COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — At least 46 stations across the metro area and one in Colorado Springs are believed to have received the contaminated fuel, according to an updated list released by the state on Wednesday.
In Colorado Springs, the Costco along Barnes Road on the east side of town has now been added to the list as one of the impacted stations.
The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE)’s Division of Oil and Public Safety (OPS) has received more than 600 complaints and counting from people who believe they were impacted by the “unprecedented” fuel contamination, officials said during a virtual presser on Wednesday.
People who filled up between the evening of Jan. 8 and the morning of Jan. 9 at stations on the list may have been impacted.
All the fuel has now been replaced, officials said.
Customers who received contaminated fuel — and experienced engine damage as a result — can begin a reimbursement process at the gas station where they filled up, officials said in a Wednesday news conference.
The Scripps News Group has compiled the affected gas stations in the map below:
Those who believe they received contaminated fuel should first return to the gas station where they received the fuel to file a report, officials said. The gas station owner should then work with Sinclair on the reimbursement process.
“If they have receipts or anything that they can demonstrate that they did purchase the fuel from that location, that would be great,” Cher Haavind, CDLE's deputy executive director and chief communications officer, said.
Consumers should also report the issue to the OPS — especially if the gas station says they did not receive the contaminated fuel.
“It would not be unusual if a consumer returned to a retailer and they are either unaware of the contamination or unclear on what are the next steps to receive the consumer complaint,” Haavind said. “That's our priority within the division right now, is making sure that those smaller owners are aware they do have an obligation to receive the complaint, and that is what triggers our team to work with that owner on ensuring those consumers are made whole.”
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The list of impacted locations, which includes locations provided Tuesday evening to CDLE by Sinclair, is published on CDLE’s website. The list includes Costcos, King Soopers, Safeways and smaller gas stations across 11 counties. OPS is currently working to cross-check Sinclair’s list against the list they’ve put together from consumer complaints.
“With the publication of this list… if you bought fuel at facilities that are on the published list during that time period or since, and the gas station is not cooperating, get in touch with us,” Zach Hope, petroleum program manager for OPS, said. “We can certainly help encourage them to honor the claim, especially now that we have a list and we all can point to it and say, ‘Sinclair believes you got bad fuel. It's time to honor claims.’”
People who received contaminated fuel would have started experiencing engine performance issues, such as sputtering and stalling, almost immediately after driving away from the gas station, Haavind said. Engine issues that are just now showing up are probably not related to the fuel contamination, but can still be reported to OPS, she said.
Officials are still investigating the point of contamination.
The customer complaint form, which is also available in Spanish, can be found here.