Initiative To Clean Up 92 Pennsylvania Sites

Pennsylvania Governor Edward G. Rendell recently announced the cleanup of 92 contaminated properties. The cleanup, which will take place over the next three years, involves underground storage tanks at locations in 23 counties throughout Pennsylvania.

The state will be working with Motiva Enterprises LLC, Jiffy Lube International Inc. and Pennzoil-Quaker State Co., doing business as SOPUS Products, under a consent order and cooperative multi-site agreement.

About half of the sites contain operating retail gasoline stations, and six are home to wholesale operations. The remaining sites have other operating businesses on them, or plans are being made for redevelopment to hold businesses other than retail gas stations.

This Consent Order and Cooperative Multi-Site Agreement also calls for Motiva, Pennzoil-Quaker State and Jiffy Lube to pay a collective civil penalty in the amount of $212,000, and provide oversight costs to the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in the amount of $195,000 per year from 2006 through 2008.

“The multi-site approach gives DEP and the companies a comprehensive, statewide strategy to address environmental problems at these sites,” DEP Secretary Kathleen A. McGinty said. “This agreement ensures that remediation work will be prioritized, scheduled and completed in a timely fashion and in accordance with stringent cleanup standards.”

The companies also will begin cleanups at all sites no later than April 2008, and agree to clean up each site to meet Pennsylvania’s Land Recycling Program standards under Act 2, thus making the sites environmentally safe for current and future job-producing uses.

The companies have identified pollution releases from their underground storage tanks at these sites and have started to identify the contaminants in the soil and groundwater at these sites. Based on what is found at each location, the companies have been and will be conducting appropriate cleanup activities.

This agreement provides the companies with a comprehensive and flexible approach to deal with the properties. Doing so ensures that sites with the highest risk will be addressed early in the process and cleaned to strict environmental standards.

The agreement also notes that in some cases, the companies failed to complete the corrective action process for underground storage tank cleanups in accordance with the timeframes as defined in the Storage Tank and Spill Prevention Program regulations, all of which were addressed as part of the civil penalties that were issued. BFN