A New Jersey gas station has been shut down for the second time in two months after local officials say its contaminated gas caused multiple motorists to break down.
“The City of Camden Division of Weights and Measures received numerous complaints regarding a possible fuel contamination issue at a Conoco gas station located at 1901 Admiral Wilson Boulevard in the City of Camden,” city spokesperson Vincent Basara said. “The gasoline contamination is likely to be a result of heavy rainfall seeping into underground storage tanks.”
The gas station was closed Sunday by the city’s division of Licenses and Inspections and will remain closed until satisfying city, county and state requirements, officials said, including paying fines and passing additional inspections. As many as 16 drivers have reported being impacted after receiving fuel from the station over the weekend, officials said.
There was no indication of an environmental hazard due to any gas leaking from the fuel tanks, Basara said Tuesday. Officials are investigating how water entered the tanks and whether a faulty seal or a cap contributed to water entering the tanks, Basara said.
Basara also added that sump pumps designed to prevent infiltration of water into the tanks did not turn on during heavy rain Saturday night and said that audible and visual alarms that are part of the system to avoid these issues did not operate correctly either.
Officials are investigating whether the pumps may have been turned off at the time of both incidents and why they would have been turned off. Basara said that investigators are hoping surveillance cameras at the gas station will help get to the bottom of how the pump system failed and also help identify people impacted by the spoiled fuel.
State documents list Raghbir Singh as the owner of the gas station and Rajvinder Ghotra as the operator. A person that answered the phone at the number listed for Singh said the operator was responsible for remediation of the issue. The operator of the gas station could not immediately be reached Tuesday.
A remediation timeline was not immediately clear.
A spokesperson for the NJDEP said Tuesday that the department was alerted of contaminated fuel tanks at the Conoco after heavy rainfall over the weekend and issued a “cease delivery” order until the issue is fixed.
This is the second time in two months the same gas station has been temporarily shut down after water seeped into fuel tanks. On January 10, the Camden Division of Weights and Measures received several complaints about contaminated gas purchased from the location, a letter from Camden’s Superintendent of Weights and Measures, Judith Lugo, said on January 18.
The letter said 39 customers had been impacted by the contaminated gas and that independent testing of the fuel showed high levels of water present in the gasoline.
Ghotra was fined by the city and failed to appear in court on March 5 regarding the January 10 incident, court records show. A new court date is scheduled for May 7. Basara said Tuesday the gas station had not been cited for similar issues before this year.
Ghotra was issued a host of summonses by the city in the January incident, according to municipal court records. He was issued citations for three counts of failing to have registration certificates readily available, two counts of deception in sale of liquid fuels and 12 counts each of no test measure and failure to test, and failure to maintain a device in proper operating condition.
Ghotra was fined $25,000 for the January incident and if water is found to be present in samples taken from fuel tanks earlier this week, more fines could be forthcoming, city officials said Tuesday.
Gas stations are inspected annually, Basara said Tuesday, adding inspections will be more frequent after the recent violations.
Stories by Matthew Enuco
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Matthew Enuco may be reached at Menuco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Matt on X.