TOOELE COUNTY – It may have been just a simple mistake, but, a mix-up at a Stansbury Maverik may have caused serious damage to dozens of vehicles.
The calls came into the Maverik on SR 36 Saturday afternoon from people who claimed the diesel fuel had harmed their vehicles.
“We actually got notified by customers on Saturday, then we immediately shut the pumps off and bagged them so the customers couldn’t use them,” according to Maverik VP of Marketing Aaron Simpson.
After looking over their logs, Simpson says they determined the fuel became tainted after unleaded fuel got into the diesel tank. He says this kind of situation is extremely rare, but, seeing as how they move roughly a billion gallons of gas every year, mistakes like this can sometimes happen.
“We’re doing the investigation right now, but, usually, it’s [a matter of] the wrong stuff put in the wrong tank,” Simpson says.
It lasted from 10 p.m. Friday until 4 p.m. Saturday, and Simpson adds, “It affected 55 people.”
How much damage could have been done? Simpson says that’s hard to know, for now.
“A lot of it depends on how bad that mix is, how many gallons are dumped in and how full the tank was to begin with. It could be everything from you not getting a mile down the road and shut down… or you could be driving a couple of days and start to find some issues,” he says.
However, he says anyone who feel they may have been affected is being asked to send the company an email, or to call their Loss Prevention Department at 801-335-3846.