A cross-contaminated fuel tank at the Casey's General Store at Highway 340 and Arkansas 279 caused several logistical problems last week for Bella Vista residents and city officials.
How the contamination occurred isn't exactly clear, but some time between Sept. 13-22 -- the dates the city has tickets for -- pumps at Casey's that should have been supplying diesel were pumping gasoline.
Phone calls to Casey's corporate office regarding the issue were not returned.
"We're still in a fact-finding stage right now," said Bella Vista City Attorney Jason Kelley. "Several city vehicles were out of commission, including fire trucks, ambulances and Street Department vehicles."
Street Dept. Superintendent Michael Button thinks someone on his staff inadvertently discovered the problem.
"My mechanic, Dwayne Walker, filled up his personal vehicle, and started having trouble," Button said. "He basically put it together where he got the gas from and what the problem was and realized the severity of the issue."
Button said Street Dept. vehicles were shut down on Sept. 22 to ensure the engines weren't damaged. Both Button and Kelley said the city is working on gathering information to make a possible claim against Casey's, and Kelley added that the convenience store has been "very communicable during the entire situation."
City officials weren't the only ones effected, though. Bella Vista resident Debbie Sorensen, who drives a Volkswagen that runs on diesel, filled up at Casey's and immediately noticed trouble with her engine.
"It really had trouble starting," she said. "And when I tried it again after the weekend, it wouldn't start at all. That's when I knew something was wrong."
She was able to reach representatives at Casey's, who reimbursed her nearly $550 for repairs.
"Casey's was really great about handling everything," Sorensen said. "They were quick in getting it processed."
The cost of repairs for even minor contamination can quickly get expensive, said Ralph Galiano, manager of Mount Pleasant/Finish Line Tire & Auto, in Town Center West.
"Gas in a diesel engine is 100 percent worse than the other way around," he said. "Diesel engines have much higher rates of compression, and diesel needs a much higher temperature to burn. Since gas does not, it could ignite fairly quick and melt pistons, which could really damage your engine."
And for those reasons, Kelley said the city took the utmost precautions.
"My dad was a mechanic, and some of this is out of my range of knowledge, but I'm well aware of the damage gas can do to a diesel engine," he said. "And it's been quite the ordeal, trying to trace the point of origin, figure out which cars were tainted, drain them, and look at possible replacements and repairs."
Kelley added that the city has been collecting and storing the gas in order to possibly sell it to an oil company for recycling or refinement, which could offset some of the city's costs.
"I can assure you that it won't end up in a dump," he said.
General News on 10/01/2014