The Office of Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell earlier in January reopened a case involving Peterson Oil Service Inc. of Worcester in which the oil company delivered heating fuel to the state containing more than the acceptable amount of biodiesel.
A lawsuit filed by several customers against Peterson Oil Service Inc. of Worcester accusing the company of knowingly delivering the wrong mix of heating oil was certified on Dec. 12 as a class action lawsuit by a Worcester Superior Court judge.
The assurance of discontinuance, entered in Suffolk Superior Court, resolves allegations that Peterson Oil violated the Massachusetts False Claims Act when it entered into two statewide contracts, covering an eight-year period, with no intention of delivering compliant heating fuel. Instead, Peterson Oil regularly delivered fuel containing significantly more biodiesel by volume than the 5 percent allowed under the contracts.
During the course of its contracts with the state, Peterson Oil at times delivered fuel that contained 40 percent or more biodiesel by volume, more than eight times its limit allowed under the contract. Several of the state entities that purchased heating oil from the company under the contracts experienced performance issues with their heating systems because of the high biodiesel content.