Leaky underground tank problem widespread in Utah

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

In the meantime, DEQ officials in charge of monitoring underground storage tanks, leaking or otherwise, have been told in a recent state audit to keep a closer eye on open cases of past leaks.

In the 1980s Congress told the EPA to come up with new rules that regulated underground storage tanks. In 1988 those rules went into effect and were applied to what was all of a sudden a "universe" of tanks, DEQ's Therron Blatter said.

Tank owners were given 10 years to upgrade existing tanks or replace them at a considerable cost. Many smaller gasoline providers opted to get out of the business, Blatter said. Larger companies replaced tanks with fiber glass units or coated steel tanks that are less resistant to corrosion.

Blatter said that in the Top Stop case in Gunnison, the tank owner elected to upgrade, which is considered a temporary fix that involves staving off corrosion, but only for a while. He said the human factor of not paying day-to-day attention to whether an old tank is leaking probably contributed to not finding the leak in time at the Top Stop.

Blatter said there are several hundred tanks throughout Utah that are older, possibly upgraded and at risk of leaking.

When tanks do leak, the state has its LUST fund, which gasoline providers pay into as a kind of insurance policy to help with cleanup costs, should they be needed. For fiscal year 2001, the state paid out $13.8 million in LUST monies. For fiscal years 2005- 2007, the amount was in the range of $5 million to $6 million. Right now there's about $11.4 million available in the fund.

The LUST fund was created in the 1990s by the Utah Legislature for owners of buried tanks to access when a leak occurs. The state requires owners of leaking tanks to hire a consultant, clean up the mess and then apply for LUST funds as a form of reimbursement.

In the case of Gold Cross, the company has a cap of $500,000 in LUST funds it can access because it was considered to be a non- marketer of petroleum, meaning its supplies were only used by its ambulances.

Gas station owners, however, have up to $1 million in LUST funds available to them for cleanup of leaks. All gas stations are required to have money available just for cleanup, which in part comes from a small surcharge they pay the state each time they resupply their storage tanks. About 80 percent of owners in Utah participate in the LUST fund, with the rest having some form of commercial insurance, Blatter said. Tanks operated by the federal government, he noted, are covered by federal funds in event of a leak.

Blatter said if there is any money left over below the cap when LUST funds are distributed and there are 3rd party claims, that money can go toward impacted individuals or businesses. In Gunnison, that money has been used up and those affected are going after Top Stop's owner.

In Eckardt's case, the LUST funds have been dwindling. Whether he is awarded any damages from Gold Cross may be decided when his lawsuit goes to trial, which is currently scheduled for Aug. 4, a date Eckardt called a "day of reckoning."