Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Connecticut Runs Out of Underground Tank Contamination Cleanup Funds


Connecticut is out of cleanup money.
By Duane Craig 

Connecticut has its own money woes when it comes to environmental problems. A fund that is used to remedy underground storage tank contamination has run dry leaving people to look to litigation as a final resort in getting these sometimes ancient polluters cleaned up.

At one time, Connecticut decided to establish a fund to handle future underground tank problems at gas stations instead of requiring station owners to get insurance for leaking tanks. The insurance is expensive so that should have tipped anyone off that it really was only a matter of time before the tanks started to ooze. Now with the fund empty and $70 million worth of applications for tank cleanup money, people are trying to find other people to pay the cost.

In one case cited in the Hartford Courant online edition a property owner nearby a gas station with a leaking tank has sued the gas station owners. The gas station owners have requested more than a half million dollars from the state's cleanup fund, but so far have only received one-fifth of that amount.
Read the whole story here.

1 comment:

JimOak25 said...

The CT tank fund is in sad shape. Unfortunately, the state's cleanup laws work against individuals and companies who want to try to do the right thing. One of the parts of Connecticut's program that was going in the right direction was the tank fund; now due to eroding finances that program is out of money.