Live near Oklahoma City or suburbs? Bad gasoline possible alert

[Bob]

ALERT ! Oklahoma and Cleveland counties gas stations at risk for selling bad fuel.

(Thread update - take a look below, starting post #5 - http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?93014-Live-near-Oklahoma-City-or-suburbs-Bad-gasoline-possible-alert&p=1094849&viewfull=1#post1094849 - - quite possibly, this may go deeper than just an "accident"..)

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — State regulators say more than 450,000 gallons of gasoline containing three times the acceptable level of ethanol was delivered to retailers across the Oklahoma City metropolitan area over the last week.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission reported Tuesday that they were notified by Magellan Midstream Partners that the problem resulted from an equipment failure at its Oklahoma City fuel distribution terminal.

Magellan says it is still working to determine the retail locations where the gas with up to 30 percent ethanol was delivered, but state regulators say it appears most was delivered in Oklahoma and Cleveland counties.

Oklahoma City auto repair shop owner Mike Bailey says gas with 30 percent ethanol can damage fuel pumps, injectors and other mechanical engine components, and could destroy small engines like lawnmowers and weed trimmers.

Ethanol is normally added to some grades of gasoline in small amounts (typically one part ethanol, nine parts gasoline) as it is claimed it reduces greenhouse emissions like carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides.

The issues of adding ethanol to motor fuel:

All fuels laced with ethanol reduce the vehicle's fuel efficiency, and the E85 blend drops gas mileage between 30% and 40%, depending on whether you use the EPA's fuel mileage standards (fueleconomy.gov) or those of the Dept. of Energy.

Ethanol over time will absorb moisture from the air, and water then will settle in the bottom of the tank creating hard starting, corrosion, clogged fuel filters.

Using ethanol actually creates more smog than using regular gas, and the EPA's own attorneys had to admit that fact in front of the justices presiding over the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in 1995 (API v. EPA).


There are active lawsuits from boat owners; ethanol broke down the resins in their fiberglass gas tanks, destroying their marine engines.

Additionally, those who deal in small gas engines for lawnmowers, edgers, and weedeaters have quickly learned that, as Briggs & Stratton's (BGG) Web site warns, "Ethanol-blended gasoline can attract moisture, which leads to separation and formation of acids during storage.

Acidic gasoline can damage the fuel system of an engine while in storage. B&S strongly recommends removing ethanol-blended fuels from engine during storage."

Like motorists, if landscaping tool owners put gasoline with more than 10% ethanol in their small engines, that immediately voids any factory warranties. In the case of the Lexus recall, using just a 10% ethanol blend was found to be destroying many of these engines also.

Where can we buy GASOLINE WITHOUT ETHANOL IN IT??

The damage that can happen with over 30% ethanol being put into the above engines, cars, etc. can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage..

Ethanol may not be such a great thing after all.. It has been a government mandate. It takes a special engine, fuel system to be able to run on levels of 15% ethanol mixed with gasoline. Greater amounts are just not recommended cause of the damage that happens.


http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/30654e9c11602af6dc2f0502b9807773c19fdebb/c=0-225-4632-2842&r=x1683&c=3200x1680/local/-/media/2015/11/30/USATODAY/USATODAY/635844941629874080-AP-ETHANOL-IN-GASOLINE-77960142.JPG

http://cc.amazingcounters.com/counter.php?i=3190880&c=9572953

Sources: AP, OGJ, Bloomberg

[Bob]

OKLAHOMA CITY —The Oklahoma Corporation Commission released a full list Wednesday of retailers impacted by the massive fuel recall.

GAS RECALL EXPANDS ACROSS OKLAHOMA

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission has released a list of retailers that may have sold gas that could harm your vehicle. The gas is being recalled because it contains too much ethanol.

The list includes dozens of gas stations and grocery stores across the metro as well as distribution centers.

CHECK your COUNTY and STATION BELOW - LIST INCLUDES the AIR FORCE BASE pumps, Schools, etc.

