Combating racism, Esso owner says he unknowingly sold contaminated gas

CTV’s Luke Simard follows up with the Elmvale, Ont., Esso gas station owner Sukhwinder Kandhola surrounding reports of contaminated gas.

An Esso gas station owner in Elmvale, Ont., is speaking out about contaminated gas sold from his pumps last week.

“We didn’t do this on purpose or anything like that,” said the Esso gas station owner Sukhwinder Kandhola.

“Some people are spreading this misinformation, which is not correct. It just happened. We don’t know still why it happened. And how the water got into the gas. The engineering company is trying to figure it out.”

Blatant racism and hate are now dominating the conversation online, while Kandhola says he is working with those impacted by the bad gas.

He is now trying to rectify the problem and shield his children from ignorance.

“Some people are trying to defame us and going on social media and putting bad comments,” said Kandhola. “It’s taking a toll on our mental health. Our kids are reading those comments. We are part of this community. We have been here for eight years.”

Kandhola told CTV News a couple of customers came into the station on the evening of March 23, complaining of something wrong with the gas and problems with their cars.

He said he called technicians, the people who take care of the pumps and tanks, who came to the station the next day to inspect the gas and take samples.

The technician advised Kandhola to refrain from selling the regular gas.

The Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA), which regulates gas stations, arrived on site after receiving complaints. Upon inspection, it shut down the gas station and stopped selling fuel until the problems are resolved.

“We wanted a review done by the contractor to make sure that the monitoring system of both tanks was fully functioning,” said Alexandra Campbell, spokesperson for TSSA.

“Should water get into the second tank or ever again, once it’s all fixed, we have the confidence that the leak detection monitoring systems are going to signal that, (so) they can get shut down right away.”

• What to do if you have water in your fuel tank

In the meantime, Kandhola said people were reaching out to him wanting answers. He explained to them that officials were still in the process of working on the issue.

Lindsay Fitzgerald was one of the people affected by the bad gas.

She told CTV News her two-year-old Subaru wouldn’t start after filling up at the Elmvale Esso at the end of March.

After getting a mechanic to look at it, she said the mechanic told her there was more than 50 per cent water in the tank.

Fortunately, the mechanic flushed it out. She believes she didn’t have damage to her vehicle, but if she had driven it more, she said she may not have been so lucky.

Through a series of calls to the gas station, Esso Corporate, TSSA, and Spills Action Centre, Fitzgerald said the owner of the Elmvale Esso got back to her, saying an insurance company would get in touch in the next couple of weeks.

According to Kandhola, 18 vehicles were affected. He has contacted those affected to let them know his insurance company is involved and will be reaching out in the near future.

He said the engineering company is expected to get back to him next week.

“We don’t want to lose our customers,” said Kandhola. “We are really relying on these local people. They’re our bread and butter in the wintertime, especially when things slow down.”

• ‘My car wouldn’t start’: Fuel tanks pulled from service after water contamination complaints

Fitzgerald told CTV News she was happy the issue is being taken care of, but she said communication could be improved.

“I asked the TSSA exactly what’s the problem and how it’s going to be fixed or how it’s going to be prevented and they didn’t get back to me,” Fitzgerald said.

“And I think that if this has happened to your car and you have damage to your engine and your vehicle and you’ve reported it to an agency, you should have a right to know what exactly the problem was and be told when it’s fixed because this is the local gas station in our neighbourhood and we live in a rural township,” she added.

“There’s gas stations around but I’d like to know if I’m able to go back there at some point and what was done to prevent this from happening.”

The TSSA gave Kandhola steps that need to be taken following the issue, which include removing the gas, flushing it out and changing filters.

Kandhola said the tank hasn’t been flushed yet because they’re waiting for test results to come back.

It remains unclear when the gas station will reopen.

With files from CTV’s Luke Simard