Nov. 9—The Free Press
MANKATO — The Mankato Marathon gas station and convenience store and eight others across Minnesota have been fined a combined $107,392 for regulatory violations related to their fuel storage systems, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency announced Thursday.
Molo-Twin LLC — a corporation under Molo Oil Company of Dubuque, Iowa, and Twin City Petroleum and Properties LLC of Jacksonville, Florida — violated several petroleum tank regulations in 2021 at nine Minnesota gas stations owned and co-owned by the companies.
As part of an MPCA enforcement investigation, agency staff documented similar violations at each station.
"The companies failed to conduct routine facility and equipment inspections, testing, and maintenance required to ensure compliance (with) their permits and reduce the risk of harmful impacts to human health and the environment," the MPCA said in a statement.
Specific violations include failure to install and operate overfill protection and emergency shutoff equipment, failure to conduct required leak-detection inspections and testing on lines and tanks, and failure to inspect and replace unmaintained or failing equipment. Among other violations, the company also failed to properly train certain operators, according to the MPCA.
The Mankato Marathon had the fifth-highest fine among the nine stations at $14,008. Fines at other stations ranged from $18,688 at the Aitkin Marathon to $4,619 at a station in St. Cloud. The nine stations include a total of six in St. Cloud and neighboring Waite Park, the Mankato and Aitkin stores and one in Hibbing.
The Mankato station is on North Riverfront Drive a block south of Madison Avenue. The store was built in 1976 and the current underground fuel tanks date to 1983, according to Blue Earth County tax records.
"In addition to paying the $107,392 civil penalty, the companies have completed a series of actions to correct violations and ensure future compliance with petroleum tank regulations," according to the MPCA statement. "When calculating penalties, the MPCA takes into account how seriously the violations affected or could have affected the environment, and whether they were first-time or repeat violations. The agency also attempts to recover the economic benefit the company gained by failing to comply with environmental laws in a timely manner."
It appears the Mankato location, which had operated for years as a SuperAmerica, is already under new ownership, although it continues to sport the Marathon name on its signs and gas pumps. The property was sold in September by Molo-Twin LLC to a buyer named GTR2 LLC, according to the tax records. The address listed for GTR2 LLC is a St. Cloud station/convenience store called "Go For It Gas."