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EPA orders Spring Valley, N.Y. gas station owner to pay $193,538 penalty for violations Pennsylvania

Release Date: 10/23/2007
Contact Information: Bonnie Smith, 215-814-5543, smith.bonnie@epa.gov

PHILADELPHIA (October 23, 2007) - - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has ordered Century Oil Acquisition Corp. to pay a $193,538 penalty for failing to take required measures to detect and prevent fuel leaks from underground storage tanks at two gas stations it operated in northeast Pennsylvania.

EPA had cited the Spring Valley, N.Y.-based company for violations at two former Texaco gas stations: North Fifth Street Texaco, at 1410 N. 5th Street, Stroudsburg, Pa., the site of two 10,000-gallon and one 2,000-gallon gasoline USTs, and at Scotrun Texaco, Route 611, Scotrun, Pennsylvania, the site of 6,000, 4,000, and 3,000-gallon gasoline USTs.

In addition to the penalty, the company is ordered to correct the alleged violations, and to certify its compliance with applicable federal and state underground storage tank (UST) regulations.

A March 30, 2004 inspection by EPA and Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection revealed that the company did not provide required corrosion protection, and leak prevention and detection safeguards for the six underground tanks at these facilities. According to the complaint, Century abandoned the two facilities in the late 1990s leaving each facility with at least one underground storage tank that was not empty.

The EPA order is posted on the web at https://www.epa.gov/aljhomep/orders/century-oil-default-091707.pdf

With millions of gallons of gasoline, oil, and other petroleum products stored in underground storage tanks throughout the country, leaking tanks are a major source of soil and groundwater contamination. EPA and state underground storage tank regulations are designed to reduce the risk of underground leaks and to promptly detect and properly address leaks which do occur, thus minimizing environmental harm and avoiding the costs of major cleanups. For more information on EPA’s underground storage tank program, visit: https://www.epa.gov/swerust1/