Hazardous waste commission refers cases to AG's office

Two facilities with underground storage units, including one in southwest Missouri, are being referred to the Missouri Attorney General's Office for alleged violations of the state's Underground Storage Tank Law.

The referrals are being made by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources and the Hazardous Waste Management Commission.

In southwest Missouri, the commission cited a facility at Highway 37 and Gibbs Avenue in Pierce City. The site, for which an owner was not named, contains four steel underground storage tanks that have been temporarily closed.

According to a DNR news release, an inspection of the tanks showed that three of the four contain five or more inches of petroleum product, and the state has no documentation to verify that the tanks have been adequately protected from corrosion. The tanks, according to the release, must be permanently and properly closed, and the owner has not paid registration fees for the tanks.

DNR also cited a former Rowland's Amoco station in St. Joseph for similar violations.

The commission is asking the attorney general's office to compel the site owners to comply with the law and seek civil penalties, according to the release.