Copyright Grand Rapids Press Nov 21, 2003

A Wisconsin fuel company agreed to pay $100,000 in connection with a 7,000-gallon gasoline leak from an underground storage tank at a former Kentwood gas station.

A Kent County District Court judge ordered Bulk Petroleum Corp. of Mequon, Wis., to cover fines, court costs, restitution and remediation for failing to report the 1999 release, according to the state.

After a state Department of Environmental Quality investigation, the company faced a felony charge of discharging an injurious substance into state waters. But Bulk Petroleum reached a plea agreement and, on Sept. 18, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of failing to report the release.

The $100,000 penalty comes on the heels of a Sept. 4 court order to pay $1.1 million for failing to clean up a 1987 contamination at a gas station in Ingham County.

"I've been bringing actions against this company for about 15 years for facilities all over the state," said Barry Selden, an enforcement unit chief with the DEQ.

Selden described the leak at the former Kentwood station, on the southeast corner of Radcliff Avenue and 28th Street, as "substantial."

"They didn't lose it in one event," he said. "They were bypassing the leak detection and therefore allowed small amounts of product to continue to leak over a long period of time."

Bulk Petroleum Manager John Gerth disputes the state's version of events. He said there was one release on Dec. 16, 1999. He also disputed the amount of 7,000 gallons reported by the state, but did not provide a different number. Bulk Petroleum operates more than 20 gas stations in Michigan. Gerth said they were leasing the station at the time of the leak.

Brian Coles, an environmental quality analyst at the DEQ's Grand Rapids office, said the leak was discovered Dec. 16, when neighboring businesses reported smelling gas fumes and called the fire department, but evidence showed a long-term release.

"The inventory records showed losses for up to a couple months before the Dec. 16 date, so it looked like it was ongoing," he said. "And the fact that so much got into the subsurface, it didn't just happen overnight."

Coles said the gasoline contaminated the soil, the groundwater and the storm sewer, allowing it to travel to tributaries of Plaster Creek.

"They tracked it several hundred yards," he said. "We don't know how far it actually went. ... You could see when you stepped in the mud next to the creek a kind of rainbow sheen, which was petroleum in nature."

Gerth said cleanup is complete. Coles said the site is better, but they still are monitoring it and waiting for final paperwork from the company.

"The fact that they've removed a lot of the soil and groundwater and free product, it is a lot better," he said. "It isn't a danger to anybody."

The site has since been redeveloped into a new retail building.