MARTINEZ, Calif. -- Golden Gate Petroleum, the subject of a $50 million lawsuit by state and local prosecutors who say the firm disabled gasoline leakage monitoring devices, said in a statement Friday cited by The Contra Costa Times that it has never knowingly violated state laws.
The lawsuit, filed in Contra Costa Superior Court last Monday by the state attorney general and the state Water Resources Control Board, accuses Golden Gate and its affiliates of tampering with safety monitoring sensors and other devices that might allow gas to leak into groundwater [image-nocss] or soil undetected at about 30 gas stations statewide.
Golden Gate has "taken all the necessary precautions to both rectify and prevent any type of gas leakage and/or environmental damage," the company's statement said in response to the suit.
The water board and the attorney general's office conducted a two-year investigation into the gas stations' practices before the lawsuit was filed. The complaint accuses the company of violations, including inoperable or missing line leak detectors, liquid and debris in the secondary containment, failure to perform monitoring within the required time period and failure of alarms.
Pat O'Keefe, who runs the commercial and delivered fuel side of Golden Gate's business, said in an e-mail to the Contra Costa Times that it was difficult to respond to the allegations because the company did not have a list of specific violations by location, though Golden Gate has requested such a list.
O'Keefe is the son of Dennis O'Keefe, the company's CEO. Golden Gate, founded in 1946, is a family-owned company that employs more than 75 people in Contra Costa County, according to Lori O'Keefe, the company's risk manager. The company supplies fuel to the county and the state, O'Keefe said. Golden Gate is owned by Dennis O'Keefe, her father-in- law
"GGP takes environmental responsibility extremely seriously," the statement said.
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