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A judge has ordered the owner of Tahoe Tom's gas station to continue cleanup of contaminated groundwater from a gasoline additive.
Thomas Erickson stopped the pumps in July, saying he could no longer afford the costs associated with the cleanup. Lahontan Re gional Water Quality Control Board said Erickson was in contempt of a previous court order and took him back to the courtroom.
In testimony from last month, Lisa Dernbach of Lahontan stated Erickson completely cleaned a spill of MTBE discovered in 1989 but was up to 98 percent cleanup of another spill discovered in 1996.
Erickson's attorney, Mark Wetters, said during Friday's hearing that complete cleanup was nearly impossible since pumps are most productive in large cleanups and are less effective when a small contamination remains.
Nicholas Stern, an attorney with the Attorney General's office representing Lahontan, said the longer the time the pumps are off, the more the pool of contaminated water expands.
El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Jerald Lasarow be lieved there was enough evidence to order the cleanup resumed in less than two weeks. Lasarow did credit Erickson with the work that has already been done.
"It's not as if he's not trying," Lasarow said.
No fines were imposed. Lasarow believed the money would be better spent in cleanup duties.
"I'm sure after hearing this case I won't invest in a gas station," Lasarow joked.
Dernbach testified in a Dec. 8 hearing that the 780 micrograms of MTBE per liter found in the water, and detailed in a July report, were higher than the previous three quarters and exceeded drinking water standards in California.
MTBE, or methyl tertiary-butyl, is an additive to gasoline that decreases emissions from combustion engines, thus lowering air pollution.
Tahoe Tom's was given a fifth cleanup and abatement order from Lahontan, Dernbach said. She said the third order, delivered in 1998, included "some very strict deadlines because, again, we thought it was very urgent to conduct cleanup actions to protect those six drinking water wells and Mr. Erickson failed to implement a number of actions by the deadlines listed."
The civil suit was then filed by Lahontan for $131,000, but was reduced by roughly half in a June 2000 settlement.
Thomas Erickson stopped the pumps in July, saying he could no longer afford the costs associated with the cleanup. Lahontan Re gional Water Quality Control Board said Erickson was in contempt of a previous court order and took him back to the courtroom.
In testimony from last month, Lisa Dernbach of Lahontan stated Erickson completely cleaned a spill of MTBE discovered in 1989 but was up to 98 percent cleanup of another spill discovered in 1996.
Erickson's attorney, Mark Wetters, said during Friday's hearing that complete cleanup was nearly impossible since pumps are most productive in large cleanups and are less effective when a small contamination remains.
Nicholas Stern, an attorney with the Attorney General's office representing Lahontan, said the longer the time the pumps are off, the more the pool of contaminated water expands.
El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Jerald Lasarow be lieved there was enough evidence to order the cleanup resumed in less than two weeks. Lasarow did credit Erickson with the work that has already been done.
"It's not as if he's not trying," Lasarow said.
No fines were imposed. Lasarow believed the money would be better spent in cleanup duties.
"I'm sure after hearing this case I won't invest in a gas station," Lasarow joked.
Dernbach testified in a Dec. 8 hearing that the 780 micrograms of MTBE per liter found in the water, and detailed in a July report, were higher than the previous three quarters and exceeded drinking water standards in California.
MTBE, or methyl tertiary-butyl, is an additive to gasoline that decreases emissions from combustion engines, thus lowering air pollution.
Tahoe Tom's was given a fifth cleanup and abatement order from Lahontan, Dernbach said. She said the third order, delivered in 1998, included "some very strict deadlines because, again, we thought it was very urgent to conduct cleanup actions to protect those six drinking water wells and Mr. Erickson failed to implement a number of actions by the deadlines listed."
The civil suit was then filed by Lahontan for $131,000, but was reduced by roughly half in a June 2000 settlement.
