Massachusetts attorney general alleges 31,000 gallons leaked from Taunton gas station

The Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office said the owners of an East Taunton gas station failed to report the release of 31,000 gallons of gasoline into the environment.

Prosecutors called it the “largest land-based gas release in Southeast Massachusetts history.”

Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell filed suit against Amaro’s Market and its trustees Two Brothers Realty Trust. Dependable Service Company, a petroleum service company in Plymouth, was also named.

They’re accused of failing to report the spill to the Department of Environmental Protection and failing to take steps to protect public health.

Prosecutors said the gasoline started leaking as early as April 2023 and continued until August 2023. The state said the leak contaminated soil, groundwater and the air.

“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,” the attorney general said in a release Wednesday.

NBC 10 News sought comment from the defendants.

The state says in its lawsuit that gasoline vapors created an explosion risk.

“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,” the state said.

“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 release said.

Prosecutors said they want a court to order Amaro and Dependable to pay cleanup costs and civil penalties and for them to comply with state regulations on hazardous materials and storage tanks.