Mobil Agrees to Pay $1 Million in Lawsuit

Mobil Oil Corp. has agreed to pay $1 million to settle a lawsuit charging that the company failed to properly maintain its system for monitoring leaks in underground fuel tanks at more than 40 service stations in Orange County.

There was no evidence, however, that leaking gasoline contaminated either water or soil, Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Michelle Lyman said Thursday.

The civil settlement, signed Tuesday by Superior Court Judge Tully H. Seymour, is the largest the Orange County district attorney’s office has received in an environmental case, Lyman said.

The case involved a state-required backup system that is supposed to prevent gasoline leaking from the underground tanks from escaping into the environment. This system must also have a leak detection mechanism.

County investigators found that in more than two-thirds of the Mobil stations in the county, someone had tampered with the leak detection system. In about 80% to 90% of the cases, the probe that detects the leaks had been raised so that a small amount of gasoline could accumulate without notice.

At some stations, there was no probe or it wasn’t working. In other cases, the alarm in the station that goes off when a leak is spotted had been rendered inaudible.

Lyman said the problems were systemic.

“The reason we find this violation so serious is it seemed to be a pattern that was consistent across the county,” she said. “Mobil is in a position to know better. They have the wealth, the technology and the skill to properly monitor their tanks.”

Carolin Keith, a public affairs advisor for Mobil, read a statement denying that the problems were the result of any kind of company policy.

“Mobil is surprised and disappointed that after working cooperatively toward this settlement that such an accusation would be raised,” she said. “We absolutely deny that there was any systematic attempt on the part of Mobil to alter the function of the probes.”

Mobil paid $200,000 to Riverside County in February for similar violations. In October 1995, the oil company paid Orange County $50,000 for a problem with its monitoring probe at a station in Laguna Beach.

Keith said Mobil was working with each county in the state to fix problems with the monitoring system.

Lyman said the problems were unique to what is known as the fiber trench containment system. She said Mobil is the only oil company that uses the system. Mobil, she said, installed the system in the late 1980s in anticipation of the state requirement.

The main threat of fuel leaks is that gasoline will contaminate ground water with the suspected carcinogen MTBE, or methyl tertiary butyl ether, the most common additive used to boost gasoline’s oxygen content and make it burn cleaner.

Besides the civil penalties, which include a $500,000 fine and costs of the investigation and other assessments, Mobil also agreed to an injunction that details how the company will fix the safety system. The company is required to install electronic instruments that can detect pinhole leaks of 0.02 gallons per hour. If a leak is discovered, the station’s pumping system shuts down.

The county Health Care Agency discovered the problem in December 1996. After finding it was widespread, the agency inspected Mobil stations throughout the county.

“In my mind it’s a beautiful settlement because we’ve solved the problem,” Lyman said.