BLOOMINGTON – The Indiana Department of Environmental Management has ordered the owner of Village Pantry LLC at 1307 West Third Street to assess the extent of a fuel leak that sent thousands of gallons of fuel into the City of Bloomington’s sanitary and storm sewers.
IDEM ordered the owner to collect soil and groundwater samples from three locations to evaluate where the fuel may have migrated after an underground fuel leak.
The purpose of this is to gather information regarding the release and surrounding area, including, but not limited to, the collection of soil and groundwater data, evaluation of potential pathways for migration, and evaluation of the nature and extent of the contamination.
The sampling must be completed before December 30, 2022. Failure to submit the samples and required documentation delineating the release may result in a referral to the office of enforcement.
City of Bloomington Utilities employees detected hydrocarbon odors coming from sewage flowing into the Dillman Road Wastewater Treatment Plant on October 30, 2022. City workers tracked the source of the smell and found it came from a large release of gasoline from the Village Pantry location.
The store owner reported purchasing 8,000 gallons of fuel on October 29, 2022, of which there were only 660 gallons left after the investigation.
