OK, now what: thieves make off with 4,000 gallons of diesel from LA-area station
Well, the Burbank police certainly are adept at stating the obvious. After 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel were stolen from on Exxon fuel station in Burbank sometime before it opened on Friday morning, the police issued a statement (available here) saying that they "believe a fuel tanker truck was used." That's why they're cops and we're not.In any case, this could be a huge problem for station owners across the country, if the thief (thieves) get away with this. The AP says that whoever took the fuel took it from the unlocked underground tanks. Burbank police Detective Sam Anderson said that one would need "a special device" to open them. I don't know what that device is, but it must be worth a lot to the suspect(s) considering that 4k gallons of diesel is worth over $20,000 right now, if they can find a way to sell it.
Photo by exrorro. Licensed under Creative Commons license 2.0.
[Source: AP, LA Times Bottleneck blog]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
stevefazek 12:01AM (6/18/2008)
If i was a farmer i would have 2 tanks one with good security the other with crappy security. Sacrifice some diesel and mix with something highly caustic. Some engines will be toast.
But in reality we should get rid tax for farmers, Dye their deisel black, If any semi is found withe any traces of it in their fuel system the truckers forfeit their trucks and all cargo.
That would put a stop to theft from farmers.
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Ignatius 12:25AM (6/18/2008)
And it begins...
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Wave54 2:04AM (6/18/2008)
I used to perform fuel audits on the underground tanks for a convenience store chain.
That "special tool" is known as a screwdriver or a crowbar to lift the heavy steel plate before turning the cap on the filler pipe counter-clockwise. There was NO security whatsoever to keep anyone from opening tanks at the many thousands of locations across the country.
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jamesFF 2:16AM (6/18/2008)
This happened at a BP in Hermitage PA (about 3 miles from where I live) a man, with a modified cattle trailer, parked over the fuel filler of the station and pumped thousands of gallons of diesel in his trailer.
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Derek 6:44AM (6/18/2008)
@#1 - "off road" diesel (the stuff farmers use which has no road taxes) is dyed red and semis ARE checked, at least in some states. Their trucks aren't confiscated, but using off road diesel IS tax evasion and there is a fine based on the number of gallons their tank holds. Considering their tanks are pretty large, it's not a cheap penalty.
The silly thing is that the off road stuff has added sulfur (hoo-ray acid rain). I am also told that the red dye is similar to that used in many ATF's, which some diesel owners will burn as an injector cleaner because of the detergents in ATF.
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MarkR 8:14AM (6/18/2008)
As some one who grew up with my dad owning a gas station and a grandfather a distributor. the "special device" is bogus. they are just saying that to make others think it's hard to steel. all you need is a storage tank on a trailer, a pump, a screwdriver and a hose.
There were a rash of thefts around Austin last year when prices first started going up. Some guy would pull up and power wash a closed gas stations drive to make it look like he belonged, and at the same time stole gas and placed it in a 100-200 gal storage tank on a trailer he was pulling. you've got to give the thief credit, it was simple and effective. I think he stopped once he hit a gas station that had video on the tanks and he almost got busted. So if you own a gas station, I'd say get some insurance and place at least one surveillance camera on your fill port to your underground tanks.
oh and fyi for those that don't know much about the business: Most mom and pop shops don't own the gas in their tanks, it is still owned by the distributor or the brand refiner such as Exxon until it is sold to the consumer, thats how they are able to adjust prices so fast without losing their shirts.
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stevefazek 8:44AM (6/18/2008)
I know heating oil is dyed red and doesnt pass current emissions with the ultra low sulfur diesel.
But come one the reason why its diesel beign stolen is its owner operators who are stealing the diesel.
I cant see many owner operators around much longer. Maybe if they started a co'op and hedged fuel together they could
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Tim 10:08AM (6/18/2008)
Time to invest in locking gas caps.
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yvettec 6:09AM (6/20/2008)
ummmmm... i would kind of be more worried about the whole thing if i were the cops. you don't know what anyone is planning to do with such an enormous amount of diesel fuel. it could be nothing, but it also could be terrorist planning another attack in some way.
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Kevin Smith 7:41AM (6/20/2008)
Stevefazak
Off road deisel already is died red to distinguish it from over the road fuel that taxes have been paid on. Farmers use red fuel.... if you get caught with red fuel in an over the road vehicle you are in trouble.
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justpicky 7:50AM (6/20/2008)
None of this would happen IF OPEC , and other companies / businesses didn't raise the gas up . There's enough blame to go around .
Our LAZY government polictians , Lazy President Bush would of put a CAP on this years ago . This applies to everyone I said so far ( above ). OPEC AND THE OTHERS TOO .
The Citizens Of United States needs to take a stand and BOYCOTT . As long as this continues , a person will continue stealing gasoline.
It's to much for the average person to buy. Do you realize ,people are driving over 20 miles or more to work and it's costing them hundreds of dollars a month just to go to work . This is horrible for our government let any companies take advantage United States like that . It makes me feel our government doesn't care for citizens who voted there dumba.s.s . You can't trust anyone anymore .
This is a doggie dog world we live in and it's going to get worse , if our goverment would stop it now . Republicans and Democrat even agree on this , EVERYONE of them are to worried about thereselves and not the citizens . They're filling up there bank accounts before they leave office . And screw the citizens of United States.
Polictians can't talk the truth. Anything they say is a lie too .
Take control of your finance , stop spending and boycott .
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Steve H 8:12AM (6/20/2008)
you would be amazed at the number of small contractors who use the off-road(red dyed) fuel in thier equipment. These contractors use tanks in the back of thier pick-ups(diesel-powered, of course) to fuel thier equipment...and the pick-ups.
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Armadillo 8:19AM (6/20/2008)
Why don't you know it alls keep telling the thieves how to steal gas.........
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John 8:35AM (6/20/2008)
Most of the comments are assuming that the stolen fuel will be run in trucks. Why? It may be used as heating fuel, red dye is legal there and nobody would know the difference.
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Diane 8:37AM (6/20/2008)
When our leaders steal from us, we apparently have to steal back. I hope whoever stole that fuel uses it to better his/her own life.
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Andie 8:45AM (6/20/2008)
In my area there is no need to buy locking gas caps! Instead you need a security camera. People are going around puncturing gas tanks to steal the fuel from them!
A locking gas cap won't stop that! What else do we need to lock? As food prices rise because of costs will we need security to escort us to our cars?
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Jennifer 9:23AM (6/20/2008)
I am glad they are stealing fuel, I hope they riot over fuel prices. Exxon can afford to have fuel stolen from them. Prices are insane and they are making money off it. You fart wrong prices go up.
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ron Korman 9:42AM (6/20/2008)
The comments scare me! The mentality of the population out there is why we have the politicians we have. Some of these comments are so absurd they encourage theft in some bent way the blogger can rationalize that as okay. It is not. Things are tough now and are going to get tougher. Remember what it says on our money "United we stand"
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