station and filled the tanks with diesel and gasoline, cleaned them and then refilled them properly. The fuel company said that it would work with affected vehicle owners.
