CALGARY - Hundreds of people have been forced to park their vehicles after a mixup at a Calgary Co-op gas station between regular gasoline and diesel fuel.
The mistake is likely to cost the company tens of thousands in repair bills.
Spokeswoman Karen Allan told Calgary Metro that Co-op's fuel supplier mistakenly filled a regular gas storage tank with diesel on Boxing Day.
It wasn鈥檛 until 26 hours later that Co-op was made aware of the problem.
About 500 vehicles had fuelled up at the gas bar by then.
Allan says Co-op membership numbers were used to track down and notify 476 members about the fuel flap.
鈥淲e were initially contacted by a member who had had some issues with their vehicle and that caused us to go back and double check, and that鈥檚 when we discovered the error,鈥� said Allan. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 when we began contacting all the members that had gassed up that day.鈥�
Nearby dealerships were also given the heads up, she said.
Calgary Co-Op has also offered to cover the cost of rental vehicles.
鈥淎ll the repairs, anything that happened as a direct result of having this fuel in their tank, is being taken care of,鈥� Allan said.
Christine Mork was one of the drivers who hit the pumps and fuelled up her Mitsubishi Outlander on Dec. 27 before heading for a mall.
She said it wasn鈥檛 until she received a phone message from Co-op on Dec. 29 that she realized anything was wrong.
鈥淚t will be covered, but it鈥檚 still a bit of a hassle, definitely,鈥� she said.
Michael Hoang, assistant service manager at Calgary Honda, said the business has had six or seven vehicles come in for repairs after filling up at the Co-op gas station.
鈥淥n an average repair for a diesel fillup 鈥� I would say it would be about $1,000,鈥� he said.
鈥淚t depends on what happens to the vehicle. It could range up from $3,500 to $4,000 if it needs everything.鈥�
(Metro Calgary)
