TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) - BP officials are promising to pay motorists for damage to their vehicles after they were sold tainted gasoline at four locations.
The fuel was sold in Topeka, Lawrence, Hillsdale and Leavenworth. The unleaded fuel was tainted with diesel and delivered to the stations late June.
The tainted fuel arrived at the Topeka location June 22. Store employees were notified and pumps were shut down by 10 p.m. that day.
"We discovered the contamination within hours," BP Amoco PLC spokesman Scott Dean said Wednesday. "We apologize to any motorists that were inconvenienced by this."
The gas could cause engine performance problems, he said. Dean said BP would pay motorists for repairs for any damage the fuel may have caused to their vehicles.
The problems began at BP's storage terminal in Sugar Creek, Mo., where 15,000 barrels of diesel fuel from Tulsa, Okla., were inadvertently pumped into a tank carrying 45,000 barrels of unleaded gas, Dean said. Four to five truckloads of gas from the contaminated tank were shipped out from the depot before the problem was caught.
"Fortunately we did catch it very quickly," Dean said. "I haven't seen anything like this happen in six years. It's very rare, but when it does happen we take it very seriously."
Customers experiencing car problems after using the fuel have been told to take their cars to any mechanic for service. The company will thoroughly investigate each claim, before reimbursing customers. BP is also working with the stores to notify customers who used credit cards at the stations that their cars should be checked by a mechanic.
BP asked customers who fueled their cars with regular gasoline at any of the four stations between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. and had car problems to call customer relations at 1-800-333-3991.
Information from: The Topeka Capital-Journal, http://www.cjonline.com
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