Store pays $55,000 to settle for 2007 gas leak

The owner of Michael’s Convenience Store at U.S. 2 and Meridian Road in Kalispell has agreed to pay the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency $55,000 for alleged violations of the federal Clean Water Act in 2007.

The two parties entered into a consent decree Monday that requires Michael’s Convenience Stores Inc., which operates the gas station, to pay half of the fine within 30 days and the other half within one year.

Last month the EPA filed a civil lawsuit in U.S. District Court, seeking damages of up to nearly $2 million for an alleged 10,000 gallons of gasoline that leaked from the facility. The gasoline spread through the soil and groundwater, entering Kalispell’s storm-water drainage system before it eventually reached Spring Creek, a tributary of Ashley Creek.

The leak allegedly occurred from May to July 2007, when the city of Kalispell stopped the flow of gasoline by pouring concrete around a leaky underground sewer pipe.

Court documents stated that water samples taken at the time established the presence of gasoline in Ashley and Spring creeks — both federally regulated bodies of water.

While the EPA initially requested relief up to $32,000 per day of the violation or $1,100 per 42-gallon barrel of gasoline, the consent decree notes the smaller sum is “fair, adequate and reasonable,” based on the family-owned company’s ability to pay the sum.

In addition to the fine, the company is required to pay for ongoing cleanup work, which is overseen by both the EPA and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

A work plan for an initial site investigation was approved last December, and will cost Michael’s Convenience Stores an estimated $65,000.

“Right now they’re going to be doing the investigation and pilot test,” department spokeswoman Jeni Flatow said Tuesday. “That part of the investigation should be done by [October 2016].”

The total cost of cleanup will depend on the remediation methods used, which the pilot test will help to determine.

Those options can include allowing the contamination to naturally flush out of the system, excavating soils at the site or “enhanced biodegradation,” wherein phosphates are used to stimulate the appetites of naturally occurring bacteria that digest petroleum products.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.