Santa Barbara gas station ordered to pay $25k for environmental violations
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - A Santa Barbara gas station has been ordered to pay $25,000 for violating environmental laws.
According to the Santa Barbara County District Attorney's Office, Aied M. Abdullatif, owner of Stop and Shop Gas, has agreed to pay $25,000 in various fines and penalties for failing to maintain sensors that detect leaks at their gas station on South Milpas Street.
The detectors are important technology that allow for early detection of leaks in underground gas tanks. A leak in an underground gas tank is difficult to detect and even the smallest leaks can lead to the loss of 400 gallons of gas per year.
“12 ounces of gasoline can contaminate 40,000 gallons of groundwater, Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley said. "Leaks are costly to remedy, and these costs often fall on taxpayers. It is thus vital that laws governing leak-detection systems be enforced and violators be held accountable.”
Of the $25,000 in penalties, $20,000 will go to Santa Barbara County Certified Unified Program Agency to settle civil fines. The remainder will be sent to programs that provide environmental training and prosecute violations.
Dudley said the defendants cooperated with the investigation and negotiated the resolution of the lawsuit.
In 2019, a similar lawsuit was settled against a gas station in Santa Maria after the station was found to have non-functioning gas leak detection sensors.
