Attorney General's News Release

May 24, 2007

Underground storage tank owners not complying with law to protect human health and environment, Nixon says

Jefferson City, Mo. — The owners of six gas station sites around the state are putting human health and the environment at risk by violating the Missouri Underground and Petroleum Storage Tank (UST) Law despite being given numerous opportunities to comply with the law, Attorney General Jay Nixon says. Nixon filed lawsuits this week against gas station owners in St. Louis, Columbia, Hannibal, Boonville, Vienna and Senath to require them to follow the law.

The lawsuits involve four stations currently operating, one that is out of business, and property that contains underground storage tanks that are no longer in use. In each case, Nixon said, the defendants refused consent judgments that contained reasonable time schedules for getting into compliance with Missouri’s UST law and appropriate civil penalties, necessitating the need for litigation.

“Underground storage tanks that are not in compliance with our state laws can pose a serious threat to the health of Missourians and to the state’s environment,” Nixon said. “The fact that each of these defendants were given multiple opportunities to resolve their non-compliance issues and failed to do so leaves us with no alternative but to see them in court.”

The owners and stations that are being targeted by the Attorney General are:

• Hari Kishan and Bobby Patel, doing business as Chouteau Mini Mart, located at 4105 Chouteau in St. Louis. The defendants have owned and operated the service station without insurance on their tanks since October 2006, as required by law.
• Blue Acres Inc. and Adron Perry, owners of Midway Little General located at 6751 Highway 40 West in Columbia. The defendants actively operated tanks at the business during 2004 and 2005 that had a faulty interior lining, an important safeguard against petroleum release, and also operated the tanks at the business without UST insurance for much of 2005.
• Timothy Severin, owner of property at 501 Union St. in Hannibal, site of an out-of-service gas station that contains three USTs. The tanks have not been properly closed, and the defendant has not removed the remaining petroleum in them nor maintained their required release prevention and detection equipment.
• Mid-Missouri Convenience Stores Inc., located at 1004 Shepard Lane in Boonville, and owner Christopher Lenz. The defendant has owned and operated tanks at his business without UST insurance since approximately March 2006.
• Honse’s Café and Convenience Store, located at 12066 Highway 63 South in Vienna, and its owners Gary and Debbie Honse. The defendants have failed to conduct release detection properly on their tanks and have owned and operated them without UST insurance since at least June 2005.
• Sharon Hardin, owner of property located at 322 E. Commercial St. in Senath that contains four tanks that are not currently in use. The tanks have been lying dormant at the site for at least two and a half years without the proper release prevention or release detection equipment in place.

UST insurance helps ensure that the costs of cleaning up any petroleum product contamination from underground storage tanks will be covered by the owners and not borne by taxpayers. The vast majority of UST owners carry such insurance, Nixon said, creating an unfair advantage for those who flout the law.

The lawsuits are asking the courts to issue preliminary and permanent injunctions ordering the defendants in each case to immediately bring their sites into compliance with the Missouri UST law. The injunctions include barring the defendants from refilling their tanks at the site, accepting deliveries of petroleum or selling gas until they have obtained appropriate UST insurance. The lawsuit also asks the court to order the defendants to pay appropriate civil penalties and court costs.

Inquiries from consumers should be directed to consumer@ago.mo.gov or 1-800-392-8222 (from within Missouri) or 573-751-3321 (outside Missouri).

All media inquiries should be directed to the Press Secretary.

E-mail      Phone: 573-751-8844         Fax: 573-751-5818