The contamination of hundreds of thousands of gallons of fuel sold to consumers across the Denver metro in January happened because employees at a fuel distribution site mistakenly left a valve open, state investigators found.
Workers at the HF Sinclair terminal in Henderson on Jan. 8 failed to close a valve, which allowed diesel fuel to mix with regular unleaded gasoline, regulators with Colorado’s Division of Oil and Public Safety announced Friday. The mistake led to the contamination of more than 1.6 million gallons of gasoline, of which 365,694 gallons were sold to 49 gas stations across the Front Range.
More than 1,000 people reported problems with their vehicles because of the contaminated fuel, Colorado Department of Labor and Employment Deputy Executive Director Cher Haavind said at a news conference Friday.
The state Division of Oil and Public Safety fined Sinclair $365,694 for the incident — $1 per gallon of contaminated gasoline. The company also implemented a system requiring two people to verify proper valve opening and closing and to use a checklist.
While state statute only allows for fines of $500 per violation per day, regulators didn’t feel a $500 or $1,000 fine adequately addressed the violation, Zach Hope, Division of Oil and Public Safety spokesperson, said Friday. The division worked with the Colorado Attorney General’s office to levy a more fitting fine, he said.
“We are also going to work with them to make sure we have ongoing fuel quality monitoring with them,” Hope said.
The improper mixing of fuel began at approximately 2 p.m. Jan. 7 but was not discovered by Sinclair employees until approximately 6 a.m. Jan. 8 when gas station operators notified the distributor of irregularities, according to a report detailing the state’s investigation. In the interim, more than 360,000 gallons of fuel had already been sold to gas stations, including some operated by King Soopers, Costco and Murphy Express.
Sinclair began notifying the fuel distributors of the incident on the morning of Jan. 8, but did not notify the Division of Oil and Public Safety.
Officials with the division began receiving complaints from consumers that same morning. Drivers reported stalling, sputtering and newly illuminated check engine lights shortly after refueling their vehicles. By 11 a.m., state regulators confirmed the sale of contaminated fuel at one Costco in Sheridan, but throughout the day realized the issue was much broader.
“It wasn’t a great Friday morning,” Hope said of the day of the incident.
Investigators eventually traced the contaminated fuel to the Henderson site.
State regulators contacted Sinclair on the morning of Jan. 9. The company had already begun to recover the contaminated gasoline and state investigators requested a list of the gas stations impacted. Sinclair did not provide the list until Jan. 13.
Gas station owners responded quickly once they discovered contaminated fuel and helped prevent broader consumer impacts, the report states.
The Division of Oil and Public Safety is working with 1,090 people who purchased the contaminated fuel to help them recover the cost of car repairs. The state believes all impacted people have already initiated the claims process, but encouraged anyone else who purchased the fuel to file a complaint by calling 303-866-4967 or filling out this online form and emailing it to [email protected].
Fuel contamination is very rare, Haavind said. The Sinclair incident is only the second in 20 years in the state.
Sinclair did not immediately respond to the state’s notice issued Thursday about the fine, Hope said. The company has 10 days to request a meeting about the violation and fine.
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