Reports: Hopatcong gas station had water in tanks

HOPATCONG – Borough police are warning residents that they have received two complaints from people who said they got water in their gas tanks at a local filling station.

Police received two complaints on Monday from customers whose cars would not run after getting gas at the Enrite Gas Station on Hopatchung Road, police said.

Both of these vehicles were taken to mechanics who found more than 50 percent what was in the tank was water, police said.

John Maine, a borough resident, said he had trouble with his car on Monday after buying gas at the station.

“I went there yesterday morning and got $10 worth of gas and I go to down the road and the car was balking,” he said.

Maine said he took the car into the shop and they found water in the tank.

“They are working on the car now,” he said Tuesday. “They’ve got to take the gas tank out, put new gas in, put dry gas in to clean out the system.”

Officer Paul Barta went to the Enrite gas Station and spoke to an employee of TechSmart Service Group, who was working on the pumps. The employee said he was there to determine why the pumps were running slow.

Barta told him of the motorists with water in their gas so the employee checked the tanks and found that there was more than 4 inches of water in the middle "regular gas" holding tank, police said.

Barta contacted the owner, which is P&I Holdings Co. of Linden, who said he did not know how there could be water in the holding tank and that it was a new tank. He also told the officer that anyone who was having trouble with their vehicle should contact him when they have an estimate of the damage from the water in the gas, police said.

Maine said police gave him the name of the owner and he called the man, who said that he would pay for the damage. Later in the day, the man met Maine and gave him a check for $207.20 to cover the cost of the repairs to his car.

A call to P&I Holding in Linden was referred to another company. A message left with that company was returned by a man who said he had been the owner but the station was sold as of March 1 but he did not know the name of the new owner.

The phone number listed for the Enrite on Hopatchung Road on Tuesday was not in service.