Underground leaks widespread

Earlier this year there were more than 100 unresolved cases of underground storage tanks, most that contained gasoline, that have leaked just in Salt Lake City. Data compiled by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality showed there were 35 open cases in Ogden, 25 in St. George and 16 in West Valley City.

Of the open cases on DEQ's list, 12 Utah cities had between six and 13 leaking tanks, eight cities had five ongoing cases, six cities had four and 21 cities had two cases. Over 40 cities and towns had at least one case of a storage tank that in some way has been or could be polluting the soil and possibly groundwater, according to the state.

"Yeah, we have a problem," said Dale Marx, branch manager of DEQ's underground storage tank program, which oversees leaks, cleanup and prevention. "Are people dying in the street? No. We've got a pretty good handle on it. Once in a while, one gets away from you."

The Utah Solid and Hazardous Waste Control Board members Thursday talked about tightening rules on underground tanks and having a proposal ready by April. DEQ's

Division of Environmental Response and Remediation director, Brad Johnson, said the new rules' goal is to prevent what's happening right now with a large leak that's being cleaned up in Gunnison, where as of Thursday crews had cleaned up about 6,800 gallons of a 20,000-gallon gasoline leak.

The board also discussed what to do about a leak that prompted a lawsuit involving Gold Cross Services Inc. and a private property owner. On June 12 board members will hold their own hearing about what to do about cleanup methods, a process neither side in the lawsuit has been able to agree on.

State records show that throughout Utah there are some 5,000 underground storage tanks. Most contain gasoline or a petroleum product.

Sometimes the tanks leak, a lot.

Apparel shop owner Lila Lee Christensen claimed earlier this year that a storage tank that leaked 20,000 gallons of gas from a Top Stop convenience store site in Gunnison ruined her business. Efforts are ongoing to clean up the plume of contamination underground while about $1 million for cleanup and investigation has been spent out of the state's LUST (leaking underground storage tank) fund, DEQ's Therron Blatter said.

"Gunnison has been this giant disaster," Blatter said on the phone. Nearly half of the monies doled out from the LUST fund during the current fiscal year has gone toward the Top Stop leak.