JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon has asked the director of the state Department of Agriculture to order the owner of several gas stations in the Jefferson City area to pay nearly $39,000 in penalties and correct several violations of minimum federal fire safety standards.
According to the complaint filed with the Agriculture Department, Leonard J. Loethen, the owner of Loethen Oil Co. Inc., received numerous notices of violation during inspections by the department's Division of Weights & Measures between February and May 2005. [image-nocss] The notices ordered Loethen to correct the violations by installing overfill alarms and explosion-proof conduit for wires, by conducting line-tightness tests and by ensuring adequate ventilation on tanks, among other things.
Loethen, who has been operating stations in mid-Missouri since the 1970s, ignored all of the notices, according to the complaint.
"Fire safety standards at gas stations help protect customers and employees, and the public as a whole," Nixon said. "Rather than complying with these standards, Loethen is allowing a health and safety threat to continue. Seeking a cease and desist order and penalties is the next step to getting his attention and to get these problems fixed right away."
Agriculture Department inspectors issued notices of violation to the following stations near Jefferson City: Apache Flats Tire & Service Center, Loethen Oil Co. and Zip Stop. Inspectors also cited the Loethen-owned Sweet Springs Amoco Truckstop, in Sweet Springs, Mo.; Rockport Truck Plaza, in Rockport, Mo.; and Zip Stop, in Sarcoxie, Mo.
Under state law, the Department of Agriculture has the authority to enforce minimum fire safety requirements for business that sell and distribute fuel.
Nixon's complaint asks the director of the Agriculture Department, Fred Ferrell, to issue a cease and desist order against Loethen and impose penalties of approximately $38,900 for violations of the standards.
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