A legal complaint has been filed by Steve Depper, the former owner of an eco-friendly dry cleaning business in Walnut Creek, claiming toxic contamination from a nearby gas station. The complaint alleges that Marathon Petroleum and Tesoro Refining failed to take responsibility for cleaning up hazardous materials that threaten air quality and ongoing development plans. Depper has proposed transforming his property into Dutch Girl Plaza, a mixed-use development, but has struggled to compel the companies to remediate the site over the years.
I'm very cautious about exposing my employees - obviously that's why I'm all green. Rather than coming up with a new engineering solution... they decided to just leave that big mound of highly contaminated soil in place and cover it up.
Despite listing 16 separate claims against various subsidiaries, Depper's complaint has one main request for the petroleum corporations - uphold statutory, contractual agreements to retain responsibility for remediation.
Post-retirement, Depper has crafted plans to redevelop that site into Dutch Girl Plaza, a mixed-use residential and commercial development, including 75 residential units that incorporate low-income housing and daycare services.
The complaint claims that regional environmental agencies failed to hold oil companies accountable for remediating their land for decades, and that the environmental viability of future development is now threatened.
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