City officials say soil taken from around the city shop and rodeo grounds shows no signs of contamination, but testing will continue at those sites after the discovery of possible fuel leaks.

State law required city officials to test its fuel storage tanks using a static pressure system. After testing Lehi City's diesel fuel and gasoline storage tanks last summer, officials discovered leaks, according to Public Works Director Bob Kunz."We had no idea if it was actually our storage tanks or as to whether there might have been a leaky or bad fitting somewhere between the fuel line and the pump," Kunz said.

Because draining the 15-year-old tanks to test the lines and fittings would have cost as much or more than actually removing the tanks themselves, officials opted for the latter option.

"Since it was likely the tanks were the problem, we removed them and settled for the one-time cost," he said.

When the tanks were removed, officials found several holes in them - some the size of a quarter. Since then, the state Division of Environmental Health has required the city to begin a remediation and testing program around the city shop and the nearby rodeo grounds.

The city has installed three wells around the tank site to monitor hydrocarbons in both soil and groundwater. Though the results on the groundwater samples will not be available until this summer, soil samples showed little or no contamination. The city introduced oil-eating bacteria into the soil to eliminate any current problems.

According to Environmental Protection Agency regulations, the city must continue to monitor and test the site until next year. Already, the cleanup has cost the city $15,000, coming somewhat at the expense of Lehi's road improvement fund.

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"There simply wasn't enough in last year's budget to handle those costs," Kunz said. "We had to rearrange some budgets, but fortunately, we were able to handle some of the cost in the fiscal '92 budget. Some still had to come out of road improvements, though."

He said residents probably won't notice the difference in road work, though. "It won't impact those improvements significantly."

As far as fueling the city's fleet, Lehi officials had three options, Kunz said. "We could either repair the tanks, install new ones or go elsewhere for our fuel."

But Kunz said cost analyses showed that installing new tanks would leave the city indebted for nearly 25 years, and that repairs on the old tanks were impossible. That left the city to bid out for its fueling. Currently, Lehi's Hart's Gas & Food provides gasoline, while the American Fork Hart's Gas & Food supplies diesel fuel. Kunz said that the city will bid out for the fuel each year.

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