“The retailers discontinued operations and then we began systemically removing the gasoline from their stations and then replacing it with on-specification product,” Heine said.

Heine said the company spent the day recovering the bad fuel at different retailers across the state and he said the plan is to do the same thing on Thursday.

Several of the stores have returned back to normal operation.

Officials said consumers who purchased fuel from Aug. 23 to Aug. 29 from one of the affected outlets should contact their mechanic or automobile dealer to resolve the issue. Consumers can also contact the retailer to file a claim.

Complaints about this or other concerns about fuel-measurement quality can be filed with the OCC online or by calling 405-521-2211.

A list of affected retailers can be found below:

http://KWTV.images.worldnow.com/library/4ac07608-0a5c-4923-9f21-88724ed311ab.pdf

Officials said consumers who purchased fuel from Aug. 23 to Aug. 29 from one of the affected outlets to contact their mechanic or automobile dealer to resolve the issue, or to contact the retailer to pursue a potential claim.

[DNA]

From what I've heard Ethanol will absorb the gunk in the bottom of your gas tank and basically clean it out. The only problem is usually you will need a new fuel filter after this. But you should be par for the course.
I don't see anything wrong with burning ethanol.
Ethanol may burn faster, but it usually provides a bump in engine performance. Your engine will run stronger and faster with a high ethanol blend.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gy-WfFMq0Yg
Gy-WfFMq0Yg

[Bob]

Here is a contrasting opinion about burning ethanol laced fuels:

(as to cleaning "gunk", good logic, but fuel filters these days contain plastic, which can be dissolved by ethanol.. And vehicles using resin/fiberglass tanks, i.e. marine boats, reported that the ethanol causes premature tank failure, the "gunk" is the tank dissolving !) Plastic items in the injectors (such as seals), are degraded, leading to leakage and failure.. Hundreds of dollars for parts, plus mechanic's charges..) Why would there be "gunk" in one's fuel tank? Right.. something dissolved somewhere along the storage chain, from the distributor's pumps and valves.. Not a good idea in my opinion. If adding Oxygenating agents to the fuel is the idea, something that facilitates OZONE at ground levels ? (SMOG in other words..) is certainly not a good idea.


---------------

A new study out of Stanford says pollution from ethanol could end up creating a worse health hazard than gasoline, especially for people with asthma and other respiratory diseases.

"Ethanol is being promoted as a clean and renewable fuel that will reduce global warming and air pollution," Mark Z. Jacobson, the study's author and an atmospheric scientist at Stanford, said in a statement. "But our results show that a high blend of ethanol poses an equal or greater risk to public health than gasoline, which already causes significant health damage."

The study appears in today's online edition of Environmental Science & Technology, a publication of the American Chemical Society. It came at a time when the Bush administration is pushing plans to boost ethanol production and the nation's automakers are required by 2012 to have half their vehicles run on flex fuel, allowing the use of either gasoline or ethanol.

Jacobson used a computer to model how pollution from ethanol fuel would affect different parts of the country in 2020, when ethanol-burning vehicles are expected to be common on America's roadways.

Jacobson's study focuses on the health effects of an ethanol type called E85, a highly publicized fuel composed of up to 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.

(E85 (or flex fuel) is a term that refers to high-level ethanol-gasoline blends containing 51%-83% ethanol, depending on geography and season (see Fuel Properties and E85 Specifications). )

Last month, California Democratic Sen. Diane Feinstein, along with Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both R-Maine, introduced a bill to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from motor vehicles. The bill would "require fuel suppliers to increase the percentage of low-carbon fuels -- biodiesel, E85 ... hydrogen, electricity, and others -- in the motor vehicle fuel supply" by 2015, according to a March 30 press release from Feinstein's office.

Reacting to Jacobson's study, Feinstein issued a statement Tuesday.

"We should proceed with caution," she said. "All of these fuels emit certain pollutants, and those pollutants have to be known and evaluated for their health effects. There can be no real rush to judgment about these fuels.

