Charleroi officials discuss gas odor situation

By JEFF STITT
jstitt@yourmvi.com
Charleroi Mayor Edward Bryner and volunteer fire Chief Robert Whiten Jr. gave borough council a brief update Wednesday night about a situation that has been causing residents to smell a gasoline odor in their homes on and off for weeks.
The problem began Oct. 18, when residents on McKean and Prospect avenues and First Street began reporting a smell of gasoline inside their homes. The problem continued for several days as firefighters and borough street crew workers tried to find the source of the problem. Workers were joined by the state Department of Environmental Protection on Oct. 20 to control the gas leak, which was traced to an overflow of gasoline at an area station.
The DEP, at that time, inspected and reviewed records for the nearest gas stations/potential sources to the odor complaints and confirmed the source of the gasoline odor to be the Gulf J&G Service Station on McKean Avenue.
DEP spokeswoman Lauren Fraley previously said a corroded overflow prevention system of a tank malfunctioned, causing an unknown amount of fuel to be released into the soil where it mixed with groundwater and migrated into an abandoned sewer lateral.
The DEP halted new fuel deliveries to the gas station and said procedures and equipment would need to be evaluated before resuming fuel deliveries to the company. The DEP also required the soil and groundwater contamination to be properly characterized and remediated.
On Wednesday, Whiten said he believes the gas station has had its equipment repaired and installed a valve on one of its gas tanks, but that the soil and groundwater contamination has not yet been characterized and remediated. It is not clear if the service station has begun taking fuel deliveries again.
While he didn’t have many details to give about their conversation, Bryner said he and Whiten talked with a representative from the state Department of Environmental Protection and a representative from Gulf J&G Service Station on Wednesday.
“They still have not come up with a remedy for this situation as of yet,” Bryner said.

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