Earlier this year, the Consumer Affairs office also found Pilot Station No. 66 in Braselton, Ga., guilty of price gouging, said the report. That station had to pay restitution to any consumers who still had their receipts, plus pay a $20,000 fine, which was assessed [image-nocss] jointly against nine Pilot locations around the state.
Ike's landfall on September 13 near Galveston, Texas, disrupted several oil refineries and choked the supply of gasoline to stations across the Southeast, pushing gasoline prices above $4 a gallon. As a result, Governor Sonny Perdue declared a state of emergency that triggered the state's anti-gouging law.
State anti-gouging investigators announced in October that they would be checking records from 166 stations across Georgia, including least seven Athens-area filling stations for price gouging based on consumer complaints, the report said.
As of July 23, the investigators have resolved 113 cases38 with a finding of no price gouging and 75 with a finding that the stations gouged consumers, the newspaper said.
Separately, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Control Secretary Collin O'Mara has issued a Notice of Administrative Penalty Assessment and Secretary's Order to Christy Tire for violations of Delaware's underground storage tank (UST) regulations. The Order includes a cash penalty of $143,900 and an additional $21,585 as cost recovery reimbursement for the department's expenses associated with its investigation.
Christy Management LLC, Christy Tire and Salman Choudhary (collectively, Christy Tire) are the owners and operators of a retail gas station in Georgetown. The gas station has four active tanks and the owners have been operating these tanks out of compliance since at least October 2007.
On May 7, 2008, the department issued a Notice of Violation (NOV) to the owners of Christy Tire requiring them to submit the necessary documentation to demonstrate that they returned to compliance within 30 days. The violations include failure to demonstrate that the tanks and lines are not leaking, failure to demonstrate that the tanks are not corroding in the ground and failure to carry insurance to pay for the cleanup of any leaks from the tanks and underground piping that could potentially contaminate drinking water supplies in the local area.
Christy Tire has failed to take any action to respond to the NOV. Their failure to address the compliance problems causes an increased risk of contaminating groundwater and the environment with harmful petroleum chemicals. Subsequently, DNREC's Tank Management Branch notified Christy Tire of the department's intentions to classify its storage tanks as ineligible to receive product deliveries in an April 23, 2009 certified letter, and on June 1, 2009, affixed red tags on the fill pipes of the USTs to prohibit the delivery of petroleum products to the facility.
The owners of Christy Tire have since moved their tire business to another location, leaving behind the out-of-compliance USTs and any possible related environmental or financial liability.
The owners of Christy Tire have 30 days to request a public hearing regarding the Order, the department said.
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