Gov Agency Warns About Gas Hoarding as Misinformation Spreads Online: ‘Do Not Fill Plastic Bags With Gasoline’

Megan Varner, Getty Images

As panic-buying and gasoline-hoarding continued to spiral in the wake of a cyberattack that forced a major pipeline to shut down, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s warning Wednesday morning was short and to the point: “Do not fill plastic bags with gasoline.”

Do not fill plastic bags with gasoline.

— US Consumer Product Safety Commission (@USCPSC) May 12, 2021

The problem? Some photos and videos making the rounds on social media showing people doing just that are not from the current gas-hoarding panic.

According to a Wednesday report on fact-checking website Snopes, a picture showing a trunk full of gas-filled plastic bags is from a March 2019 incident “in which two men attempted to steal gasoline from a gas station in Huauchinango, a city located in the state of Puebla in Central Mexico.”

A video of a woman appearing to fill a plastic shopping bag at a gasoline pump is also several years old, according to Snopes, and first went viral in December 2019.

The Colonial Pipeline, which transports gas and other fuel from Texas to the Northeast, was forced offline Friday after a cyberattack by hackers believed to be based in Eastern Europe. The subsequent run on gas caused shortages in major cities throughout the south, and governors in North Carolina, Georgia, Virginia, and Florida have declared states of emergency.

There’s no real way to prove that people aren’t currently trying to fill plastic bags with gasoline, and there are plenty of reports of people hoarding gas, presumably any way they can.

The USCPSC told Mediaite that it’s aware of the old images, and was trying to get ahead of any potentially dangerous situation by providing tips on how to safely transport gasoline.

“We’ve seen through social media examples previously of consumers using plastic bags to transport gasoline, and we are urging consumers not to do anything like that at anytime,” Joe Martyak, the agency’s director of communications, told Mediaite. “In light of the rush on gas stations in the southeast, we are asking consumers to keep this safety tip in mind.”

In any case, the USCPSC’s warning – in line with current White House guidance – is a good one, panic-induced gas shortage or no panic-induced gas shortage.

This story has been updated to reflect comments from the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.