Environmental lawsuit settlement fines gas-station

Express staff

The owners of multiple Northern California gas stations, including two in Davis and Winters, will pay $1.1 million to settle allegations they violated environmental protection laws, the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office announced Monday.

Yolo Superior Court

Judge David Rosenberg approved the settlement on July 20, resolving the civil case that accused defendants Aasim Corporation, Aasim Enterprises, Inc., Ashraf Ali, Yasmin Ali, Samir Ali, Shafique Bhimani and Mohammed Bilal of failing to follow state laws and regulations governing the operation of their retail gas stations in Yolo, Napa, Alameda, Lake and San Joaquin counties.

Yolo County’s locations include the Chevron at 999 E. Grant Ave. in Winters and another at 1601 Research Park Dr. in South Davis.

According to a District Attorney’s Office news release, owners

Owners

“[T]he defendants failed to adequately install, monitor, operate and calibrate important equipment on site designed to detect leaks at the earliest possible opportunity ....” and operators of underground storage tanks (USTs) at retail gas stations in California are subject to fair but stringent environmental rules and requirements, designed to prevent underground petroleum releases to surface and ground waters.

“Prosecutors alleged that the defendants failed to adequately install, monitor, operate and calibrate important equipment on site designed to detect leaks at the earliest possible opportunity, and also failed to comply with laws regulating hazardous wastes and hazardous materials at the gas stations,” the news release said.

In addition to ordering the defendants to pay $900,000 in civil