Abandoned gas stations
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“You either have to remove them or upgrade them,” Fleischli said, noting that the cost often runs upwards of $100,000, depending on the number of tanks.įleischli said the cost of maintenance or removal is behind a trend toward convenience store sales only, especially among small operators. The Springfield-based association represents the state's convenience store operators. Stations owners are responsible for digging up or sealing unused tanks, said Bill Fleischli, executive vice president of the Illinois Petroleum Marketers Association. The LUST fund has paid out more than $800 million since it was established in 1989, according to the EPA. If the tanks are abandoned in-place, they have to be emptied, vented and filled with an inert material, such as sand.”Ī tax on motor fuel sales funds the state's Leaking Underground Storage Tank program for contamination cleanup. “The tanks have to be emptied and vented.
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“There are procedures for underground tanks,” Kim Biggs, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, wrote in an email. There are 391 in Sangamon County, including 292 in Springfield. Most are at the sites of former gas stations, though the list also includes chemical storage. According to figures from the Illinois state fire marshal's office, there are more than 23,000 sites registered statewide where tanks have been removed or abandoned. “They'd go in and buy bread and milk.”Ībandoned gas stations have the added element of underground tanks. “People used it for groceries, small things,” she said. Starks said the business served its purpose, and she would like to see the property cleaned up and put back to use. “They've registered the building, and they actually applied for a building permit to remodel the convenience store.” “We did have complaints about the Cook Street location,” Sadowski said. Springfield city building manager John Sadowski said complaints about abandoned gas station and convenience stores are common, but owners typically can be found through state records on underground tanks or property tax records. The property since has reopened as a BP service station and convenience store. Mushreh in county property tax records, to administrative court for failure to register the property as a vacant building. The city building department took the owners, identified as Ali M. The gas station and convenience store was a traditional spot for gas and groceries in the neighborhood before the business shut down early this year. “People were throwing junk in the alley,” said Betty Starks, president of the Mathers & Wells Neighborhood Association, referring to a closed Citgo Fresh Express at 1529 E.
Abandoned gas stations code#
The gas-price marquee (now minus a zero on one side), a mostly empty building and fuel pumps are all that remain.Ībandoned gas stations are a special cleanup challenge for neighbors, community groups, city code enforcement and environmental regulators, including in some cases finding owners who simply lock up and walk away. The convenience store and gas station never reopened after it was damaged by tornadoes that hit the city that spring. Gasoline sold for $2.40 a gallon on the evening of March 12, 2006, at the corner of South Grand and Pope avenues in Springfield.