Bay Area Gas Station Owner Given Half-Million-Dollar Fine

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The owner of gas stations in Sonoma County and six other Bay Area counties must pay a half-a-million-dollar fine as part of a settlement. Alam and Faizan Corporation is accused of breaking state environmental laws. The corporation owns the Chevron gas station on Mendocino Avenue in Santa Rosa. Prosecutors say they failed to adequately install, monitor, operate and calibrate equipment on-site designed to detect leaks in underground gas storage tanks, putting surface and groundwater at risk. The corporation is also accused of failing to comply with laws regulating hazardous waste and hazardous materials at certain stations. Finally, it allegedly failed to label fuel dispensers with the correct octane rating and price per gallon, and falsely advertised the sale of lower-octane gas as higher-octane at some stations.