However, it spells opportunity for business people like Warren Sands, who in December opened a Valero stationwith a Dunkin' Donuts shop insideless than three miles to [image-nocss] the west.
Despite the recession, "we're very pleasantly surprised by the response," Sands said. His Miami-based company not only offers tank-upgrade services, it is expanding its own portfolio of gas stations through new construction or renovation, the report said.
Sands Petroleum Development has four other Valero-brand stations in the works for Lee County in North Fort Myers, San Carlos Park, Cape Coral and Fort Myers, Sands told the News-Press.
All of these stations will meet Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) rules for storage tanks. The DEP is enforcing its Dec. 31, 2009, deadline for upgrading single-walled underground storage tanks and piping with double-wall systems; and the Jan. 1, 2010, deadline for replacing aboveground storage tanks that do not have secondary spill containment beneath the tanks.
More than 80% of all retail gas stations have completed the upgrades, according to DEP estimates. Florida relies on groundwater for about 92% of its drinking needs, making prevention of fuel-tank leaks a major concern, according to the report.
Many smaller station owners lacked cash, however, and could not get financing to pay for the tank upgrades, which cost $200,000 to $400,000, Pat Moricca, president of the Florida Gasoline Retailers Association, told the newspaper.
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