November 9, 2007

The Bulk Petroleum Corporation has informed the Department of Environmental Quality that it will not appeal a September 18, 2007 Michigan Court of Appeals ruling upholding $2.5 million in penalties against the company for failing to properly clean up leaking underground tanks at a gas station in Hartland. The tanks leaked petroleum product during a period from 1986 through 1999 despite repeated efforts by the DEQ to compel the company to properly resolve the problem.

Bulk Petroleum has agreed to pay the full penalty amount, which includes a $1,090,000 administrative penalty and $1,418,900 in additional civil penalties, plus interest on the civil penalty.

In 1993, the DEQ, then operating as part of the Department of Natural Resources, required the company to begin removal of free product, install a groundwater treatment system, and provide monthly progress reports to the department along with copies of their contracts with qualified consultants. Bulk Petroleum failed to comply with these requirements or properly submit a final assessment report.

With nearly half of Michigan's population relying on groundwater for its drinking water source, contamination from leaking underground storage tank sites remains a significant problem for the state. Michigan ranks third in the nation, behind Florida and California, for the highest number of releases from leaking tank sites yet to be cleaned up, with more than 9,000 currently known.

Editor's note: DEQ news releases are available on the department's Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

"Protecting Michigan's Environment, Ensuring Michigan's Future"

Revised November 9, 2007 by Pat Watson