Petro Express’ contaminated fuel an ‘isolated event,’ company to pay for repairs

Petro Marine Services, the parent company of the gas station chain Petro Express, has released more information on issues with contaminated fuel that was reported over this past month at its Kodiak location near Safeway. 

The company’s general manager, Russell Cooper, says they’ve isolated the issues to a few hours on March 4, during the city’s tax free day. 

“We pumped out the tank, we put brand new filters, we pumped it out, flushed it, we put new filters on each dispenser, and again we did this after the fact obviously, but we’ve had no other issues,” he said.

Some drivers and mechanics reported finding an unknown fluid in gas tanks earlier this month. The contaminants had a metallic tint and caused car engines to shut off while driving. 

The company has agreed to pay for repairs associated with any damage to vehicles caused by the strange liquid. 

Cooper says the investigation is ongoing. The company has sent contaminated fuel samples to a Valdez-based lab for testing – results will not be available until next month.