An investigation into Pike Fuels (formerly Gulf Oil) by the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) that dates back to 2019 has resulted in a $2 million settlement Attorney General William Tong’s office announced today.
The settlement includes a $1.2 million civil penalty and $800,000 in remediation funds “to support environmental remediation, mitigation, and monitoring.” Those funds will include $100,ooo for New Haven first responders and an additional $100,000 for New Haven-based environmental justice investigations.
In October 2019, DEEP found that Gulf Oil, which operated a marine terminal for unloading and unloading oil and petroleum in New Haven until April 2024, released 2,700 gallons of gasoline into ground adjacent to Long Island sound during a transfer operation. During recovery actions, DEEP also encountered “weathered petroleum” unrelated to the spill “in the subsurface of the site.”
According to a consent order from 2019, the company failed to follow multiple provisions in its Emergency Response Action Plan (ERAP) following the spill, including failure to call 911, failure to implement the ERAP as written, and failure to establish a safety zone around the spill.
They were fined a $64,500 civil penalty at the time.
A press release announcing the most recent civil penalty also stated that DEEP, as part of its investigation, found other environmental violations, including “years of falsified records, inaccurate emissions reporting, failure to conduct required equipment inspections, failure to report changes and repairs to their storage tanks, non-permitted construction of a new tank, and demolition without inspecting for asbestos-containing materials, among other violations.”
DEEP investigated 21 months worth of the company’s records and “found multiple instances of fabrication and falsification, including discrepancies and inconsistencies with alleged inspection dates, inspection observations, and operator signatures.” The company also allegedly “took tanks out of service for inspection, upgrades, and repair of defects, but never informed DEEP as required by law,” removed storage tanks without provided required notice, and constructed a 6.5-million-gallon tank without proper permits.
“Today’s settlement exacts a substantial civil penalty, including direct support for environmental justice in New Haven and further environmental monitoring and enforcement statewide. We expect complete compliance with all environmental laws from fossil fuel companies in Connecticut. We will not hesitate to take aggressive action if we detect any future violations.” Tong said via press release.
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Wow–now that’s what I call a swift business transaction. Commissioner Dykes filed suit against Pikes Fuel (Gulf Oil) last Thursday and today it’s all settled! DEEP used its discretionary enforcement authority to stack 5ok per day penalty on top of 50K per violation penalty until the agency cashed out at 1.2 million. The reality of today’s live press conference is the immediate surrounding communities affected by the seepage, spillage, air and water pollution will see absolutely nothing tangible from this settlement. 100k out of the 2 million award goes to “An Environmental Justice Project in New Haven selected by the Commissioner.” Sounds super.
How did Pike Fuels end up this situation? Pike Fuels filed a Certificate of Amendment to Register as a Foreign Limited Partnership with the State of Connecticut back in June. It was bad timing, especially with DEEP’s final draft of their newly proposed release regs headed into the regulatory comment period the following month. “Cut ’em fast, cut ’em deep, make Pike Fuels a resounding example. Instill fear. Show power.” Today DEEP made an example of Pike Fuels via FOX NEWS LIVE BROADCAST. Tradebe’s Consent Order in 2018 was much more graver and more severe than Gulf Oil’s (Pike Fuels) 2019 Consent Order. Tradebe exploded last year and sent hundreds of thousands of gallons of toxic chromium wastewater into the surrounding streets and waterways and not a single violation from DEEP. Tradebe is situated in a residential neighborhood. Have you ever seen the water sampling results? Have you heard anything since than the immediate public outcry? Probably not.
DEEP maintains an online environmental record room where the public has access to critical environmental information. Aecom references two separate Emergency Response unit reports in one of their Pikes Fuel Investigation Reports: Spill Case #2018-5916 and Spill Case #2019-05058. These two case numbers appear to be missing. The two reports which remain in the record room, and can be inspected online, are Spill Case #2021-03656 (08/28/2021) and Spill Case #2020-05386 (11/28/2020). If non-compliance was an issue for Pike Fuels, then the ERU entirely missed it in 2020 and then again in 2021. These incident reports submitted by the Emergency Response Unit show compliance to DEEP’s expected standard. But don’t take my word for it. Read for yourself and form your own conclusions.