Fuel Pumps Are Drying Up Where Owners Didn't Plug the Leaks

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Truckers face having parched fuel tanks along a desolate, 100-mile stretch of Interstate 10 in California. Not a single fuel pump could be found on the road between Indio and Blythe because of the enforcement of federal rules regarding underground tanks, according to news reports.

The situation is so dire for drivers heading west from Arizona that the transportation departments in both states now advise travelers to fuel up before crossing the border.

Much further east, Arsenio Raimondo finds himself treading water after shutting down his five gasoline pumps in central New Jersey. Waretown Auto Clinic has sold gasoline to motorists since 1984, but that is no longer the case because of the Environment Protection Agency’s enforcement of regulations governing underground fuel tanks.

The rules, which took effect Dec. 22, are designed to minimize the leakage of fuel oils and other materials from underground storage tanks into the ground water.

Like many other small service station operators, Raimondo said he could not afford the $20,000 that it would cost him to upgrade the anti-corrosion and monitoring systems on his underground tanks.

For the full story, see the March 8 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.