SState officials fined Sinclair more than $365,000 after employees at a fuel distribution site mistakenly left a valve open and mixed diesel with regular unleaded gas, according to a new report released Friday.
An investigation found that the mistake by workers at the HF Sinclair terminal in Henderson on Jan. 7 led to the contamination of more than 1.6 million gallons of gasoline, 365,694 of which were sold to nearly 50 gas stations across the Front Range, the state’s Division of Oil and Public Safety said.
The state received about 1,090 complaints from drivers who said their cars began to stall or sputter shortly after filling up their tanks, or saw their check engine lights turn on, the report said.
Following an investigation, the division fined Sinclair $365,694 for the contamination — $1 for each gallon of contaminated fuel. The oil company also implemented a verification system that requires two people to use a checklist and verify the opening and closing of valves.
The contamination of diesel fuel with unleaded regular gasoline began about 2 p.m. Jan. 7 and was distributed to 49 gas stations, including those at King Soopers, Costco and Murphy Express, before employees discovered the issue at 6 a.m. the following day, according to the state’s report.
Fuel carriers reported the issue to Sinclair, but at that point contaminated fuel had already been sold to gas stations, the report said.
Sinclair began to notify fuel carriers Jan. 8, but did not tell the state’s Division of Oil and Public Safety, state officials said. Complaints flooded into the state that morning and state investigators confirmed the sale of contaminated fuel at a Costco station in Sheridan.
The division initially believed the bad fuel was isolated to one gas station, but as more complaints came in, officials realized it was a more widespread issue. Investigators took gas samples from several gas stations and traced the source of the fuel to the Henderson terminal, the report said.
On Jan. 9, the state asked Sinclair to provide a list of all of the affected gas stations so it could inform impacted customers. The oil company did not provide a list until Jan. 13, the state said.
“Swift actions from gas station owners on January 7th and 8th helped prevent further consumer impacts,” the state found in its investigation.
Equipment designed to monitor tanks also alerted operators that there was a problem with the fuel quality shortly after the deliveries were made. Other owners acted quickly to stop sales after they were notified by Sinclair of the contamination.