Leaky underground tank problem widespread in Utah

0 Comments | Deseret News (Salt Lake City), Mar 14, 2008 | by Stephen Speckman Deseret Morning News

Earlier this year there were more than 100 unresolved cases of underground storage tanks, most that contained gasoline, that have leaked just in Salt Lake City. Data compiled by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality showed there were 35 open cases in Ogden, 25 in St. George and 16 in West Valley City.

Of the open cases on DEQ's list, 12 Utah cities had between six and 13 leaking tanks, eight cities had five ongoing cases, six cities had four and 21 cities had two cases. Over 40 cities and towns had at least one case of a storage tank that in some way has been or could be polluting the soil and possibly groundwater, according to the state.

"Yeah, we have a problem," said Dale Marx, branch manager of DEQ's underground storage tank program, which oversees leaks, cleanup and prevention. "Are people dying in the street? No. We've got a pretty good handle on it. Once in a while, one gets away from you."

The Utah Solid and Hazardous Waste Control Board members Thursday talked about tightening rules on underground tanks and having a proposal ready by April. DEQ's Division of Environmental Response and Remediation director, Brad Johnson, said the new rules' goal is to prevent what's happening right now with a large leak that's being cleaned up in Gunnison, where as of Thursday crews had cleaned up about 6,800 gallons of a 20,000-gallon gasoline leak.

The board also discussed what to do about a leak that prompted a lawsuit involving Gold Cross Services Inc. and a private property owner. On June 12 board members will hold their own hearing about what to do about cleanup methods, a process neither side in the lawsuit has been able to agree on.

State records show that throughout Utah there are some 5,000 underground storage tanks. Most contain gasoline or a petroleum product.

Sometimes the tanks leak, a lot.

Apparel shop owner Lila Lee Christensen claimed earlier this year that a storage tank that leaked 20,000 gallons of gas from a Top Stop Convenience store site in Gunnison ruined her business. Efforts are ongoing to clean up the plume of contamination underground while about $1 million for cleanup and investigation has been spent out of the state's LUST (leaking underground storage tank) fund, DEQ's Therron Blatter said.

"Gunnison has been this giant disaster," Blatter said on the phone. Nearly half of the monies doled out from the LUST fund during the current fiscal year has gone toward the Top Stop leak.

Christensen is also seeking damages in a pending court case against Top Stop owner Wind River Petroleum. Another lawsuit was filed this past week by businesses and residents in Gunnison against Wind River.

When asked about all of the leaking tanks in Salt Lake City, Marx said people need to be educated about what's around where they live. "Are kids playing on a trike getting sick? No," he said.

But there are incidents where a plume of contamination from a leaking tank gets into drinking water. Marx said if that happens water consumers are immediately notified, even if it means going door-to-door to tell them.

The door-to-door approach has been unfolding in Roosevelt after a resident saw what was at first thought to be leakage from a septic tank in a field near some homes. A call was made to the health department and the substance was discovered to be gasoline. The field was fenced off, all neighbors were notified, an investigation into the pollution is ongoing and cleanup is expected to begin this spring or summer, Marx said. So far, he noted, there has been no contamination found in drinking water or groundwater.

Finding the leaking tanks takes watchful residents, devices called leak detectors and "honest" owners of underground storage tanks. Marx said that these days economics, or the high price of gasoline, should be helping to keep tank owners honest and willing to report a leak toward getting the resulting contamination cleaned up, with the aid of the state's LUST fund.

But if the mess is under a building or road, there's a chance it won't ever get resolved.

"You just don't dig up freeways for a little bit of contamination," Marx said. Sometimes, he added, it's a question of whether it's worth demolishing a building to get at the pollution.

The demolition solution is not out of the question for Kay Eckardt, who is suing Gold Cross Services Inc. and others in 3rd District Court because of past petroleum seepage at about 740 W. 1700 South in Salt lake City. One of two underground tanks that Gold Cross had used until 1996 to refuel its ambulances was found to have leaked and both tanks were eventually removed, along with tons of contaminated soil.

But as Eckardt walked around his property recently, he pointed to holes in the ground covered by small metal plates that read, "monitoring well." At some point there have been about 20 wells on the site that includes his U-shaped building with its 11 tenants and the building next door, which is co-owned by his sister and, in a strange twist, Gold Cross, even though it stopped using the site altogether in 2001.