Barrington Mobil station to pay $20,000 for gasoline leak

A Mobil gas station in Barrington will have to pay a $20,000 civil penalty for a gasoline leak that contaminated soil and groundwater, and caused vapors to enter neighboring homes.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced the penalty Monday as part of a settlement with defendant Shri Balaji Inc., an Illinois corporation that owned the Mobil station at 504 E. Main St. near Route 14.

"This order will protect the community by ensuring that the company will identify and remediate any remaining contamination," Madigan said in a statement.

The settlement also requires the owner to submit a remediation plan to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, as well as report soil and groundwater sampling and monitoring tests to the agency, Madigan's office said.

The owner of the Mobil station declined comment Tuesday morning on the settlement.

On Feb. 11, the Illinois Attorney General's office filed a complaint against the owner, saying its underground gasoline tank had been leaking unknown amounts of gas since at least Jan. 25.

"The leak was discovered after residents complained of gasoline odors in their homes," according to a news release from Madigan's office. "The complaint alleges leaking gasoline flowed into the soil and groundwater and entered the adjacent sanitary sewer system."

The Mobil station first closed Jan. 25 after homeowners complained of a gasoline smell in their homes.

Barrington officials shut down the station again at 3 p.m. the next day, just six hours after it reopened for business that morning.

"The village went back to the gas station and determined petroleum was still found (Jan. 26) leaking into the sanitary sewer," Barrington Village Manager Jeff Lawler said in January.

According to Lawler, a pressure line leaked in a gasoline pump, causing gas to travel underground to a sanitary sewer in the station's parking lot.

He said the gas station's owner hired an environmental contractor to pump water and fuel from under the parking lot into a tanker truck for removal and testing. The station opened again Jan. 29.

Village officials have said work crews installed plastic lining inside the entire sewer line, preventing gas from seeping into it again. The Illinois EPA also approved the plan, Lawler said.

After both incidents, village workers monitored the area with air-testing equipment and did not detect any levels of concentration, Lawler has said.