Contact Us

Find out the disease and risks of pollution you may have been exposed! Fill out the form below for more environmental pollution information!

Environmental Pollution
RISKS
Environmental Pollution
EXPOSURE

Accidental Leaks and Spills

Most gas stations are faced, at some point, with accidental leaks and spills of the stored product (in most cases gasoline and/or diesel fuel). These leaks and spills have the potential to pollute the surrounding environment (homes) up to few blocks away from a gas station. The accidental spills or leaks may occur due to:

  • Corrosion of underground storage tanks (USTs) and associated piping – which are usually the cause of most pollution problems associated with gas stations and which have potential to pollute the neighboring community (up to few blocks away from the station). While the improvement in equipment quality along with a raising environmental concern substantially reduced the occurrence of such accidental events in more recent years, the historical violations of gas stations has already left a legacy of multiple spills and leaks. In fact, the historical accidental releases (which occurred sometimes decades ago) account for most of the gas station pollution issues which are dealt with in the current days. The issues are usually complex due to the operations of gas stations from more than 50 years which has resulted in multiple releases along the years. While various forensic fingerprinting methods are available to try to distinguish among such releases, from the consumer’s perspective, what matters is how such pollution may currently affect the homes surrounding the gas station. In this respect, many environmental studies across the U.S. and abroad have already proven that releases of petroleum products at gas stations may affect homes few blocks away from the gas stations. Obviously, the closer to gas station, the highest is the amount of pollution a home may face. In general, 1 block away is at higher risk of pollution homes in such areas should be carefully evaluated. This is because the released petroleum products percolate through the soil and end up reaching the groundwater table. From there, part of the released product dissolves (each individual component) and moves with groundwater flow, while the bulk of released product creates a free phase floating on water (such as oil on top of water) usually referred to as free product (FP).
  • Physical damage of USTs and associated piping – although much less common than accidental spills and leaks, the damage of USTs and piping may occur during repair work involving soil borings. Such work may cause the perforation of USTs and/or associated piping, which have the potential to remain unknown for significant period of times, while continuously releasing fuel into the subsurface. Although the potential for serious problems exists, such events are quite less common and thus may not be significant for overall gas station pollution issues.
  • Fuel transfer - from delivery trucks to USTs or from USTs to individual fuel tanks – small leaks may occur during fuel transfer. How many times have you noticed drops of gasoline falling on the ground after filling up your tank? Although such drips may seem unimportant, consider that they happen over and over again each day, each month, each year. Additionally such drips happen in the same relatively small perimeter (in immediate pump vicinity) and thus may have a cumulative effect. In fact, while a lot of the dripped product will evaporate fast, some of it may percolate the concrete/asphalt and find its way underground. Overall, the cumulative release may account for pollution of soil and possibly groundwater under the gas station. Although quite common, the effect of this type of polluting activity (drip by drip) was not well studied, which does not exclude potential significant effects. Such effects may be possible especially when the concrete/asphalt has cracks and fissures.