Dozens of gas stations across Colorado’s Front Range sold contaminated fuel to customers last week after an HF Sinclair terminal in Henderson distributed regular unleaded gas that also contained diesel, according to state officials.
“We’ve received over 600 complaints … from consumers who experienced a variety of engine issues after receiving gas last week,” Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Deputy Executive Director Cher Haavind said in a .
As of Wednesday, all the contaminated fuel had been recovered and returned to Sinclair, the distributor, Division of Oil and Public Safety spokesperson said in the news conference. The division is part of Colorado’s Department of Labor and Employment.
“At this point, all indications, including our own investigations, have suggested that all fuel in the marketplace that you can buy at gas stations meets specifications,” Hope said.
The Division of Oil and Public Safety confirmed 46 gas stations across metro Denver and the Front Range received the contaminated fuel, including stations in Denver, Breckenridge, Lakewood, Fort Collins, Littleton, Greenwood Village, Westminster, Henderson, Aurora, Greeley, Wellington, Superior, Lone Tree, Parker, Arvada, Firestone, Federal Heights, Castle Rock, Longmont, Conifer, Colorado Springs, Sheridan, Broomfield, Timnath, Arvada, Johnstown and Erie.
In a statement Tuesday night, Sinclair officials apologized for the inconvenience caused by the contaminated fuel.
“We continue to work with distributors and are committed to making this right for all affected,” company officials said.
“…A thorough review is underway, and we are taking appropriate steps to prevent this from happening again.”
State officials started getting complaints about bad gas on Thursday from stations at Costco, Murphy Express, King Soopers and others.
The contaminated fuel was loaded from the HF Sinclair terminal and sent to stations between 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7 and 6 a.m. Thursday, Jan. 8, state officials said.
By 8:30 a.m. Thursday, Sinclair had notified its distributors that there was a problem, started recalling the fuel and ordered affected stations to shut down sales, Hope said.
“Consumers would experience a variety of engine performance issues, from sputtering to stalling, and it would have presented itself pretty quickly upon filling up with the contaminated fuel,” Haavind said.
Where and how the fuel got contaminated remains under investigation, Hope said. That investigation could take two to three weeks.
Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety investigators received a list Tuesday night from Sinclair of 42 gas stations that pumped contaminated fuel.
Colorado gas stations that sold contaminated fuel:
• Costco Gasoline #676, 5175 Wadsworth Blvd, Arvada
• King Soopers Fuel Center #137, 14887 Candelas Pkwy, Arvada
• Stinker Store #333, 13700 E Quincy Ave, Aurora
• Costco Gasoline #439, 1405 S Havana St, Aurora
• King Soopers Fuel Center #107, 25751 E Smoky Hill Road, Aurora
• King Soopers Fuel Center #49, 2351 S Buckley Road, Aurora
• Farmers Korner Gas, 16115 Hwy 9, Breckenridge
• King Soopers Fuel Facility #718, 2395 W 136th Ave, Broomfield
• King Soopers #86 Fuel Facility, 5275 W 120th Ave, Broomfield
• Castle Pines King Soopers #691, 7296 Lagae Road, Castle Rock
• King Soopers Fueling Facility #732, 750 N Ridge Road, Castle Rock
• Costco Gasoline #1014, 5897 Barnes Road, Colorado Springs
• Safeway, 27102 Main St, Conifer
• West Evans Sinclair, 2110 S Federal Blvd, Denver
• Twin Star Energy #2, 3550 Downing St, Denver
• Circle K Store #2709854, 1600 S Colorado Blvd, Denver
• Broadway Cardlock, 6185 Broadway, Denver
• King Soopers Fuel Center #607, 1470 S Sheridan Blvd, Denver
• Costco Gasoline #1652, 4741 North Airport Way Building 2, Denver
• Circle K #2706475, 6702 N Tower Road, Denver
• Circle K Store #2706786, 202 S Briggs St, Erie
• Safeway Fuel Center #1635, 10300 Federal Blvd, Federal Heights
• Safeway Fuel Center #4614, 8206 Weld CR 13, Firestone
• Safeway Fuel #2913, 2451 S Taft Hill Road, Fort Collins
• Singh Food and Sinclair, 213 18th St, Greeley
• S&S Fuels #302, 9171 E Arapahoe Road, Greenwood Village
• Circle K Store #2709880, 7701 E Orchard Road, Greenwood Village
• R B Food And Gas, 11010 E 120th Ave, Henderson
• Johnstown C-Store, 106 E South 1st St, Johnstown
• K & D Enterprise Inc, 1490 S Wadsworth Blvd, Lakewood
• Coal Mine Gas Express, 9819 W Coal Mine Ave, Littleton
• Bowmar Gas Express, 5200 S Lowell Blvd, Littleton
• Costco Gasoline #443, 8050 W Quincy Ave, Littleton
• Costco Gasoline #468, 8686 Park Meadows Center Drive, Lone Tree
• King Soopers Fuel Center #702, 1619 Pace St, Longmont
• King Soopers Fuel Center #675, 13057 S Parker Road, Parker
• Costco Gasoline #1022, 18414 Cottonwood Drive, Parker
• Murphy Express #8621, 13001 Copperhead Trail, Parker
• Costco Gasoline #1027, 4000 River Point Pkwy, Sheridan
• Costco Gasoline #480, 600 Marshall Road, Superior
• Safeway Fuel Center #1873, 9640 Washington St, Thornton
• Costco Gasoline #629, 16375 N Washington St, Thornton
• Costco Gasoline #1178, 4665 Weitzel St, Timnath
• Big D Oil Co. #64, 8214 6th St, Wellington
• Circle K Store #2741185, 5390 W 112th Ave, Westminster
• Costco Gasoline #440, 6400 W 92nd Ave, Westminster
The Division of Oil and Public Safety also received complaints about a handful of stations not included on the list, and those stations remain under investigation to determine if the gas sold there was contaminated, Hope said.
Hope did not specify the number of stations that remain under investigation, but he said it was in the single digits.
Customers who were sold contaminated gas should where they purchased the fuel, state officials said. They can also file a complaint with the online or by calling 303-866-4967.
“Unfortunately, the Division of Oil and Public Safety is not involved in that reimbursement process,” Haavind said. “We receive the complaints, we test the fuel and we work with the station owners on making sure that consumers know where to go for support.”
The first step is for affected customers to report the issue where they bought the gas, but any damage to vehicles from the contaminated gas will ultimately be paid for by Sinclair, Hope said.
Colorado officials can help “encourage” gas stations on Sinclair’s list whose owners claim not to be affected by the bad gas, or who otherwise aren’t cooperating with customers, to honor claims, Hope added.
While customers who started experiencing engine issues after Thursday were likely not affected by this specific distribution error, Hope said they should still file a complaint with the division so the agency can investigate.
“Consumer complaints happen all the time, certainly not in this volume, but this is a reality of our work,” Hope said.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
