Ovid gas station, state and local officials dealing with contaminated fuel problem

OVID — Officials are recommending that anyone who experienced problems after buying water-contaminated gasoline from the Citgo station in Ovid file a claim with their insurance carrier.

"I'm going to to encourage them to contact their auto insurance carrier," Ovid Police Chief Lisa Rousseau said. "They make a comp claim, and they can go from there."

It was unclear how many customers were affected by the problem, which cropped up late last week and sparked chatter on social media, officials said.

The station acknowledged that a technical problem allowed water to enter an underground tank, said Rousseau, whose department has communicated about the issue on Facebook. The store on M-21 is open, but had stopped selling fuel, she said.

The Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development received complaints about fuel quality over the weekend and staff responded to the station, 9800 E. M-21, on Monday morning, spokeswoman Jennifer Holton said. When inspectors arrived, all fuel dispensers had been marked as out of order, she said.

Initial tests detected 7 inches of water in the tank containing 87 octane gas, but no water in the premium or diesel fuel, Holton said. MDARD issued a stop-sale order for the regular gas and the mid-grade gas, which is a mix of the regular and premium fuels, she said.

Inspectors will return to conduct more testing when the station indicates it is ready.

An individual who answered the phone at the station on Tuesday afternoon said the store was working on the problem.

In a Facebook posting on Tuesday, Rousseau said her department met with the owner of the station, who authorized police to share information "to help de-escalate consumers concerns."

"The owner has provided his personal email address of amardip89@gmail.com for those affected," the message said.

"In reaching out to our friends in the insurance industry, they advised that you should contact your personal auto insurance provider to make a claim," the message continued. "They will then subrogate with Citgo's Insurance company.

"We will now return to our lane of law enforcement," they said.

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Ovid gas station customers report vehicle damage after obtaining bad gas