KING FERRY, N.Y. -- Cayuga County, N.Y., Republican Party Chairperson Cherl Heary and her husband, William, have been fined $10,000 for state Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) violations at their King Ferry gas station and convenience store, reported The Post-Standard. The DEC also shut down the gasoline dispensers at the business and ordered the Hearys to remove the underground fuel tanks by October 31. The station has closed its doors.
The DEC declined to disclose the infractions, said the report. It is not known whether the tanks leaked any fuel into the groundwater. "There [image-nocss] is no indication of groundwater contamination; however, until we remove the tanks, we won't know for sure," DEC spokesperson Stephanie Harrington told the newspaper.
Many of the infractions filed against the Hearys involve DEC regulations put in place to help detect underground tank leaks. Heary said he paid the $10,000 penalty to the DEC after a July 21 hearing in Syracuse. He said he felt he had no choice.
"They pretty much make it pretty well known to you that nobody has ever won who went against them…. I don't think it was fair at all but I didn't have any other opportunities," he said.
Renee Greco, who leased the business from the Hearys for the last three years, said she was fined $2,500 and also paid the penalty to the DEC. Greco has closed the store, saying she could not operate profitably without selling gasoline. "I can't do it without the gas," she told the paper. Greco added that she plans to open another convenience store.
The Hearys and Greco both said they have signed consent orders with the DEC in addition to paying their separate fines. They also disclosed some of the violations. The Hearys were cited for not displaying a certificate at the store indicating the underground tanks had been recently inspected for leaks by an independent company. Heary said the tanks passed such an inspection "two or three years ago" and that he had received a certificate. He didn't know its whereabouts, and Greco said she never saw one. "Why wouldn't I post one? Why would I cut my own throat?" she said.
The absence of a certificate at the store triggered the DEC investigation after a routine inspection of the business in June, Harrington said.
The Hearys also were cited because the ground-level fill caps of the tanks were no longer coded by distinguishable paint colors to indicate to fuel suppliers which fuel was supposed to go into which tank. The station sold unleaded and diesel fuel.
And Greco was cited for failing to keep a daily written record of fuel volume in the tanks. Any significant day-to-day change in the volume would indicate a possible leak. She said she didn't know she was supposed to keep those records.
The Hearys own several commercial properties in the southern part of the county. Cherl Heary, county GOP chairwoman since 2003, said her husband took care of business at their King Ferry store and gas station. "I probably, as the owner, should have been keeping after people more than I was but we never had a problem so I wasn't staying on top of things," he told the Post-Standard.
The Hearys both said they don't believe the tanks ever leaked. William Heary said he was planning to buy replacement tanks in a couple of years. Now the Hearys face a huge bill to remove the tanks, especially if they have leaked and contaminated the ground and groundwater. The DEC is expected to monitor their removal.
William Heary said he'll take care of the problem regardless of the cost, and waxed philosophically about the situation. "I'm sorry about it, too, but this is life," he said.
Separately, a New Hampshire fuel company has been fined $6,000 for spilling fuel at two sites in Vermont, reported the Associated Press. The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources said the Evans Group Inc., of Lebanon, N.H., leaked fuel at a gas station in Fairlee and one in Sharon over a six-month period last year without reporting the spills in a timely manner.
The agency said the company, which cleaned up both sites, has had similar violations in the past.
The Evans Group has agreed to settle the most recent charges. As part of a settlement approved last week in state Environmental Court, the company has agreed to better educate its employees about spills and how to respond to them.And in late July, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection assessed a $57,832 civil penalty against Selker Brothers Inc. after the company failed to comply with a DEP order, as well as other violations regarding contamination at its gas station in Brookville.Gasoline-contaminated soil and groundwater were discovered in 2006 when three underground gasoline storage tanks were being removed from the Gulf station. The company failed to comply with an order issued on Nov. 21, 2007, directing Selker Brothers and company president Bernard M. Selker Jr. to identify remaining contaminated areas at the station and develop a cleanup plan.
In addition to failing to comply with the order, the penalty against Selker Brothers also addressed the improper storage of contaminated soil at the site, failure to complete site characterization; identify contaminated areas; submit a site characterization that complies with requirements of the Storage Tank Act; and failure to submit a complete cleanup plan.
The department petitioned the Jefferson County Court of Common Pleas on July 1 to enforce the department's original order. The court has scheduled a hearing for September 5.
"Selker Brothers is responsible for the contamination at this very visible piece of property in the heart of the community that could be revitalized," said DEP Regional Director Kelly Burch. "The company's failure to respond has delayed the work that it is required to do. The best course of action that the company can take now is to roll up its sleeves, complete the investigation and bring this case to a close."
Selker Brothers has 30 days to submit the penalty amount, made payable to the commonwealth's Storage Tank Fund, which is used to help support the Storage Tank Program and cleanups.
If the company decides to appeal the assessment, it can take the case to the Environmental Hearing Board, a body that was established to hear appeals of DEP actions. The appeal has to be filed within 30 days of the civil penalty assessment.
On April 10, 2007, Selker Brothers submitted documentation that nearly 588 tons of gasoline-contaminated soil were removed from the site and disposed of at a landfill. Selker Brothers has submitted multiple site characterization reports to identify potential remaining contamination, but all of the reports were deficient, leading to the Nov. 21, 2007, order.
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