Text 4451, 44 rader
Skriven 2007-06-06 05:49:00 av TIM RICHARDSON
     Kommentar till en text av ROSS CASSELL
Ärende: the cost of war/oil
===========================
On 06-06-07, DAN CEPPA said to ROSS CASSELL:


RC> I am not sure of how often a refinery has to go down for maintenance,
RC> but thats what I heard was part of the problem this year, in addition
RC> to the blends crap.


DC>The "blends" is a red herring.  The primary reason in CA gas is
DC>that of MTBE.  That additive is under consideration to be banned in
DC>some 25+ other states.


The MTBE additive has been troublesome here in California. Many stations
who's tanks were thought to be leaking (whether they actually were or not)
were forced by the EPA to dig the tanks up, pull them out of the ground and
have them minutely inspected for any hint of a leak of fuel with MTBE in it.


Some stations that were small independents were put completely out of
business over it. One station that had been an independent for as long as I
can remember held on for a couple of years, before having to go under because
an inspection of one of the storage tanks was found to have a ten or fifteen
gallon discrepency in what was supposed to be there. The tank was ordered dug
up (it was located in such a way that the business had to be closed while the
tank was dug up) and inspected. No leaks were found. It was then realized by
some `sharpy' that a certain amount of expansion and contraction takes place,
and `that' probably accounted for the difference in readings.


By this time, the independent had gone the limit of their finances, couldn't
do business since the whole area was dug up and no pumps were operating, and
had to sell out. A Chevron dealership is there now. (I've always suspected
that Chevron wanted the location, couldn't get the independent to leave or
sell, and the `leaky tank' was a putup job)


This happened about six or seven years ago.


---
*Durango b301 #PE* Silence cannot be misquoted.....unless Ceppa gets hold of
it!
 * Origin: Doc's Place BBS Fido Since 1991 docsplace.tzo.com (1:123/140)