Leaks, spills and fissures from underground gas and diesel tanks — it’s the state Department of Environmental Quality’s job to keep the public safe from such things.

Tim Knight, administrator over the underground storage tank division for the DEQ, said the agency does so via inspections, testing, records-checking, ensuring leak detection systems are in place and tanks are installed correctly, among other things. He also said there is an underground storage trust fund with a $1 million cap, for those eligible, to clean up leaks.

Kyle Blanchard, manager for half the field staff, said the federal government also required states’ regulations to evolve more with the Energy Policy Act of 2005. Every station needs to be inspected at least on a three year basis, Blanchard said.

This empty gas station is at Lewis and Main streets. -- Mary Catharine Martin / The Daily Iberian Advertisement

Some service station owners have expressed that fees for keeping up with environmental standards, along with credit card fees and a meager profit margin to begin with, have made finding a profit in serving gas difficult.

Fees are “just the cost of doing business,” said Knight. “If you don’t have fees, you can’t have the trust fund. If you don’t have the trust fund, there’s no insurance coverage to take care of the problem — and then it falls to the government, which is the taxpayer. It’s not their job to clean up private businesses ... In the old days, there were no fees, but the government ended up getting stuck with the tab to clean up big problems.”

Leaks and spills are such big problems because so many underground tanks are so close to the public, Knight said.

Gas and diesel are lighter than water and, when spilled or leaking, “migrate over and impact people quickly and directly,” he said.

When stations close, said Blanchard, they are required to send a notice of intent and hire a certified worker to go out, remove the tanks, and sample the ground around them. The DEQ reviews the results of the tests to make sure the ground is not contaminated.

Owners also have the option of closing the tanks in place after emptying them, cleaning them, removing vapors and sampling around the area.