"We've got to find a way to develop low-carbon fuels that do not have adverse health effects."

A spokesman for the state Air Resources Board said officials there were still studying prepublication copies of the Jacobson paper and would have no immediate comment.

"This is the first we've heard of it," said board spokesman Dimitri Stanich. In the meantime, he said, "there are multiple avenues for reducing California's carbon 'footprint,' (with) hydrogen and ethanol being part of that plan. We consider (E85) as part of the strategy."

The study also attracted the attention of environmental scientists.

Toxic releases from burning Ethanol

The basic principles of Jacobson's paper are sound, David Pimentel, an ecology professor emeritus at Cornell University, wrote in an e-mail.

"The burning of ethanol releases large quantities of ozone, a serious air pollutant," he said.

"In addition, the use of ethanol as a fuel releases formaldehyde and acetaldehyde, plus benzene and butadiene.

All of these are carcinogens and are a threat to public health."

Jacobson's study, however, concluded that the cancer-causing effects of ethanol would be roughly comparable to those of gasoline.

Chris Somerville, a Stanford professor who chairs the executive committee for the recently announced BP-funded Energy Biosciences Institute at UC Berkeley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of Illinois, said the study was interesting and it "should be followed up with experimental work."

It is "possible that ethanol will not be the major biofuel in 2020," he said. "I see ethanol as a transitional fuel that will eventually be replaced by ... second-generation fuels. I am just uncertain whether it will be done by 2010 or whether it may take longer."

The institute is slated to develop a new generation of carbon-neutral biofuels, including ethanol.

(Note: Ethanol from Corn/Canes is hardly carbon-neutral. see: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1098269_biofuels-dont-assume-theyre-all-carbon-neutral-new-study-warns)

Alex Farrell, a Berkeley professor of energy and resources, was also complimentary of the study.

"It's a good scientific paper that has taken the first look at the air-quality impacts of ethanol in a worst-case scenario," he said. "It is definitely my opinion that ethanol is not the only solution to air pollution."

Jacobson's computer model for Los Angeles is extremely high-resolution, as such models go. It breaks the Los Angeles atmosphere into a three-dimensional grid akin to 100,000 "boxes" stacked more than 10 miles high. Each box measures 3 miles wide and a few hundred feet deep.

He said he isn't surprised that no one previously tried to model the long-term health impacts of ethanol in such detail "because it's very complicated."

"The only reason I was able to do it is because I've been building this model for 18 years now," he said. "You really require a humongous model."

references: http://www.ecoworld.com/energy-fuels/biofuel-is-not-carbon-neutral.html - biofuel is not necessarily carbon-neutral

The point of the thread though, is not to point out the problems associated with burning even small quantities of Ethanol, but to point out that many vehicles, and people can experience hardships from having put excessively laced ETHANOL in their fuel tanks which could kill their engines, and cost them many thousands of dollars in losses..

[Bob]

Was it an accident?

Magellan Midwest Partners is quite a BIG distribution system for storage, blending of fuels -


http://www.magellanlp.com/uploadedimages/Asset_Map/Petroleum-Highlights.jpg


Refined Products
Our refined products segment consists of our common carrier refined products pipeline system, independent terminals and our ammonia pipeline system.

Magellan is the longest common carrier pipeline system for refined products and LPGs in the United States, extending approximately 9,500 miles from the Gulf Coast and covering a 15-state area across the central U.S.

The system includes 42 million barrels of aggregate useable storage capacity at 52 connected terminals.

Who would want to sabotage Magellan?

Look at the number of States which are touched by Magellan's pipelines, the distribution terminals. Where exactly is "Blending" happening? Where is a potential contamination most likely to occur? Why would contamination occur? Good questions to ask - accident, or something else???

Here is what they are saying, "IT WAS A FAILURE OF A VALVE".. ok, did the valve have plastic in it? Seals?


