Hundreds Of Cars Contaminated After Supplier Error Puts Diesel In Gas Pumps

Cars around Denver, Colorado, began sputtering to a stop last week, despite their recently topped off tanks. It turns out, a fuel supplier accidentally sent diesel instead of gasoline to several gas stations in the area, resulting in unsuspecting drivers pumping gas that was contaminated into their tanks before the problem was discovered, according to the Colorado Sun. The Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety has received more than 200 complaints from motorists who got the tainted gas.

The problem started at the HF Sinclair terminal in Adams County, according to 9News. The company confirmed that some shipments of fuel "didn't meet specifications," which is a unique way of saying that diesel isn't gasoline. These shipments went to Costco, King Soopers, and Murphy Express gas stations in the area between 2:00 p.m. on Wednesday, January 7, and 6:00 am on Thursday, January 8, according to the Division of Oil and Public Safety. These stations unknowingly refilled their regular-grade gasoline storage tanks with diesel instead, mixing the diesel with any remaining gas and contaminating the tanks.

Inspectors identified the first affected gas station within an hour of the first complaints on Thursday morning, prompting an investigation to determine the extent of the problem. The Division has not released an official list of stations affected, but 9News has identified thirteen King Soopers locations, three Costco locations, and one Murphy location. These gas stations promptly stopped pumping the bad gas as soon as they were aware of it, so no further issues are expected.

By now, any affected gas stations have either already had their tanks decontaminated and have reopened for business, or their pumps remain closed while that process takes place. However, that doesn't help customers who already bought the bad gas last week. Running diesel in a gas car is one of the worst things you can do to a car made to run on gasoline. Diesel is thicker than gas and begins to clog fuel pumps, lines, and injectors as soon as the engine starts. According to CBS News, at minimum, the gas tank and fuel system need to be flushed, which costs between $1,000 and $1,500. The cost only rises from there if parts downstream get clogged or damaged. In the worst case, a full engine rebuild may be required.

Drivers affected by the mix-up should contact the gas station where they got the contaminated fuel, as well as the Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety, for help to fix their cars. King Soopers has contacted at least one claimant 9News interviewed, provided a claim number, and promised to follow up early this week. The supplier, retailers, and insurers will have to work out liability among themselves, but they should take care of the customers who received the contaminated gas.

Zack Hope, who manages Colorado's Storage Tank Program, told CBS News that he does not expect there to be any fines against the supplier.

It doesn't seem like it was done with an intent to defraud consumers. That's a major factor for us when we're looking at fines or enforcement for fuel quality issues.
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Sinclair's investigation should point to the root cause. And we will work with them to make sure that they take some steps to alleviate the possibility of that ever happening again.

That would be a good thing. This type of mistake has happened before, and has been happening for a while. We'd like to be assured that when we pump our gas, we're actually getting the type of fuel we expect.