— Mary Stanley, South Whitehall Township
Printed warnings would be inexpensive, easy to add and extremely helpful. They should be required by the Environmental Protection Agency, which will mandate "E15" warning stickers for 15-percent ethanol blends, if and when the agency clears that mix for retail sale. The EPA website carries an image of the label that will be required for E15, indicating that the fuel is considered safe only for cars from the 2001 model year or newer.
Strangely, there is no such warning mandate for E85, which has been available for years and is considered far more damaging to engines and components in most cars. Flex-fuel vehicles, though a growing market segment, still comprise a small percentage of the cars on U.S. roads.
EPA spokeswoman Cathy Milbourn said the Federal Trade Commission requires a sticker for E85 pumps, and I got a photo of the label from the Renewable Fuels Association, a pro-ethanol trade group. Neither the pump you used at the Route 309 Exxon station, nor the E85 pump at the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Lehigh Valley Service Plaza, displays the FTC sticker. Even if they did, the information it provides is far from complete. It merely says, "E85 / Minimum 70 percent ethanol." There's nothing about what kind of vehicle should or should not use the fuel.
At the Turnpike plaza, "E85" is prominently marked on the pump, and the fuel is dispensed from a dedicated pump with no other kind of gas available. In addition, Sunoco changed its procedure at some point, eliminating the ability of motorists to dispense the product without entering the store and paying in advance, and once inside, clerks provide relevant information. That's far superior to the Exxon station's model, but it's inconvenient for both customers and employees, and prominent E85 warnings on the pump would offer a better solution for all.
You wrote that neither Exxon nor Lehigh Gas, the Allentown-based owner of the Route 309 gas station, offered any assistance when you related your tale to them, Mary. Neither company responded to my requests for information.
The dangers posed by ethanol blends to automobile or other engines is highly controversial, but it's believed the threat rises along with the level of ethanol. The substance offers about a third less energy than gasoline, and opponents insist it can damage fuel lines, injectors, hoses and other rubberized parts, and cause engine startup problems, rough running and other ills. Flex-fuel engines are modified to prevent those problems.
Still, Robert White of the Renewable Fuels Association said you probably didn't need to have E85 removed from your tank and replaced by E10 gas, Mary. Unless you were "running on fumes" when you filled up, the few gallons you had left, mixed with the E85, likely would have produced few, if any, problems, he said. He would have suggested driving for a few days, filling again with E10, and repeating that process for a week or so.
"There's a good chance she wouldn't have had a problem" using that procedure, he said.
Ethanol opponents would strongly disagree, and White allowed that in at least one case he's aware of, an E85 fill-up in a non-flex vehicle resulted in the engine failing to start.
"It just wouldn't fire up," he said, adding such instances are very rare.
The prospects for E85, and for ethanol in general, seem to be evaporating somewhat both in the marketplace and on the political race track. As far as I know, the two stations discussed here are the only ones in the Lehigh Valley that offer E85. It's been available at the plaza since at least 2008, and one new station in four years doesn't exactly attest to high-torque demand.
To its credit, the RFA provides a useful, consumer-friendly informational sticker for E85 pumps, free of charge to sellers who want them, even though the association doesn't consider E85 to be as harmful as some believe. It reads, "Stop! / Not gasoline! / This fuel is designed to operate in Flex-Fuel Vehicles (FFVs) only. Please consult your owner's manual before fueling if you are unsure if you are operating an FFV." Then "Stop!" is repeated once more at the bottom of the label.
Couldn't have said it better myself — and I give extra credit because it comes from people interested in making and selling as much ethanol as possible. This warning surely would have prompted you to detour your $153 mistake, Mary, and the inconvenience that came along for the ride.
Road Warrior appears Mondays and Fridays, and the Warrior blogs at mcall.com. Email questions about roadways, traffic and transportation, with your name and the municipality where you live, to hartzell@mcall.com, or write to Road Warrior, Box 1260, Allentown, PA 18105-1260.
