Bulk Petroleum, headquartered in Mequon, Wis., supplies gasoline to more than 200 gas stations throughout the country, filed to reorganize its finances under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February 2009. On May 4, 2010, the Bankruptcy Court approved entry of the consent decree in the Polk County suit. (Click here for previous CSP Daily News coverage of Bulk Petroleum.)
District Judge Robert B. Hanson entered a consent decree (click here) against Bulk Petroleum.
The court's decree resolves the state's 2007 lawsuit (click here) against the company, which is the largest UST enforcement action in Iowa history. The case involves 92 USTs with a capacity of 800,000 gallons of product, at 28 retail gas stations located in 14 cities and 9 counties in central and eastern Iowa.
The violations, admitted by Bulk Petroleum, include failure to comply with UST requirements for protection of steel USTs from corrosion, prevention and detection of petroleum leaks, maintenance of records, providing notice of leaks, and conducting assessment of the contamination.
Bulk Petroleum is permanently enjoined from further violations. In addition, the company is ordered to provide UST regulatory training to supervisory personnel, adopt standard maintenance and recordkeeping procedures, conduct biannual inspections of USTs by Iowa DNR certified inspectors and annual inspections by Bulk Petroleum employees or contractors.
"This consent decree is an appropriate resolution for serious violations of the law," Miller said.
The civil penalty owed to the state is an unsecured debt, payment of which is subject to bankruptcy proceedings.
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