CHICAGO -- Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan said Premcor Refining Group Inc. has entered into an agreement in Cook County Circuit Court that requires the company to pay a $500,000 civil penalty to the State of Illinois for petroleum releases from leaking underground storage tanks (USTs) at 51 sites in 41 Illinois cities.
In addition, Premcor must clean up contaminated soil and groundwater at all 51 sites by 2011. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) will verify cleanup at each site after it is completed.
As [image-nocss] part of the settlement, Premcor must perform an environmentally beneficial project at a total cost of $562,343 to remove 35 USTs at nine gas station locations in Illinois by 2011. Premcor currently is not required by law to remove these tanks, and performance of this project is expected to prevent potential future releases of petroleum into the environment. If Premcor does not spend all of the money in removing the 35 tanks, it must spend the remainder of the money on another state-approved project or pay the remainder to IEPA's trust fund.
We are pleased that Premcor will clean up petroleum contamination at these 51 sites within five years. This timely cleanup will improve the quality of the soil and groundwater and will protect the health of people who live near these sites, Madigan said.
In May 2005, Madigan filed suit against Premcor, formerly known as Clark Refining & Marketing Inc., alleging that leaking USTs had contaminated soil and groundwater at 27 former Clark facilities throughout Illinois. Madigan's suit alleged that the releases of gasoline and other petroleum products resulted in elevated levels of benzene. The current settlement with Premcor adds 24 former station locations to the 27 originally identified in the May 2005 complaint.
The following list identifies the locations of the former Clark stations included in the consent order: Kewanee, Moline, Rock Island, Granite City, East St. Louis, Elgin, Pontiac, Cahokia, Decatur, Centralia, Granite City, Decatur, Carbondale, Centralia, Benton, Bloomington, Normal, Quincy, Streator, Highwood, Rockford, Salem, Edwardsville, Shelbyville, Rosewood Heights, Westmont, Silvis, Glenwood, Mattoon, Harrisburg, Effingham, Pontoon Beach, Romeoville, Washington Park, Crystal Lake, Bartlett, Mc Henry, Washington, Clinton, Decatur, Decatur, Decatur, Decatur, Mahomet, Peoria, Peoria, Peoria, Bensenville, Evanston, Romeoville and Waukegan.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.