Milford Gas Station Owner Fined $200K

The owner of the Gibbs gas station in Milford agreed to pay $200,000 Thursday to resolve a complaint that he failed to notify authorities when 15,000 gallons of diesel fuel spilled from .

State Attorney General Martha Coakley announced the settlement with Vincent Cuttone, 56, in a press release. Cuttone, of Concord, and his two companies, Route 16 Gas Inc. and 16 Gas LLC, will divide the payment between the state and a natural resource damages trust.

Cuttone will also pay for annual environmental audits at each of the filling stations he owns for the next three years, Coakley announced, and will maintain functioning tank monitoring equipment, and secure training for himself and his employees in the proper operation of tank monitoring equipment, as well as in spill prevention and reporting.

The former Gibbs station, at 104 E. Main St. in Milford, has been closed for several years.

Judge Mitchell Kaplan approved the agreement Thursday in Suffolk Superior Court.

Kenneth Kimmell, commissioner of the state Department of Environmental Protection, said the owner's "failure to follow-up, despite clear evidence of a leak, allowed large amounts of diesel fuel into the environment and delayed the cleanup."

“The operator’s failure to follow-up despite clear evidence of a leak allowed large amounts of diesel fuel into the environment and delayed the clean up,” said Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Kenneth L. Kimmell. “This case is a reminder that addressing a suspected environmental problem early is essential.”

The state launched an investigation into the leak after an employee of the station called police in July 2008 to report "the theft" of thousands of gallons of diesel fuel from one of the station’s underground tanks. Investigation by the state Environmental Strike Force determined that the tank had spilled thousands of gallons of diesel fuel into the ground. Data on an automated monitoring system showed discrepancies that, under state regulations, should have been reported to the months earlier.

By the time the leak was discovered, 8 gallons an hour had been slipping out between April and July 2008.