SITE INFORMATION AND CORRESPONDENCE FILE 2

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responsibility. Attached is a copy of the Notice of Responsibility. The Notice states that, "you have been identified as the party responsible for investigation and cleanup of the above site." 3. The Date on which the Local Agency Acted: The San Joaquin County- Environmental Health Department acted on January 31, 2002,being the signature date of the attached Notice of Responsibility. 4. Statement of the reasons the agency's action was inappropriate: On November 21, 1997, the Petitioner purchased an existing retail gasoline station from New West Stations, doing business as Country Club Exxon. New West Stations and its predecessors had operated this site as a gasoline station since the mid- seventies. On or about September 21, 1991, Exxon reported a release of gasoline. Exxon actively remediated this site between 1993 and 1994 via a vapor extraction system. The system had to be shut down due to rising groundwater levels. Subsequent remediation was in the form of over-excavation during station upgrades. There has never been a reported release by the Petitioner, despite the San Joaquin County filing its own Release Report, dated July 30, 2002, and naming Palisades as the"responsible party." It is the Palisades' contention that there has been no release during our operation of the station. The station was upgraded with double walled tanks and double walled lines shortly before our purchase in November 1997. Palisades has never had any indication(tank and line testing, alarms, etc) of a leak. The various components of the fuel storage and distribution system have been tested per state guideline timetables since Palisades began operation of the station. These results continue to indicate that the system is tight. In December 2001, the secondary containment piping was tested per SB989 requirements and passed. In addition, Palisades has scheduled a tracer test of the entire fueling system. The results will be available for the hearing and we anticipate the test will further confirm that the system is tight. On September 31, 2002, the San Joaquin County Environmental Health Division(SJCEHD) filed an Unauthorized Release report (URR)based upon a spike in MTBE concentrations in Exxon well VW-3. In response to a call and the URR from the SJCEHD regarding a possible release at the site, a Palisades area supervisor was dispatched to field verify the condition of the existing wells. The supervisor observed that several of the wells were poorly maintained(i.e. missing sealing gaskets,improperly secured well caps, etc). Palisades called the SJCEHD to inform them of the condition of the wellheads and the danger they poised to the environment. If a minor surface spill were to occur, the poorly maintained wells could act as vertical conduits to the