[Fair Use: For Education and Research Purpose Only]

GASOLINE MYSTERY REMAINS UNSOLVED

By Mary Anne Clancy, Of the NEWS Staff, Bangor Daily News

LUBEC  It has been two weeks since 3,300 gallons of gasoline turned to water at Lubec Qwik Stop, but the mystery remains unsolved, the store manager said Saturday.

It is still being treated as vandalism or theft, but Ive given up wondering, said Missy Burke. Ive put my focus back on the store.

The problem began Feb. 14, when a customer put $5 worth of regular gasoline in a car only to have the vehicle stop halfway across the bridge between Lubec and Campobello Island, New Brunswick, she said.

By the time that customer made it back on foot to the Main Street store, another vehicle had filled up and then stalled out in front of the gas pump, Burke said.

The first thing I did was shut off the pump, and then I went to do a dip, Burke said.

In the 10 years she has worked around convenience store gas pumps, Burke said, she has never seen anything like what happened next.

The dipstick she inserted into the underground tank indicated 42 inches of water.

The stick is a huge ruler and you have to apply a paste to it that reacts to water, she said. Of the whole 50 inches of paste, 42 inches turned pink. I couldnt believe my eyes.

Burke said the 6-inch-diameter cap was off the tank when she went to do the test, but she knows that none of the employees would have failed to replace it after performing the regular afternoon check the day before.

The previous days check showed 4,300 gallons of gas in the tank. Burke said she had no idea how 4,300 gallons of gasoline turned into 3,300 gallons of water overnight.

Burke said she performed several follow-up tests, but the results were always the same. The next morning, she asked the stores meat cutter to do the check and he, too, found 42 inches of water, she said.

Store owner Julie Foss was notified. She called Dysarts, which had Burke do another test. On Feb. 16, Dysarts sent one of its own employees and he, too, found water.

Burke said the Maine Department of Environmental Protection dispatched a staffer to investigate for leaks, but he found nothing wrong.

Burke said the company that makes the alarm that sounds if the tank leaks also has done an inspection. L.C. Tank Installation had a man on the scene late last week.

He worked all day, but I havent seen any kind of a report and he didnt come back into the store, Burke said.

Burke said theres no truth to a report that rainwater got into the tank, or that an employee misread the dipstick, thinking water in the very bottom of the tank meant the gas was gone.

Burke said she has heard all the stories about how no one could have pumped that much gas out of the tank. She knows people are making fun of her, she said.

There was no error on our part, Burke said. Ive been doing this for years and Ive seen an inch of water in the bottom of a tank, but the gas is pumped through a pipe that is 6 inches off the bottom.

Burke said the gas pump froze because of the water that was pumped up from the tank. The store had already paid more than $1,000 to repair the two vehicles and provide a rental car for one of the drivers, she said.

Owner Foss is expected to return from Florida on March, 4. Maybe shell have more news or a report from Dysarts or the tank company, Burke said.

Something freaky happened here and no one seems to know what it was, she said.

http://www.bangordailynews.net/cgi-bin/article.cfm?storynumber=6912

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-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 29, 2000

Answers

There are stories of UFO's stealing power from electric transmission lines -- but what would they do with gasoline?

-- Tom Carey (tomcarey@mindspring.com), February 29, 2000.

A rational explanation: a tanker driver stole the gas he was delivering, by pumping it into a mate's filling station for cash in hand. Then he filled up his tanker with water and delivered that to this filling station, knowing that since water is heavier than gas it would be some time before the missing gas was noticed and that pinning it on him would be close to impossible. How's that sound?

-- Nigel (nra@maxwell.ph.kcl.ac.uk), February 29, 2000.

I'll lay my bets with the local septic tank pumping company. They're the only people with a practical technology to bring a truck full of water, drop it down the fill pipe, and then "vacuum" a load of gasoline off the top of the now nearly full storage tank and put it into their truck.

They may have done it more than once.

Best regards,

-- Joe (KEITH@neesnet.com), February 29, 2000.

My word but that's close to a water into wine story I heard a few times.

Do you think it's a message?

-- mike in houston (mmorris67@hotmail.com), February 29, 2000.

Nigil ... You got the part about the water being heavier ( higher density ) than the gas , BUT , with the pumps pipe 6 inches from the bottom , you would pump all the water back out immediately ; i.e. after the gallon or so in the line was pumped out by the next customer which is what the story seems to indicate . That is , first customer got gas and water ; second got all water , which stalled the car before they left the station . presumes only two customers after the " fill up " by tanker . No mention of a recent fill up .

With the price of gas what it is , a night job would seem to be in order . OR , the delivery truck has two seperate tanks ( large baffel between , to stop sloshing of gas from one end to the other in long tank ) ; one is EMPTY , the other full of water . He pumps out her gas, pumps in his water . Ever see a delivery ? NO ONE ever seems to watch the guy OR time his delivery ! Quite a scam in times of shortage. My.02 cents worth . Eagle

-- Hal Walker (e999eagle@FREEWWWEB.COM), February 29, 2000.