One-fifth of fuel cleaned up, residents told
By Sara Hansen
1-9-08

GUNNISON—Residents packed Gunnison’s City Hall on Thursday, Jan. 3 to hear the gas-leak cleanup update presented to the city council by Wasatch Environmental, the company in charge of the cleanup.
Wasatch Environmental representatives Lee Barrus and Les Pennington gave a Powerpoint presentation to the town and answered questions.
According to their report 4,058 gallons of gasoline have been removed from the soil as of Jan. 3.
That amount is roughly a fifth of the estimated 20,000 gallons of gas that was leaked by an underground gas storage tank at Top Stop in Gunnison last July.
“[The leak] came from a welded seam, the weld apparently was fine when it was fabricated but it corroded over time… It’s just more common that you get corrosion on a welded seam,” Pennington said.
Four different soil-vapor extraction systems, or SVE systems, have been installed in Gunnison.
One is on the east side of Main Street between Center and 100 South. The second is on the west side of Main Street between Center Street and 100 South. The third is on the west side of Main Street between 100 South and 200 South. The fourth is also on the west side of Main Street between 200 South and 300 South.
SVE systems work by installing an PVC pipe riddled with holes in a trench that is sealed with cement and then creating a vacuum at the end of the pipe, which sucks out the main gas fumes.
Although this process mainly pulls out the fumes and more air prone particles in the gasoline and leaves behind other components of the chemical. The parts left behind are biodegradable and are not hazardous, Barrus said.
Besides the SVE systems, other ventilation systems have been set up in nine homes that had to be evacuated because benzene levels were too high.
Dr. Dwight Inouye, along with several citizens, expressed concern over possible toxic benzene levels in other homes and in the Gunnison Valley Bank.
Frank DeRosso, an air quality consultant with RMEC Environmental, Inc, said if there were any concerns about benzene levels being too high in a home or business, the owners should contact Wasatch Environmental to come and test the air quality in the home as soon as possible.
Citizens all expressed concerns about the $1million underground tank clean up fund, and the fact that it is quickly running out of money.
The first $10,000 of the cleanup process is paid for by Wind River Petroleum (WRP). Anything beyond that up to $1 million is paid for through the fund. Wind River is responsible itself for any cost going above the $1million.
Brad Johnson, director of the Division of Environmental Response and Remediation (of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality), said that Wind River had indicated it would pick up the bill. However, if the company fails to do so, there are possible legal actions his office could take. Or, if it comes to a point that Wind River cannot pay for it, there are other grant opportunities available to the community to help pay for the needed cleanup, Johnson said.