Gas stations caused a $20 billion toxic mess — and it’s not going away, Kate Yoder writes for Grist in a story co-published with CrosscutIn a nutshell:It's not whether a gas station will pollute. Key quote:"I have talked to several gas station owners that have purchased gas stations from Big Oil. Big picture:With Big Oil successfully washing their hands of the responsibility and liability related to underground gasoline storage tanks and insurance companies exiting the market en masse, small gas station owners were forced to assume liability without the resources to do so. The good news is that technological advances in the 1990s have greatly reduced problems with underground petroleum storage. Facing a looming public health hazard and a huge backlog of toxic sites, states are now looking for remediation relief from taxpayers.

Source: The Guardian June 23, 2023 10:32 UTC