Not only is it a hazard to boats, but the unadvertised use of ethanol in gasoline may be a costly mistake for oil companies.  A class action suit against the vendors of unadvertised ethanol blends is underway as described below.

April 9, 2008

OIL COS: Kabateck Brown Kellner Files Ethanol-Related Lawsuit
Major oil companies like ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, Valero, 
and ConocoPhillips are manufacturing and selling ethanol blended 
gasoline that damages marine fuel tanks, engines and other 
components, according to a federal class action lawsuit filed by 
Kabateck Brown Kellner, LLP. 
PetroDiamond, Tower Energy and Big West are also named in the 
suit.
“The price of gas is bad enough, but selling gasoline that 
dissolves gas tanks is a new low even for the oil companies,” 
said Brian Kabateck, Managing Partner of Kabateck Brown Kellner 
and the lead attorney on the case.  “The oil companies know this 
fuel is corrosive, but they’re keeping consumers in the dark to 
pump up their profits.  The cost to the consumer is thousands of 
dollars in repairs.”
ExxonMobil last year recorded the largest profits recorded in 
U.S. history with $40.6 billion.  Chevron posted profits of 
$18.7 billion in 2007.
Oil companies have long mixed additives into their gasoline as a 
way to boost octane.  Methyl tert-butyl ether, commonly known as 
MTBE, was widely used as an octane booster until 2004, when it 
was banned in many states because of environmental concerns.  In 
response, ExxonMobil, Chevron and other oil companies selected 
ethanol as a replacement.
Consumers were never informed about the differences between MTBE 
and ethanol-mixed gasoline, nor were they informed about the 
disastrous effects ethanol has on fiberglass marine fuel tanks.
Fiberglass is widely used in the construction of boat fuel 
tanks.  Fiberglass is a combination of individual glass 
“threads” bound together by a resin. Ethanol dissolves this 
resin, destroying the tank.  Moreover, the dissolved resin 
enters the fuel system, causing damage to the engine and other 
components.
Ethanol blended gasoline is particularly harmful in the marine 
environment because of “phase separation.”  Ethanol attracts 
water.  When enough water is absorbed by the ethanol blended 
gasoline, the ethanol and water solution separates from the 
gasoline (phase separation), with the gasoline floating to the 
top.  This results in a layer of water with a high-concentration 
of ethanol at the bottom of the fuel tank.
“The environment pays the price for Exxon and Chevron’s 
deception each time a damaged fuel tank leaks gasoline into the 
water,” Mr. Kabateck added.
The suit was filed in U.S. District Court, Central District of 
California in Los Angeles. McNicholas & McNicholas, The Ball Law 
Firm and Jacobson, Russell, Saltz & Fingerman, LLP are also 
participating in the suit.
The suit seeks to represent a class comprising all owners of 
boats with fiberglass fuel tanks who filled their tanks with 
ethanol blended gasoline from a California retailer. 
The suit also seeks to represent all persons in California who 
own boats with a fiberglass fuel tank that had to be replaced 
because of damage caused by ethanol blended gasoline bought from 
a California retailer.
For more information, contact:
          Kabateck Brown Kellner, LLP 
          644 South Figueroa Street
          Los Angeles, California 90017
          Tel: 213.217.5000
          Fax: 213.217.5010

Tags: energy investments

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 12th, 2008 at 10:53 am and is filed under ethanol. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.