Would a Wasatch Front gas leak attract so little response?
11-21-07

We hate to play the small, rural community card, but the handling of the Gunnison gas leak almost demands it.
The length of time it has taken for officials, at the state level most notably, to appear to take the situation seriously is unconscionable, and some agencies have yet to give it the attention it deserves.
It begs the question: If something like this had happened on the Wasatch Front, how would it have been handled differently?
In July, approximately 20,000 gallons of fuel leaked out of an underground storage tank at the Gunnison Top Store.
Calls to the state’s Department of Environmental Quality from business owners and residents who smelled fumes were made as early as July, yet not much was done to investigate the matter until Top Stop reported the leak on Aug. 2.
Even then, it took eight days for officials to do much of anything.
Information about the incident was not forthcoming.
Until last week, very little was said about the magnitude of the leak, but now we know it was enormous—one of the largest ever in the state.
Again, what if a leak of this magnitude had happened in Salt Lake City? Would the state have settled for being on site just a handful of days in the three-month period following the leak?
The so-called investigation by the Attorney General’s office into questions surrounding the leak is hardly worth the term. The investigation in no way broached what was known by whom, and when.
When DEQ officials were in Gunnison in early August, they heard rumors that the tank had been leaking for some time prior to July, perhaps up to two years prior. They heard rumors that Top Stop knew of the leak and did nothing about it, and worse, perhaps actively covered it up by falsifying documents.
They heard other rumors, too, but wouldn’t go into the ones the press hadn’t heard yet.
We have heard now from three independent sources that gas fumes were causing problems at least two years ago. Top Stop has said that the testing method it used to detect leaks can be unreliable up to 200 gallons per month. Take that over 24 months and there could have been a substantial leak even before July’s 20,000-gallon leak.
But how did the AG’s office investigate? By only examining the records that Top Stop itself had provided to the state. By the AG’s office’s own admission, there were no interviews with any local people who might have had firsthand knowledge of the rumors heard by the DEQ.
Sounds like it went something like this:
“Hey, Top Stop, we’ve heard 20 different people say that you spilled some gas. Did you?”
“No.”
“Good enough for us.”
Again, we ask, how would this have been different if the leak had happened on the Wasatch Front?
We appreciate that the DEQ has finally taken the initiative to get needed information to the city and its residents, and to provide more active oversight.
We hope the DEQ and others will join us in demanding that the AG’s office take more than just a token look at the questions that have arisen.