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Chevron pays $113,000 to clean up underground fuel tanks

Release Date: 04/03/2006
Contact Information: Francisco Arcaute, (213) 244-1815

LOS ANGELES - Chevron U.S.A. has agreed to pay the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency $113,495 to reimburse federal cleanup costs at the San Joaquin Drum Facility in Bakersfield, Calif., as well as assist the California Department of Toxic Substances Control with additional cleanup at the site.

A former agricultural truck wash located at 3930 Gilmore Avenue, the San Joaquin Drum Company remained vacant since the company left California in 1986. In 2003, the EPA coordinated with Chevron U.S.A. to remove two abandoned underground storage tanks and associated pipes that contributed to pesticide and toxic metals contamination at the site.

“Underground storage tanks present a hidden risk since the toxic substances contained within can leak out, damaging the environmental health of a community over long periods of time,” said Dan Meer, Branch Chief, Emergency Response Planning and Assessment of the EPA’s Pacific Southwest Office in San Francisco. “The California Department of Toxic Substances Control requested EPA’s assistance to identify and remove the sources of contamination at the San Joaquin Drum site. Once the EPA identified the underground sources, Chevron U.S.A. stepped up to help remove them.”

Although Chevron U.S.A. did not own or operate the San Joaquin Drum Company site, underground storage tanks at the site contained product that belonged to Chevron U.S.A. Under supervision of the EPA, Chevron U.S.A. removed steel pipes, two storage tanks and 856 tons of contaminated soils contaminated with arsenic, DDT and chlorinated materials.

Under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, Chevron U.S.A. may be responsible for the contamination.

For more information on the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act, please visit: https://www.epa.gov/superfund/action/law/cercla.htm