California Drivers May Have Been Filling Up With Bad Gas For Years: Report

Image: Kirby Lee (AP)

When drivers fill up with bad fuel from gas stations, they often end up with costly engine problems. But what happens when a company knowingly puts bad fuel in a gas station? SFGate reports that a California-based petroleum transportation company has allegedly been giving bad fuel to stations all over the state for years.

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In a January 29 press release from the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, the department accused Southern California-based petroleum transportation company Lamb Fuels of selling bad fuel to stations across the state. What’s worse is that this was all being done illegally over a period from 2012-2021. The press release explains:

It is alleged that the defendants, acting from their headquarters in San Diego County, instructed Lamb Fuels truck drivers to pick up waste fuel from multiple scrapyards per day, illegally treat it and deliver it to gas stations. The waste fuel consisted of contaminated fuel drained from wrecked and abandoned vehicles. Lamb Fuels, operating without permits to treat and transport hazardous waste, grossly profited from this widespread, sophisticated scheme.

The department says that this fuel was illegally siphoned from vehicles at Pick n Pull locations in the San Francisco Bay area.

The department is accusing the company’s CEO Greg Lamb, its vice president Kezin Parabia and general manager Jeffrey Lisowski of profiting from the sale of the fuel with the department calling it a “sophisticated and widespread” scheme.

The situation is worse, as the department is accusing Lamb Fuels of selling this bad fuel in disadvantaged areas that have been hit by “environmental injustices and are already overly burdened by pollution,” the release read.

On January 26, Lamb, Parabia and Lisowiski pled not guilty to charges. A hearing is scheduled for early May. Meredith Williams, director of the Department of Toxic Substances Control said state officials have zero tolerance for this kind of crime. “We have zero tolerance for people who knowingly and recklessly violate our hazardous waste laws, which are some of the strongest in the country. We are appalled by the gross negligence of Lamb Fuels and its management, who have demonstrated complete disregard for the environment and public safety.”