Lowcountry Headlines

Lowcountry Headlines

 

Drivers report bad gas at N. Charleston Circle K gas station

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) -Two drivers say their cars broke down after purchasing gasoline with water in it from a North Charleston gas station.

They say it happened at Circle K at 8501 Dorchester Road near Appian Way last Friday.

Last month, the South Carolina Department of Agriculture issued notices ordering at least two North Charleston gas stations to stop the sale of certain grades of gas because of an excess of water in the storage tanks.

This Circle K was one of them.

For nearly a month it had orange tags on the gas pump to stop the purchase of mid-grade and premium fuels.

The Department of Agriculture says they've tested the gas and the products have now been released for sale.

The gas station began operating as normal on Friday after Honey Lindgren says she purchased regular gas around 1 p.m.

She says her car started having problems moments after she left the pump which costs her more than $800 for repairs.

“As soon as I pulled out on Dorchester Road my car started to sputter and my check engine light came on,” Lindgren said. “It just died at the red light, had to be pushed off the road. I got towed in a few minutes later and they tested it and said I had contaminated gas.”

AAA in Summerville says it had four people over the last month who came in with water in their gas after visiting the same gas station.

Another person says the orange tags flagging the bad gas were removed on some pumps so they weren't aware that there was an issue.

There's not a way to track how many people were impacted who might have went to other car service companies.

"When I was pumping the gas it was pumping kind of slow and they were working at the station and I knew they had problems in the past, but that was with premium," Lindgren said.

All pumps were shut down at one point last Friday afternoon after people started experiencing car issues.

She says others have posted in her neighborhood chat group saying they’ve had the same issues with no resolution in sight.

“We’ve left multiple messages, we’ve emailed, we’ve just not heard a single word back about whether we are going to be reimbursed, it’s very frustrating,” Lindgren said.

Live 5 News has reached out to Circle K for a comment and to learn more about how they address incidents like this. They say they are passing on our contact to the proper parties in the local area. They have not returned our calls.

"I'd like just a phone call to know what's going on but ideally I would like to be reimbursed," Lindgren said. "The repair was over $800 to flush out the car, replace some things, drain the tank so I think I'm owed at least that."

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Copyright 2019 WCSC. All rights reserved.


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