The owner of the Beaver Dam filling station in Littlefield in Mohave County has until Thursday, May 8th, to close three underground storage tanks because of longstanding violations of Arizona's underground storage tank (UST) regulations.
The closure order against Bill Evans was issued by Judge Janet Barton of Maricopa County Superior Court. ADEQ filed a civil complaint against Evans after he violated a 2007 Consent Order, in which he agreed to follow safety regulations that he had been violating since 1998. Evans also has been fined $5,000 for the violations by the Court, but he has not yet paid the fine. Failure to close the tanks by May 8th, could subject Evans to additional penalties.
"Mr. Evans has failed to comply with the law, despite receiving repeated Notices of Violation from ADEQ," Director Owens said. "We have even put off enforcement action in the past to accommodate his circumstances," Owens added, noting that after flood damage to Evans' property in 2005, ADEQ postponed the filing of a civil complaint against him to give him more time to comply. "Mr. Evans failed to live up to the terms of the Consent Order he agreed to," Owens said. "We have given him more than enough time to comply with the law."
To protect soil & groundwater from UST leaks, operators are required, among other things, to implement an appropriate method to detect releases, conduct tests of the pressurized tanks & pipes, install automatic leak detectors & a spill & overfill protection device, provide rust protection for UST systems, & show evidence of financial responsibility. Evans has failed to comply with these requirements of the law.