Lone gas station on Alameda's Bay Farm Island closing by end of month

"the Unocal 76 station on Mecartney Road near its intersection with Island Drive at Harbor Bay Landing shopping mall's southwest corner will join other Bay Farm retailers that have bitten the dust in recent years, like the CVS (formerly Long's) drug store across the parking lot. Blame the shutdown of Bay Farm's only fuel stop on the estimated $2 million price tag to remove the station's old single-walled underground gas storage tank and replace it with a state-mandated double-walled one an environmental upgrade."

"So the average cost is about $2 million, says Kim. Kim also says he faces a potential fine of up to $20,000 a day if the tank is not replaced by Dec. 31. Adding to the headache for the independent operator, who doesn't own the land his station sits on, is that he couldn't make the decision to upgrade on his own."

The Unocal 76 gas station on Bay Farm Island will close on Nov. 30 because replacing its single-walled underground storage tank with a state-mandated double-walled tank is prohibitively expensive. The upgrade cost rose from an estimated $1 million several years ago to about $2 million after pandemic-related price increases. The owner, Simon Kim, faces potential fines up to $20,000 per day if the tank is not replaced by Dec. 31 and cannot authorize the upgrade alone because the landlord and the 76 brand must approve. Kim operated the station for 41 years after emigrating from Seoul in 1982 and emphasized routine maintenance, especially for elderly customers, and expressed concern about where those customers will go.

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