The Tuba City Leaking Underground Storage Tank (LUST) Site

In the late 1980's a plume of gasoline was released from the underground storage tanks of two gas station operators on the Tuba City side of U.S. Highway 264. An EPA administrative order under the Resource Conservation Recovery Act (RCRA) was issued naming the two gas station operators as respondents in 1996.

EPA and the Hopi and Navajo Tribes approved a Site Assessment Report in June of 2002. The plume of benzene, ethylbenzene, toluene, xylene, methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE), and total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), had spread unchecked through the local groundwater and across the Hopi Tribe's lands toward the Village wells and Moenkopi Wash.

After numerous public meetings, hearings, outreach efforts and consideration of comments from community members, the agency and the Tribes, a Site Specific Corrective Action Plan was approved in the fall of 2004.

Two cleanup technologies designed to remove petroleum contaminants from the soil and ground water at and around the intersection of highways 160 and 264 were selected.

The first technology pumps air into the ground water which attaches to gasoline molecules that are extracted when the air returns to the surface. The injected air also stimulates the growth of naturally occurring bacteria that breaks down petroleum contamination. The second technology enhances this natural process by injecting oxidizers into the soil and shallow ground water.

Thriftway Marketing Corp., one of three responsible parties at the site, previously installed the first technology at two locations and these systems have been incorporated into the final cleanup plan. These methods have proven effective in cleaning up petroleum contamination at underground storage tank sites across the Southwest.

Cleanup is estimated in the Plan to take between 3-5 years.

For more information:

• EPA Press Release, January 29, 2004
• EPA Fact Sheet, March 2003 (552MB PDF)
• EPA Presentation to Navajo Chapter and Moenkopi Villages, November 6-7, 2001 (804KB PDF)