DAVENPORT, Iowa -- Judges in Scott County and Plymouth County, Iowa, have ordered gasoline underground storage tank (UST) operators to pay a total of $30,000 in penalties for violating Iowa UST regulations.
In Scott County, District Court Judge Marlita A. Greve on Tuesday ordered U.S. Nation Mart Inc., Ved Pal and Babli Saini to pay a $10,000 civil penalty plus a $5,000 administrative penalty assessed previously by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR). The defendants own and operate a gas station in Davenport.
In Plymouth [image-nocss] County, District Court Judge Jeffrey A. Neary on Wednesday ordered Country Stores of Carroll Ltd., to pay a $15,000 civil penalty. The defendant owns and operates the Le Mars Country Store in Le Mars, the site of the alleged violations.
In each case, the court also prohibited further violations and required certified compliance inspections, monitoring, training of employees in UST requirements and regular reporting.
State attorney general Tom Miller said the court orders resolve lawsuits also filed by his office in each county to enforce UST requirements. Both lawsuits alleged ongoing violations of maintenance, monitoring and reporting requirements for USTs at gas stations.
Iowa has nearly 8,000 regulated [USTs], Miller said. The UST regulations and program ensure that owners and operators monitor and inspect tanks, maintain them, and prevent petroleum leaks and spills that threaten people or the environment. Most [UST] operators do it right and follow the rules.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday said that the U.S. Nation Mart contains one 6,000-gallon and two 10,000-gallon USTs. The suit noted that on Sept. 24, 2003, the Iowa DNR ordered U.S. Nation Mart to pay an administrative penalty for alleged UST violations at the site, including failure to provide the DNR with requested UST records.
In July 2005, August 2005 and February 2007, the DNR issued Notices of Violation to Ved Pal and U.S. Nation Mart for violations including failing to conduct required corrosion protection tests and leak-detection tests, failing to maintain required UST records for the site, and having spill-containment basins that contained, fuel, water and debris.
The consent order, judgment and decree entered Tuesday by Greve ordered the defendants to pay a $10,000 civil penalty, pay a $5,000 administrative penalty, retain a certified UST compliance inspector, train employees in UST requirements, conduct inspections, submit reports to the Iowa DNR and properly close existing USTs at the site. The court prohibited further violation of the Iowa UST law. The court order also said, Willful failure to comply with the terms of this order may subject defendants to punishment for contempt of court as well as other penalties and sanctions provided by law.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday said Country Stores owns and operates several retail gas stations throughout Iowa, including the Le Mars Country Store at 436 Plymouth St. SW in Le Mars. The site contains one 6,000-gallon petroleum UST and two 12,000-gallon USTs. The suit alleged various violations including: failing to perform a required annual product-line tightness test or alternative monitoring; failing to conduct DNR-approved UST leak-detection monitoring for petroleum releases; and failing to maintain required records.
The consent order, judgment and decree entered Wednesday by Neary prohibited further violations and ordered the defendant to retain a certified UST compliance inspector, train employees in UST requirements, conduct inspections and submit reports to the DNR.
Separately, in late October, TravelCenters of America (TA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have resolved UST violations at one of the company's facilities in Baltimore. The EPA alleged that the company had failed to implement required safeguards to detect and prevent leaks from USTs.
TA will pay a $6,500 penalty for failing to perform continuous corrosion protection on five 30,000-gallon tanks and two 12,000-gallon tanks; and to inspect the tanks every 60 days to ensure that the equipment was running properly. As part of the settlement, TA will have a tank corrosion expert conduct an internal inspection of its tanks to determine if they are structurally sound. Depending on the results of the inspection, TA will take additional measures, which may include tank closure or repair of the tanks' corrosion protection system.
The alleged violations occurred between April 15, 2005, and Oct. 26, 2006. As part of the settlement, the company did not admit or deny the violations.
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