Como – The Financial Police has seized more 27 thousand liters of dangerous diesel which were ready for sale in road and motorway distributors of the province of How. It was diesel fuel with a flash point around 40 degrees Celsius, much lower than the 55 degrees required by law and safety standards. The fuel was found to be mixed.
The discovery occurred following a series of checks which also assessed the correctness of the amount of fuel delivered to the pumpalso specific quality controls on the numerous samples taken directly from the systems’ dispensing guns.
In one of the samples taken a significant anomaly of the chemical composition and an inspection was therefore arranged by the Como Customs and Monopolies Agency against the plant suspected of marketing non-compliant energy products.
Having obtained the first results and noted theproduct irregularities, the samples were immediately sent to the chemical laboratory in Milan which, as an emergency procedure, carried out new analyses. The irregularities were confirmed, with particular concern about the results relating to the chemical characteristics of the stored diesel fuel; in fact, a higher than normal flash point was found.
The flash point it is the temperature above which the liquid releases sufficient vapor to create a flammable mixture with the air, while below it the vapor that forms is in any case insufficient to create a flammable mixture; the lower the flash point, the more easily vapor forms at normal temperatures and the greater the risk catch fire during transportation.
Analyzes of the petrol made it possible to ascertain that the product was on sale with a number of octane lower than declared. The petrol with the highest octane, or Premiumis able to optimize the car’s performance, cleans the engine and produces fewer harmful emissions but, in this specific case, the fuel offered for sale, at a higher price, did not have the expected characteristics.
At the end of the activity, 25 dispensers were sealed and four tanks containing them were seized 27,000 liters of diesel for automotive purposes and 1,000 liters of petrol “100 octane” non-compliant results. The legal representative of the distribution plant was reported for fraud in the exercise of trade and for possession or use of products obtained from clandestine manufacturing or unauthorized mixing.
