The recent Kona Low storm brought heavy rain across the Islands that led to fuel contamination in ‘Ewa Beach. A number of customers have reported that this issue has rendered their vehicles undrivable after filling up at this station.
Heavy rainfall allowed water to leak into the station’s 87-octane (regular) fuel tank at the Hele gas station on Fort Weaver Road in ‘Ewa Beach (store #61043) on Friday, March 13. Aloha State Daily spoke to Par Hawaiʻi, the owners of Hele to find more information about the incident.
According to John Payton, vice president of retail for Par Hawaiʻi, the incident occurred between 7 to 10 p.m., with the store responding after customers alerted employees. The ‘Ewa Beach location was the only Hele station across the Islands to experience fuel contamination during the storm, he said.
“I was happy we were able to catch it quickly and shut it down, but unfortunately, there were a number of folks impacted,” Payton said.
Though there could have been several factors causing the incident — extremely heavy rain and power outages — Payton believes equipment failure was the cause for the fuel contamination.
“We are still investigating the cause, and we’ll be doing some equipment repairs to ensure that [this issue] doesn’t occur again,” he said.
Moving forward, Par Hawaiʻi will conduct a series of tests to ensure that its equipment can withstand situations like the recent storm.
Payton said about 26 known individuals are known to have been impacted by the contaminated fuel. Par Hawaiʻi is working directly with them to resolve their issues.
If you were impacted by this situation, Payton advises you to call Par Hawaiʻi at 808-547-3111 directly or visit the ʻEwa Beach Hele location in person.
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