Conoco gas station in Camden, NJ, may have sold gas tainted with floodwater, officials say
New Jersey has experienced heavy rain and flooding as a result of Winter Storm Finn.
A New Jersey gas station is under investigation after it sold gas that may have been tainted by floodwaters, causing dozens of vehicles to malfunction.
Camden County officials confirmed the owners of at least 26 vehicles reported their cars stalling after purchasing gas from a Conoco station on Admiral Wilson Boulevard. The station was shut down at around 9 p.m. on Wednesday and will remain closed until further notice.
Preliminary tests found an "exceptional amount" of water in samples taken from the gas station's fuel tanks, Camden County spokesman Dan Keashen told FOX Business.
Keashen said the gas station owner may have ignored warnings from a mechanism designed to pump water out of the fuel tank and may have sold tainted gas to customers. The owner could not immediately be reached for comment.
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Officials are investigating a Conoco station in Camden, New Jersey, for potentially selling gas tainted by floodwater to residents. (Google Maps / Fox News)
"We are awaiting test results taken from the underground tanks, which we should have in later today. In the interim, we have locked the pumps and are coordinating with the business owner for full reimbursement to any patrons that were impacted by the event," Keashen said.
As of Friday, the business has received 26 response for reimbursement, according to officials.
While the cause of the contamination remains under investigation, Keashen said officials are "99.9% sure that it was water infiltration as a result of Winter Storm Finn."
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A view of flooded area after a winter storm in New Jersey, United States on January 10, 2024. The winter storm that started Tuesday night caused major flooding on Wednesday morning. Due to floods, while some places in northern New Jersey were evacuat (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Officials are encouraging anyone who has concerns about gas they purchased from the Conoco station to contact the city and county departments of weights and measures.
New Jersey and other states were pounded by snowfall, heavy rain and flooding this week when winter storms slammed the East Coast.
As of early Wednesday morning, around 140,000 customers were without power in New York, followed by about 100,000 in Pennsylvania and more than 50,000 in North Carolina and New Jersey.
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A flooded area after a winter storm in New Jersey, on January 10, 2024. (Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Multiple inches of rain were recorded in towns and cities throughout the Northeast. New Jersey declared a state of emergency before the storm moved through the region.
"Beginning tomorrow morning and continuing through Wednesday morning, we are expecting one to four inches of heavy rain, strong winds, and potential inland and coastal flooding," Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday. "This storm will exacerbate the effects of the inclement conditions we experienced in December and this past weekend and may precede another storm Friday night."
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Costal flood and flood warnings are in effect for parts of New Jersey, with additional rainfall expected Friday night.
Fox Business' Greg Norman contributed to this report.