Gas mixed with windshield washer fluid causes vehicles to break down: fuel analysis company
A fuel analysis company says it now knows the contaminant that was mixed with gas at a Guelph, Ont., gas station, causing dozens of vehicles to break down.
Last month, CTV News reported the story about drivers who said they filled up their tanks at a Mobil Gas Station on Woolwich Street, only to be faced with hefty repair bills for their vehicles due to tainted gas.
A new lab study submitted by one of the victims determined the contaminant mixed with the gas was a highly concentrated windshield washer fluid.
Gas from a stalled vehicle on the left, clean fuel from a pump on the right.
“Which was not expected that was very unusual,” said Bill Quesnel, the president of Wearcheck Canada, the fuel analysis company who did the study on the gas.
Quesnel said it is possible for ground water to leak into a fuel supply from time to time but finding washer fluid is not common. He said the mix-up could have happened during transport.
“Likely that the delivery vehicle, which would deliver fuel as well as other fuel products, possibly would not have been flushed properly. So there was a portion of washer fluid,” he said.
Less than a month since the incident, the gas station is closed for good.
Apex Property Management, the company that handles the property, said the gas station operator was evicted by their mortgagee due to poor operating practices.
The drivers involved said they still want their money back.
“It’s been a frustrating experience. You go to get gas and you don’t think this is going to happen,” said Ella Van Oene.
Van Oene stopped at the Mobil station to put $20 worth of gas in her vehicle. After her car broke down, she paid around $1000 to get it fixed.
“I just wanted there to be some accountability. I wish that the actual owner of the gas station reached out,” she said.
Van Oene says least 40 other drivers have been contacted by Travelers Canada, the insurance group representing the gas station. Victims have been told they’ll be reimbursed for all expenses but haven’t been given a timeline for when they’ll get it.
CTV reached out to Travelers Canada for comment but did not hear back.
'Out of stock' sign on a fuel pump in Guelph, Ont. (Tyler Kelaher/CTV Kitchener)“
How do I feel? Cautiously optimistic or optimistically cautious – something along that line. I don’t know where this is going to go. I haven’t heard anything in the last five or six days,” said another victim, Brian Holstein.
The drivers impacted say they’re willing to wait up to a month to be reimbursed before taking further action.
“It’s just honestly skepticism surrounding all gas stations, this could have happened to any gas station,” said Van Oene.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
![](https://www.ctvnews.ca/polopoly_fs/1.6969824.1721357192!/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_800/image.jpg)
Trump describes assassination attempt in personal detail as he accepts Republican nomination
Donald Trump, sombre and bandaged, accepted the GOP presidential nomination on Thursday at the Republican National Convention in a speech that described in detail the assassination attempt that could have ended his life just five days earlier before laying out a sweeping populist agenda, particularly on immigration.
Here's what happened on the final night of the RNC
The final day of the Republican National Convention was underway in Milwaukee where Donald Trump made a lengthy speech.
'We had a good run': High-profile Liberal minister quitting cabinet, not running in next election
Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan has announced he will not run in the next federal election, and will be quitting his cabinet position Friday.
Shannen Doherty granted divorce days after death
Shannen Doherty finalized her split with husband, Kurt Iswarienko, just hours before her death at age 53, and she was granted a rare posthumous divorce two days later.
B.C. woman who thought Coldplay concert 'was a date' must pay ex for ticket, tribunal rules
A B.C. woman has been ordered to repay her ex for a ticket to Coldplay's 2023 concert in Vancouver – in a small claims decision that highlights the distinction between gifts and loans under Canadian law.
Boy who was reported missing from a resort near Disney World found dead in water
A three-year-old boy who was reported missing from a resort near Walt Disney World in central Florida early Thursday was found dead in a body of water on the resort's grounds several hours later, the sheriff's office said.
Northern Ont. OPP sergeant charged with impaired driving
An Ontario Provincial Police sergeant with 26 years of experience has been charged with impaired driving in Cochrane.
Once defiant, Biden is now 'soul searching' about dropping out of race: Reuters source
U.S. President Joe Biden is taking calls to step aside as the Democratic presidential candidate seriously and multiple Democratic officials think an exit is a matter of time, Reuters reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
2 dead after small plane crashes in Tofino, B.C.
Two people died and a third was seriously injured in a fiery plane crash in Tofino, B.C., on Thursday, according to authorities.