Property owner's issues with DEQ worry lease holder, coast officials.

Byline: Winston Ross The Register-Guard

LINCOLN CITY - Look closely, and you can see the small sign in the window that identifies Lyle's Automotive and Towing. A half-dozen pickup trucks are scattered on the property, which from the road looks like an abandoned gas station.

But it's what you can't see at the half-acre site at Ninth Street and Highway 101 that's most troubling.

The towing business sits on one of the more egregious cases of pollution from leaking underground gasoline storage tanks in state history. Beneath the ground, a 2-foot-deep layer of gasoline sits atop the water table, and has for at least 10 years.

Lyle Vance, the towing company's owner, isn't to blame, according to the state Department of Environmental Quality. Vance is merely leasing the land from property owner Jacob Willett. But the issue could force Vance out of business if the state ultimately decides to seize the property.

DEQ faults Willett, who has been fined twice for a total of $287,000, since new federal rules holding gas station owners responsible for leaking tanks went into effect in 1988. It's the eighth largest tank-related fine in state history.

If he continues to ignore DEQ's repeated warnings, Willett could forfeit the property and Vance would be out of business. Vance said his monthly lease payments currently go to the Oregon Department of Justice instead of to Willett.

Willett did not return several phone calls seeking comment. But he has arranged a July 1 meeting with DEQ officials to ask the state to reduce his fines if he agrees to clean the Lincoln City site and a few other locations with less serious environmental problems, said Jim Glass, a DEQ tanks program official in Salem.

It's possible that the DEQ could reduce the penalty, depending on the outcome of that meeting, Glass said.

Several years ago, Willett dug up much of the contaminated soil and placed it into barrels that were then to be disposed. But they're still sitting on the property.

Meanwhile, the DEQ has begun to suck out some of the underground fuel from the site, and it is prepared to repeat the process as necessary, Glass said.

Vance said he doesn't understand why the gas-soaked soil can't be left alone since it's been there at least a decade already.

"What's the big deal?" he asked. "It's not going anywhere. It's not hurting anybody. It's not hurting anything. It's going to stay right where it's at."

But gasoline atop the water table is a serious hazard, said the DEQ's Glass. If there's a drinking well nearby, the gas could migrate and nearby residents could find themselves showering in or gulping down gas-laced water.

The gas can leak into utility corridors or storm sewers, where workers may inhale harmful vapors, and there's also the danger of explosion. One of gasoline's components is benzene, a cancer-causing agent.

Some city officials are frustrated by the slow pace of compliance.

"That's really scary," said Richard Townsend, the city's planning director, pondering the gasoline on the water table. "This just seems to be sort of a star-crossed piece of property. It's in a heavily used area of the city. There are kids who play in those areas. It's half a block from a residential area."

The federal law passed in 1988 requires that underground storage tanks be maintained in such a way that prevents leaks; where there have been spills, states are required to ensure that the mess is cleaned up.

There's a large number of leaking underground storage tank sites across Oregon, and the DEQ has had a limited number of people to work on investigations and cleanups, Glass said. "We've focused on what we find to be the highest environmental priority sites."

The Lincoln City property certainly qualifies, he said.

In the 1980s and possibly earlier, a gas station on the site contained underground, single-walled steel tanks, which are prone to rust and leakage, especially in a salt-air environment like what's found on the coast.

A wave of closures and cleanups followed passage of the federal law and a subsequent state law in 1989, said Dave Belyea, project manager with the DEQ. Gas stations had 10 years to clean up their act, and another wave of closures occurred statewide as the deadline loomed in 1998.

"That's why people in the state remember gas stations going out of business in the early and late '90s," Belyea said. Now, the theory is that all tanks in operation meet the new standards. Tanks are double-walled with non-corroding fiberglass.