Tiny Town Hopes to Get Reprieve From Fuel Law

The residents of tiny Chiriaco Summit remained in the dark Tuesday about whether they will still have diesel fuel to run the generator that provides their desert outpost with life-sustaining electricity.

A simple answer--yes--seemed to come Tuesday morning, when the Riverside County Board of Supervisors asked state officials to allow the community to continue using aging underground storage tanks for six more weeks although, as of today, the old tanks are banned by state and federal law because of concerns that they leak.

Despite the county supervisors’ sympathy and support for the 60 residents of Chiriaco Summit, officials at the state Environmental Protection Agency say there is no loophole in the law’s language allowing for a six-week extension.

“The law’s language is both exquisitely simple and draconian,” said Cal EPA spokesman Jim Spagnole. The law, he said, has no provisions for delaying its implementation.

“It’s a self-enforcing law,” Spagnole said. “Come Jan. 1, the wholesalers, distributors and carriers are prohibited from delivering any petroleum product to any underground tank that doesn’t have a state-approved [compliance] certificate.”

The continued use of the tank is critical to Chiriaco Summit because the hamlet, 30 miles east of Indio along Interstate 10, is so remote that it doesn’t have access to electrical lines. Until the lines are hooked up in a few months, Chiriaco Summit must continue to rely on a diesel-fueled generator to run lights, heaters, refrigerators and water.

The family that owns most of the facilities at Chiriaco Summit is installing underground storage tanks that comply with the law, which was approved 10 years ago. But the new tanks will not be ready for about six weeks.

The county’s staff assured the Board of Supervisors that with their resolution, there would be no problem using the existing tanks for a few more weeks.

County officials say they are hopeful of resolving the conundrum.

Supervisor Roy Wilson, whose district includes the sprawling desert region, said Tuesday that, if necessary, the county would appeal to Gov. Pete Wilson on behalf of the residents of Chiriaco Summit.

“We need to keep those generators running for a few more weeks,” he said. “We don’t want to have to relocate the families who live there.”

The bureaucratic hurdles were only part of the problem confronting the family that operates the coffee shop, gas station and trailer park at Chiriaco Summit. The town was founded by Joseph Chiriaco in 1933 when, as a surveyor mapping the construction of the Colorado River Aqueduct, he became smitten with the area and opened a small market and service station.

On Tuesday, the company that normally delivers fuel to the summit said it would immediately halt deliveries because the tanks are not in compliance with the new law, said Margit Chiriaco, daughter of the founder.

Chiriaco had previously vowed to keep using fuel from the banned tanks in open defiance of the law--but the existing fuel supply was expected to be drained by today.

She said Chevron, her supplier, had apparently not yet heard that county officials had sought a reprieve from the law “and we hope to get it worked out with some paperwork.”

One option--albeit an expensive one--is for the family to hire a fuel tanker truck to park alongside the hamlet’s electrical generator and pump fuel directly to it, various state officials said.

That same option has been employed by the city of Los Angeles, which also had not installed new, double-walled tanks in time to meet the deadline and agreed to spend $50,000 to use tanker trucks as holding facilities for fuel until new underground tanks are installed.

Chiriaco said she’s hopeful of a quick resolution.

“We’re just packed with holiday travelers using our facilities,” she said. “There’s a city on wheels out there, and they need us.”