“We’ve determined at this point it was related to a failure of a valve that controlled the quantity of ethanol going into the gasoline,” said Bruce Heine, spokesperson for Magellan Midstream.

Heine told KOCO 5 over the phone the company is reviewing its current procedures.

“In Oklahoma City, at this moment we’ve actually implemented additional testing procedures to ensure that the gasoline and other petroleum products leaving the facility exceeds specifications,” Heine said.

Meanwhile some private entities like Cleveland County are checking their county vehicles to make sure no damage was caused.

How many more 'valves' are there in their distribution and subsequent blending system?

[Bob]

Who were they before? Williams Energy Partners - (I know I have heard of that group before.. see: http://www.ogj.com/articles/2003/08/williams-energy-partners-changing-name-to-magellan-midstream-partners.html)

Background

PORTFOLIO COMPANY HIGHLIGHTS - Carlyle Group


Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P.
Industry: Energy
Region/Country: Tulsa , OK U.S.

Fund: Carlyle/Riverstone Energy II

Acquired: Jun 2003
Status: Exited

During the period of Carlyle's ownership, Magellan Midstream Partners, L.P. (formerly Williams Energy Partners L.P.) was a publicly traded partnership formed to own, operate and acquire a diversified portfolio of energy assets.

The partnership primarily transported, stored and distributed refined petroleum products and ammonia.


Williams Energy Partners went public in February 2001. Since then, the partnership has acquired $1.1 billion of assets.

Majority equity owner Williams Cos. Inc. sold all of its 54.6% interest in the partnership to a new entity owned jointly by private equity firms Madison Dearborn Partners LLC and Carlyle/Riverstone Global Energy and Power Fund II LP (OGJ Online, April 21, 2003).

Who is Carlyle?

That is the trillion dollar question :) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Carlyle_Group

What may offer some insights into why "Magellan" lost a key valve in Oklahoma; the State is attempting to make a recovery economically with the oil price drop - possibly they stepped on some old toes?

Dots connecting?


Carlyle's corporate private equity business has been one of the largest investors in leveraged buyout transactions over the last decade,[when?] while its real estate business has actively acquired commercial real estate.

Since its inception, Carlyle has at various times had investments in companies such as Booz Allen Hamilton, Dex Media, Dunkin' Brands, Freescale Semiconductor, Getty Images, HCR Manor Care, Hertz, Kinder Morgan, Nielsen, and United Defense.

Carlyle was founded in 1987 in Washington D.C. by William E. Conway, Jr., Daniel A. D'Aniello, and David Rubenstein and currently operates with more than 1,700 employees across 35 offices in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and Australia.

Over the course of two decades, Carlyle has amassed a portfolio of $193 billion in assets under management across 130 funds and 156 fund of fund vehicles and has made investments in more than 200 companies and more than 250 real estate investments.

In 2012, Carlyle completed a $700 million initial public offering and began trading on the NASDAQ stock exchange on May 3, 2012.

[ghostrider]

I live between Tulsa and Oklahoma City , in small town called Sand Springs, lucky for us the sinclar station on the main highway sells only 100 percent gas ... in some nearby towns the price went up almost 40 cents overnight ...

[Bob]

I live between Tulsa and Oklahoma City , in small town called Sand Springs, lucky for us the sinclar station on the main highway sells only 100 percent gas ... in some nearby towns the price went up almost 40 cents overnight ...

Glad u didn't get the bad stuff. I can't say I have seen non-ethanol blends up here in Colorado except maybe near race tracks, and at that point it costs premium $$.

I have a weird feeling about the resource/pipeline group. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to install a detector in-line and monitor for batch values of fuel components coming together. And if the levels being monitored change substantially, something should have shut down the "assembly line"..

[ghostrider]

Exactly , i think this was done on purpose to drive up prices ... how many times have they mixed fuel , sent the tanker, routine marches on on, now all of a sudden 450,000 gallons gets contaminated ???