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Bad gas strands motorists

Colchester, Vermont - January 26, 2012

Scott Hipko normally doesn't get a ride to work from his wife, but Thursday he had to.

"My car's out of commission because of the tainted gas situation last night," Hipko said.

He fueled up Wednesday night at Maplefields Mobile in Colchester, but while he was pumping he sensed something was off.

"Myself and two other cars were pumping gas but it was moving exceedingly slow. I mean minutes to get a couple gallons of gas," he said.

After informing the Maplefields attendant, he drove down the street to another gas station. On the way his car began sputtering and started to stall. He made it to the next gas station, but after fueling up his car wouldn't move.

"It was weird," he said.

"It's not uncommon, but it's uncommon for us," said Skip Vallee who owns Maplefields.

Thursday, Maplefields pumped approximately 10,000 gallons of regular unleaded gas out of its tank. There was a problem with the fuel.

"Early last night we had a load that was contaminated with something and it caused the product in our tank to separate," Vallee said.

According to the Vermont Fuel Dealers Association, most gas in the U.S. is blended with 10 percent ethanol to meet federal renewable fuel standards. Ethanol blended gas is more susceptible to moisture and separation. That's likely what happened here.

"Water is one of the causes for phase separation, so it's the likely culprit, but that's what we're testing," Vallee said.

While crews continue to clean out the tank, customers are reaping the benefit getting to fill up on super grade gas at the regular price; a deal Guy LaBelle isn't going to pass up.

"I saw the prices and I'm like, ahh, I'm taking advantage of this," LaBelle said.

Vallee says this is the second time they have dealt with a contaminated fuel delivery. And the Maplefields near the airport in South Burlington got that same gas Wednesday night. Vallee didn't know if any vehicles that gassed up there were affected.

"I was very surprised never having this happen in all my years of driving," Hipko said.

Vallee says he'll pay Hipko and any other drivers affected by the bad gas; their towing, rental car, and repair bills.

If you had trouble with your car after filling up at Maplefields call the company's office in St. Albans -- 802-524-8710.