COACHELLA VALLEY, Calif. -- Riverside County on Tuesday announced a $6.5 million settlement involving a civil lawsuit against Equilon Enterprises and Shell Oil Co. for alleged failure to report leaking underground storage tanks at three gasoline stations in the Coachella Valley, Calif., according to a report in The Desert Sun.
The leaks, discovered in June 2003 by county environmental investigators in the Equilon owned and operated stations, were at gasoline stations in Cathedral City, Indio and 4 Palm Springs, Calif. Similar violations were uncovered [image-nocss] at two other Equilon stations in the western end of Riverside County, according to the report.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Stephanie Weissman said the final judgment, although it includes a denial by Shell and Equilon of the allegations, is precedent setting.
It includes $3.6 million in civil penalties and a five-year injunction requiring the companies to comply with the law at all of their stations. It also forces the company to clean up all contaminated sites by 2010, Weissman told the newspaper.
What sets this judgment apart is the quick remediation schedule and a requirement that $1.1 million is spent to install tamper-resistant, "smart sensors" on the tanks of its stations to ensure timely discovery in case of a leak, Weissman said.
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