DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller has filed a lawsuit against Bulk Petroleum Corp. for alleged environmental violations concerning 61 underground storage tanks (USTs) at 17 retail gas station sites in Des Moines, Davenport, Blue Grass, Le Claire, Cedar Rapids, Waterloo, Burlington, Ames and Malcolm, Iowa.
The suit, which was filed Thursday in Polk County District Court, alleges that Bulk Petroleum repeatedly has failed to comply with requirements to prevent corrosion of steel UST systems, failed to prevent and detect [image-nocss] releases, failed to report and investigate releases and failed to maintain UST compliance records.
Also, the suit alleges that repeated violations occurred despite numerous Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) inspections, notices of violations, orders and administrative penalties. The lawsuit asks the court to prohibit further violations and to assess additional penalties. Violations are punishable by penalties up to $5,000 per violation per day.
The total storage capacity of the USTs is more than half a million gallons of petroleum product. The suit alleges almost 100 separate violations in the past two years (not counting multiple days of individual alleged violations.)
The alleged violations were identified during compliance inspections conducted by the Iowa DNR and the U.S. Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) in 2005 and 2006.
Bulk Petroleum is a Delaware corporation with headquarters in Mequon, Wis. It owns and operates retail gasoline facilities in Iowa and other states.
The lawsuit alleges violations at 17 station sites:
CITGO station No. 574, 4600 Fleur Drive, Des Moines, with four USTs totaling 40,000 gallons capacity; CITGO station No. 582, 2701 Ingersoll Ave., Des Moines, three USTs totaling 24,000 gallons; CITGO station No. 596, 3804 Hubbell, Des Moines, four USTs, 40,000 gallons; CITGO station No. 597, 4028 NE 14th St., Des Moines, four USTs, 40,000 gallons; Four Mile Texaco station No. 536, 3732 Easton Blvd, Des Moines, three USTs 25,000 gallons; CITGO station No. 587, 3417 Harrison St., Davenport, two USTs, 20,000 gallons; CITGO station No. 588, 1026 W. River Drive, Davenport, three USTs, 30,000 gallons; CITGO station No. 555, 2080 W. River Drive, Davenport, four USTs, 24,000 gallons; CITGO station No. 534, 11423 160th St., Davenport, three USTs, 32,000 gallons; CITGO station No. 535, 101 E. Mayne, Blue Grass, three USTs, 24,000 gallons; CITGO station No. 539, 1220 North Cody Rd., Le Claire, five USTs, 26,000 gallons; Kerr McGee station No. 576, 100 First Ave. NW, Cedar Rapids, three USTs, 31,000 gallons; Mobil station No. 581, 3326 Center Point Rd. NE, Cedar Rapids, four USTs, 40,000 gallons; CITGO station No. 572, 515 Broadway St., Waterloo, four USTs, 40,000 gallons; CITGO station No. 520, 1900 Summer St., Burlington, four USTs, 24,000 gallons; Jiffy station No. 505, 326 Lincoln Way, Ames, three USTs, 28,000 gallons; CITGO station No. 550, 4164 Highway 63, Malcolm, five USTs, 38,000 gallons.The suit was filed by the AGs Environmental Law Division. The case was referred to the Attorney General for enforcement by the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission.
Click here to view the court documents.
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