MASON CITY, IA - Drivers fueling up in southern Minnesota could be in for a surprise.
A petroleum company is replacing gas it delivered to nearly two dozen Minnesota communities because it contains too much ethanol.
Magellan Midstream Partners Petroleum has shut-down its Mankato fuel terminal after it was discovered their ethanol blend gasoline had more than a 10 percent blend. Twenty-one Minnesota communities, including Albert Lea and Austin, get fuel from that Mankato location.
Some fuel suppliers are now being sent to the Mason City Magellan terminal, making the longer drive in order to get good fuel back to southern Minnesota.
“This is an actual tester we use to test fuel samples,” said Charlie West, owner of Charlie’s Auto Repair.
West knows all about bad gasoline.
“It could cause some damage to the exhaust system or converter which in turn could cause some mechanical damage in the engine,” said West.
West says when vehicles get too much ethanol in the fuel system they'll start acting up.
“It starts really hard and there’s a drivability concern that the car will hesitate; it won't take off like it usually does from stop signs and a lot of times people will say the check engine light will come on,” said West.
That's what happened to a number of drivers in Minnesota over the weekend when a Mankato fuel terminal added too much ethanol to its fuel.
“We store gasoline in certain storage tanks and ethanol in a separate storage tank and we blend those to products together and trucks pull into our loading area,” said Bruce Heine, director of government and media relations for Magellan Midstream.
Heine says while it's not clear exactly how much ethanol was added to the mixture, it was enough to shut the Mankato terminal down.
“We're focused on recapturing and recovering and replacing all the product that was not within the state specifications,” said Heine.
That means many suppliers have to get their fuel somewhere else, and they're coming to north Iowa to get it.
“A lot of the trucks that traditionally would have loaded at Mankato are now going to Mason City or Rochester or Minneapolis,” said Heine.
Suppliers will have to travel farther to get the fuel, but Heine expects the other terminals to have adequate supply, just as long as it's blended properly.
“If they got too much ethanol they will really notice that vehicle start very, very hard,” said West.
West adds while most gas stations are able to test for added moisture in gasoline, stations don't check for added ethanol levels.
He adds when a vehicle comes into his shop one of the first things he does is check to make sure it's running on the proper fuel.
Magellan Midstream does not know how long their Mankato fuel terminal will be shutdown.
