FDACS Provides Update on Tampa Bay Area Fuel Contamination Issue
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Today, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services has issued an update on the contaminated gas incident due to human error caused by Citgo.
After emergency inspections and testing, FDACS has determined the following:
Six stations did not receive the contaminated fuel shipment:
Dan's Car Wash: 39522 US Highway 19 N., Tarpon Springs
7-Eleven: 3437 US Highway 19, Holiday
7-Eleven: 13411 Fish Hawk Boulevard, Lithia
Quick & Easy Stop: 4529 Bee Ridge Rd., Sarasota
Palmers Easy Stop: 903 Cattleman Rd., Sarasota
2K Express 5: 6202 N 40th St., Tampa
Eight stations have been inspected, remediated, and cleared by FDACS for fuel sales:
7-Eleven: 720 Chiquita Boulevard, North Cape Coral
7-Eleven: 2604 Skyline Boulevard, Cape Coral
7-Eleven: 601 Pine Island Rd. S.W., Cape Coral
7-Eleven: 6050 Dean Dairy Road, Zephyrhills
7-Eleven: 714 Burnt Store Road, Cape Coral
Handy Foods Store #87: 3205 Lee Blvd., Lehigh Acres
Faulkenburg CITGO: 5320 Faulkenburg Road, Tampa
PJI LLC: 7977 W Dunnellon Road, Dunnellon (Regular and premium fuel was not contaminated, only diesel fuel)
17 stations remain under a stop sale order pending laboratory confirmation:
7-Eleven: 4325 Lee Boulevard, Lehigh Acres
7-Eleven: 12750 South Cleveland Avenue, Fort Myers
7-Eleven: 290 Lakeland Park Road, Lakeland
7-Eleven: 940 S Broad St., Brooksville
7-Eleven: 1626 Meadow Road, Lehigh Acres
7-Eleven: 2401 James Redman Parkway, Plant City
BJ's Wholesale: 1929 Pine Island Road N.E., Cape Coral
BJ's Wholesale: 9372 Ben C Pratt Six Mile Cypress Pkwy., Fort Myers
BJ's Wholesale: 13585 NE 86th Path, Lady Lakes
Handy Foods Store #86: 21321 Palm Beach Blvd., Alva
Superday CITGO: 1595 South McCall Road, Port Charlotte
Bolton One LLC: 15434 US Highway 19, Hudson
JHW #310 - DBA Avenue CITGO: 11867 N. Williams St., Dunellon
AL Prime - Daytona Beach: 1898 S. Clyde Morris Blvd., Daytona Beach
Choice Food & Gas: 310 N Central Ave., Umatilla
Perfection Station 5: 9931 N Florida Ave., Tampa
Rogers Petroleum: 134 N Desoto Ave., Arcadia
"I am grateful to the hard-working men and women at FDACS who responded to this incident swiftly and thoroughly," said Commissioner of Agriculture Wilton Simpson. "It is never good to have such a catastrophic error for consumers, but particularly during a time when Floridians are evacuating from a potentially dangerous storm. I firmly believe our department was able to mitigate what could have been a worse situation. We stand ready to assist those whose vehicles and equipment were impacted by contaminated fuel."
Background:
On August 27, the department announced that it had identified a potentially widespread fuel contamination caused by human error at the Port of Tampa that impacted gas stations in the Tampa Bay area supplied by Citgo. Any fuel purchased from 10:00 a.m. on Saturday August 26 through Sunday, August 27, at impacted stations has a strong likelihood of being contaminated with diesel fuel.
Contaminated gasoline and diesel have the potential of causing engine damage or affecting operability. Impacted stations were ordered to stop selling gas until the contaminated fuel is replaced and tanks are cleaned. Once the stations are cleared or have completed a corrective action plan fuel will once again be safe for purchase.
FDACS is coordinating with the Division of Emergency Management (FDEM). FDEM is coordinating with petroleum retailers, ports and all additional stakeholders to ensure that this disruption won’t be widespread and that residents can have seamless access to fuel. At the direction of the Governor, FDEM has already waived size, weight, and hour restrictions to get resources into the state as quickly and efficiently as possible.
At this time due to early detection and action, there are no reports of disrupted fuel supply in the region.
Citgo added the following information for Florida consumers:
Citgo has a contamination issue at its Tampa terminal that is affecting fuel sold at the following retail locations in the Tampa area. Please be advised that Citgo is working with the locations to remove contaminated product from these locations. In the meantime, thank you for patience and understanding as we work to return these locations to normal operations. If, however, you have purchased fuel from one of these locations on or after Aug. 26, and are concerned your vehicle may be impacted, you can initiate a claim through the Citgo Good Gas Guarantee program https://www.citgo.com/contact-us.
Consumers may also file a complaint by contacting the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer services by calling 1-800-HELP-FLA or online at www.fdacs.gov. Call Centers will be temporarily closed on Wednesday due hurricane Idalia.
Please follow @FDACS on X, formerly known as Twitter, for updates on the stop sales. As always, follow @FLSERT for live updates on disaster preparation and response.
For more information about Commissioner Simpson and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, visit FDACS.gov.
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