Pumps at the BP gas station and Duchess Shoppe located at 3675 Park Avenue West in Ontario were temporarily out of service Tuesday morning due to a possible water infiltration in the main gas tank.
Ben Englefield, President of Englefield Oil based in Heath, OH, stated an investigation is underway to try and determine how the tank was contaminated.
“We have systems in place that send off alarms to us, and nothing went off,” according to Englefield. “What was in place to make sure this doesn’t happen did not work, so that’s where the confusion is coming in.”
According to their website, Englefield Oil Company is a supplier of fuel, lubricants and related services to wholesale and retail markets in the state of Ohio. The company is the wholesaler for BP, Marathon, and Valero and currently operates 123 Duchess Shoppes convenient stores throughout the state, including the store located at 3675 Park Avenue West.
The water in the fuel caused approximately six or seven cars to break down at the station, and Englefield said the company is taking responsibility for the cars that have broken down. He noted once more than one vehicle has broken down it typically signifies a problem with the fuel.
“Once we were informed by the station manager we immediately took action,” he said. “Our vice president of maintenance and construction is on his way to do samples and testing and determine how something to into the tank.”
As of Tuesday morning the cause of the fuel problems had not yet been determined.
