Diesel, gas mix-up has motorist upset

It may be a case of the wrong fuel in the wrong tank, and it has some motorists fuming.

Jim Matteson was pasing through the Fredericksburg area yesterday morning, moving from Florida to New Hampsire. He filled up with gas at the Texaco station on U.S. 17 just off Interstate 95 in Stafford County.

As he went to re-enter I95, his truck started to sputter. Thinking he had bad gas, he went back to the station and found several other motorists with cars that would not start after filling up.

Management at the station isn't saying much. But Matteson said after talking with a clerk, he learned that a tanker that had dropped off a load of gas had evidently put diesel in the high-octane tank and high octane in the diesel storage tank.

WFLS News spoke with a manager at the station. She declined to comment, but did confirm that those pumps have since been shut off. She said the company will have a statement Monday morning.

She referred inquiries to a number at an office in Houston, Texas.

No one responded to the message left by a reporter on an answering machine.

Meanwhile, Matteson spent the better part of the day at an area car dealership. He claims to have paid more than $400 to have his gas tank pulled and drained, and for lodging expenses.

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The Free-Lance Star, Fredericksburg, VA.