Genesis Petroleum Resolves Federal Environmental Claims Involving 13 Gas Stations Located in Long Island And Westchester, New York and New Jersey

 

Claims Address Stations Located in Low Income Areas and Communities of Color that Suffer Disproportionately from Environmental Burdens

 Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Lisa Garcia, Regional Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 2, announced that the United States has entered into a Consent Judgment settling a civil lawsuit against Genesis Petroleum, Inc. and 20 associated companies (Defendants), for violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) in connection with their ownership or operation of underground storage tanks (USTs) at 13 gas stations in New York and New Jersey. The Consent Judgment requires the Defendants to adequately detect leaks of petroleum product from USTs, and to implement other safety measures, across their facilities in New York and New Jersey. The settlement also requires Defendants to pay a civil penalty of $250,000.

“Genesis Petroleum flagrantly disregarded measures required by law that are designed to protect the health and safety of the communities in which it operates its gas stations.  Leaks from underground storage tanks can contaminate drinking water supplies, pollute surrounding soil and surface waters as well as groundwater, and impact indoor airspaces,” stated United States Attorney Peace.  “This settlement reaffirms this Office's commitment to safeguarding public health, preserving the environment, and promoting environmental justice in partnership with the EPA.” 

“This settlement protects communities across New York and New Jersey by significantly improving how these businesses manage underground storage tanks,” stated EPA Regional Administrator Garcia.  “If underground storage tanks leak, they can pose a serious problem because they can contaminate groundwater, and the risk can be heightened when owners and operators of USTs fail to comply with EPA’s regulatory requirements.  Underground storage tanks are important business infrastructure and are essential for fueling vehicles but when these tanks are not properly maintained or repaired, communities and the environment can be at risk from leaks of hazardous substances.”

Petroleum products such as gasoline contain chemical compounds that pose substantial threats to human health. Service stations typically store gasoline in USTs. When operated conscientiously and monitored closely, USTs are a safe and effective means to store gasoline.  But when those tanks are not subjected to basic operational safeguards, they can endanger the public and the environment, for example by leaking the contents of their tanks into the water supply, discharging toxic vapors into the air, or even triggering fires or explosions.

EPA’s regulations under RCRA are designed to protect the public by requiring underground storage tank operators to reduce the likelihood of leaks, monitor for leaks so they can promptly be addressed, and maintain adequate insurance to conduct corrective action and compensate injured third parties should a leak occur.

The Consent Judgment, which is subject to public comment and approval by the district court, resolves a lawsuit filed by the United States in June 2019, which alleges that the Defendants repeatedly violated RCRA and related regulations at various times between 2012 and 2016 with respect to their ownership and/or operation of underground storage tanks at 13 gas stations. Twelve of the Defendants’ facilities covered by the Consent Judgment are located in low-income areas and communities of color that are exposed to disproportionate environmental burdens.

The United States alleges that the Defendants failed to perform required actions including:

• failure to install and use spill prevention equipment at three facilities;
• failure to use overfill prevention equipment at three facilities;
• failure to provide release detection for underground storage tanks at three facilities;
• failure to provide release detection for pressurized piping at six facilities;
• failure to test automatic line leak detectors at nine facilities;
• failure to report suspected releases at three facilities;
• failure to perform release detection for underground storage tanks that were temporarily closed but still contained more than three feet of petroleum products at one facility;
• failure to timely provide records of release detection monitoring at ten facilities;
• failure to timely respond to requests for information issued by EPA at 13 facilities; and
• failure to maintain financial responsibility and evidence of financial responsibility at seven facilities. 

Pursuant to the Consent Judgment, Defendants are required to comply with the regulations applicable to USTs for all tanks at 29 facilities at which they currently own or operate underground storage tanks in New York and New Jersey. The Consent Judgment requires Defendants to implement significant measures to ensure such compliance, including undertaking inspections, maintaining and operating a federally approved release detection method at all underground storage tanks at the facilities, maintaining a properly functioning and operational overfill prevention system for new tanks and providing semi-annual reports to EPA.

The Consent Judgment will be lodged with the District Court for a period of at least 30 days and notice of the Consent Judgment will be published in the Federal Register before the Consent Judgement is submitted for the Court’s approval.  This will afford members of the public the opportunity to submit comments on the Consent Judgement to the Department of Justice.

In June 2021, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York created an Environmental Justice Team within the Office’s Civil Division. The focus of the Environmental Justice Team is the protection of the rights of residents of the Eastern District of New York who are disproportionately burdened by environmental and health hazards.