Eyewitness News continues to get calls on our tip hotline about a bad batch of gas sold at two dozen Kern County gas stations and stations in eight other counties.

Viewers called us overnight wanting to know how many cars have been damaged. We called Manuel Villicana, of Kern County Weights and Measures, who tells us so far they have determined that 68 of the 150 calls fit the criteria of being legitimate. They are still looking into the other complaints and that could take time. It is important to note damage is only the fuel pumps of vehicles.

There were also questions from viewers of whether the gas was sold out of state. According to weights and measures, none of the gas left the state of California. The gas was provided to 24 kern county gas stations by the kern oil and refining company.

One day after we put the Kern Oil and Refining Company on the "no comment clock" we have a response. Neil Walker has not been returning our phone calls or emails with questions about the bad gas that was released and sold to local gas stations.
We received this statement from him Friday afternoon:
"To the channel 29 news team:
In response to your recent inquiries of Kern Oil & Refining Co. concerning the contaminated gasoline issue, I wish first of all to briefly correct the record. On Wednesday, May 7th, your reporter, Rimppi Rai, called me and left a voicemail message asking that i call her back. I did so almost immediately that same day, leaving a voicemail statement for Ms. Rai addressing the pertinent issues surrounding the contaminated gasoline subject. This message and its important and meaningful content, intended as Kern's response to your station's inquiry, were unfortunately excluded from your initial news reports. The gasoline contamination occurred as a result of the refinery filtration system's failure. The failure allowed microscopic particulates to be passed along with the gasoline that was delivered to various customers and locations. The filters have been replaced. Upon learning of the contamination problem, Kern promptly informed its customers and immediately began working proactively and responsibly with those customers, the affected gasoline stations, the consumers who received contaminated fuel and weights & measures. Kern has responded promptly to all complaints and has fully reimbursed (or is in the process of doing so) all parties for their associated damages. The company regrets the problems and inconvenience the contaminated
gasoline has caused. Kern will make no further comment to the media regarding this matter." Neil Walker, Kern Oil & Refining Co.

Eyewitness News would also like to correct the record.
Yes Neil Walker did leave us a voicemail, but we did not get it until the day after our first story aired and it did not answer all the questions we had about the problem. We also as a policy don't use voicemails as verbatim. Anyone can leave a message claiming they work for an organization. We call back to verify the information and that's what we tried to do. And the voicemail was not sufficient. We had further questions that were not answered in that voicemail. When we tried to get an on camera interview for a week by leaving messages and emails,we did not hear back. We even complied on Monday when we were told to send an email with questions, but four days later, there was still no response. That is why we put Neil Walker on the no comment clock. By returning our phone calls or responding to our emails this issue could have been resolved days ago and your questions could have been answered. We are thankful we have heard from the Kern Oil & Refining Company.