- Office of the Attorney General
BOSTON — The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office (AGO) has filed a lawsuit against East Taunton-based gas station Amaro’s Market, Inc and its trustees, Two Brother’s Realty Trust (together, “Amaro”), and Plymouth-based petroleum service company Dependable Service Company, Inc. (“Dependable”), for allegedly failing to report the release of more than 31,000 gallons of gasoline into the environment and failing to take steps to protect public health and safety, as required by state law.
In its complaint, the AGO alleges that Amaro and Dependable, an operator of Amaro’s gasoline system, failed to identify and report a gasoline leak that began as early as April 2023 and continued through August 2023. The AGO alleges that Amaro and Dependable ignored obvious warning signs of a gasoline leak, including persistent gasoline odors at the gas station and in the basement of a neighboring property, a near-constant presence of gasoline and water in parts of the gas pump equipment that should remain dry, repeated fuel alarms, and uncommonly high fuel deliveries and inventory discrepancies.
According to the AGO, at least 31,443 gallons of gasoline were released into the environment, which contaminated soil, groundwater, and the airspace of the surrounding area. The complaint alleges that gasoline vapors caused by the release created a potential explosion risk at multiple locations around the gas station, and fumes detected in a nearby manhole required a 24/7 fire watch in the area for several days following the eventual reporting of the release in August 2023. According to the complaint, testing in August and September 2023 showed significant levels of gasoline vapors inside residential properties in the vicinity of the gas station, as well as gasoline mixed within the groundwater. Exposure to gasoline fumes can cause lung irritation as well as other symptoms such as confusion, disorientation, headache, blurred vision, and dizziness. Plants and animals can also be harmed by coming into contact with gasoline through soil and groundwater contamination.
The AGO alleges that the Defendants failed to timely notify the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) of the release and failed to take immediate steps to stop or mitigate the environmental and public health effects of the gasoline leak, in violation of the Massachusetts Oil and Hazardous Material Release Prevention and Response Act (Chapter 21E). The AGO further alleges that Amaro failed to comply with the state Underground Storage Tank (UST) Systems regulations in the months leading up to the gasoline leak by failing to ensure that the system’s alarms were properly working, that leaks were properly addressed, and that the system remained clear from liquid and debris.
In the lawsuit, the AGO is asking the Court to order Amaro and Dependable to pay for the cost of the cleanup, to remediate the contamination, to pay civil penalties, and to comply with Chapter 21E and its regulations and the UST regulations going forward.
This matter is being handled by Assistant Attorney General Emily Mitchell Field of the Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Division, with the assistance of MassDEP Counsel Andrew Fowler; Deputy Regional Director John Handrahan, Emergency Response Section Chief Andy Jones, and ER Responders Jaime Goncalves and Bob Murphy of the Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup; and Compliance and Enforcement Section Chief Dan DiSalvio and Environmental Analyst Jenifer Hudyncia of the Bureau of Air and Waste, all in MassDEP’s Southeast Regional Office.
