Hundreds of Colorado motorists discovered this week that they had accidentally filled their tanks with diesel-contaminated gasoline, leaving vehicles stalled and owners facing costly repair bills.
The Colorado Division of Oil and Public Safety said on Friday that it began fielding customer complaints Thursday morning, after drivers reported engine problems within minutes of fueling up at Costco, King Soopers, Murphy Express, and other outlets.
An inspection by state officials at the Costco gas station at River Pointe in Sheridan on Thursday morning confirmed the diesel contamination in regular unleaded gasoline, which officials said was visible.
Testing validated that the problematic batch originated directly from the HF Sinclair terminal in Henderson, Colorado. After learning of the mistake, station operators immediately halted sales of the contaminated fuel and arranged replacement supplies.
Hope indicated the agency does not believe the contamination resulted from negligence or intentional wrongdoing.
The Division of Oil and Public Safety said it’s working with station owners to test fuel samples and identify any impacted retailers.
As a precautionary measure, the division has alerted around 3,000 gas stations nationwide, said Cher Haavind, deputy director for Colorado’s Department of Labor and Employment, told The Colorado Sun.
King Soopers confirmed to the local news outlet that approximately a dozen of its gas stations received the incorrect fuel, with affected locations spanning from Arvada to Parker. The retailer deployed teams to shut down fuel dispensers and conduct diagnostic testing at each location.
Misfueling Repairs
The mechanical consequences of running a gasoline engine on diesel fuel can be severe and costly. Diesel, which is significantly thicker and more viscous than gasoline, can immediately clog fuel injectors and spark plugs, causing vehicles to misfire, stall, or fail to start, according to Kelley Blue Book (KBB). The severity of damage depends largely on how much diesel fuel entered the tank and whether the engine was started.
If drivers started their engines, additional repairs may include fuel injector servicing costing $250 or more, fuel pump replacement at $1,200, fuel filter replacement at $200, and spark plug replacement at $100, according to KBB.
Drivers experiencing vehicle problems from the contaminated fuel should contact the gas station where they purchased the fuel to begin a claims process, Hope said.
