HYDRO27234 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

loc Town of Florissant July 17, 1991 Page Two A.t the Mercantile Service Station, I met with the owner, Mr. Jim Coleman, to discuss the situation. I could not visually inspect h.is well as it was located beneath the concrete floor of a side room at the station. He informed me that the well was 15 to 20 feet deep. The well is approximately 100 feet from Twin Creek. The water out of this well, at the hose bib, had a strong petroleum odor to it. Less than 50 feet from the well, there were two 6,000 gallon above-ground storage tanks for gas. The tanks were surrounded by a concrete berm but the base of the containment structure was gravel. No water was being served to the public from this well. From the inspection, there are three possible sources for the contamination. The first is the Mercantile Service Station. Presently gas is stored in above-ground tanks but in the past there were underground storage tanks. Mr. Coleman stated he had pressure tested the gas lines from the above-ground tanks and found no leaks. However, there is the possibility that during the filling of the storage tanks, gas spilled and contaminated the groundwater. Excess gas from the connecting piping between the filling tanker truck and storage tanks is stored in buckets on site. Secondly, there is an old gas station located near the Fossil Inn. This station no longer sells gas but it did have under- ground storage tanks. Several people had mentioned that in the past, this station did have problems with leaking tanks. Mr. Pearce stated that when the sanitation district had dug trenches for collection lines, gas contaminated groundwater had been exposed. The third possibility wss un upstream sand and gravel mining area owned by Mr. Gene Clare. The mine is approximately 1/4 mile upstream from the Mercantile Service Station. Mr. Pearce stated ghat he had observed an oil sheen on the storage ponds for the mine and in Twin Creek. During the inspection no oil sheen was observed at the mine site. Mr. Stevens took a water sample from t:he stream above the mine and from below the mine. These samples w.=_re tested for TPH and the results were negative. No evidence could be found of any large volume of fuel that had been spilled. S.=_veral 1121 55 gallon drums were stored on site but these are used for floating the mining dredge according to Mr. Clare. No smell could be detected from the oil drums and they appeared old due to rust on several of the drums. Mr. Stevens recommended that the drums be moved away from the water's edge. I have enclosed a copy of the inspection report for the mine.