But the gas station leak that spilled those 20,000 gallons of gas under downtown Gunnison in summer continues to make the Taylor home too hazardous to inhabit. On Wednesday, the Taylors joined Gunnison City, a downtown bank, a local theater and more than a dozen other families in filing suit over the massive gas leak.
"The spill was a catastrophe that caused monetary damage and potential health issues, and we believe Top Stop is legally responsible," said Peter Stirba, who serves as the Gunnison City Attorney and represents plaintiffs in the civil case.
The lawsuit was filed in 6th District Court in Sanpete County.
Wind River Petroleum, the Murray-based parent company for the Top Stop stores, said it has tried to address the community's needs and concerns.
"It's unfortunate," said Wind River President Craig Larson. "We tried to talk with them and resolve the matter, but they've chosen to go another route."
More than $1 million has already been paid out. Most of the money has come from the state's leaking underground tank fund, which is financed by gasoline taxes and companies that use the fund. Since reaching the fund's $1 million cap last month, Larson's company has been paying the cleanup bills.
Plaintiffs in the case, however, have no trouble listing the reasons they're taking their complaints to court.
The 33-page lawsuit accuses the company of trying to hide the 20,000-gallon leak rather than report it promptly, as required by law. And, by doing so, the Top Stop and associated companies added to the community's injuries, the suit says.
As a result, businesses have been shuttered, families displaced and downtown has been torn up for pumps and drains and cleanup equipment that may be in place for another decade. The underground leak has fouled parts of three city blocks with enough gasoline to fill two tankers.
Several homes are now "completely uninhabitable" and may never be useable again, said Stirba. The fumes contain cancer-causing benzene, which may not emerge for decades as a health issue in the people who have been exposed.
The suit claims the company is negligent, liable for actual and punitive damages and responsible for the emotional distress caused by the leak, among other injuries. It seeks an unspecified sum.
The new lawsuit echoes one filed in late January by Lila Lee Christensen, owner of Lila Lee Apparel. The Main Street dress store closed in October after more than a half-century in business because the fumes had driven customers away, sickened Christensen and ruined an inventory of hundreds of fancy wedding, prom and special-occasion dresses.
"It's only due to the defendants' irresponsibility, negligence, and general reckless disregard that an accident of this magnitude could have occurred and that Lila Lee could have been harmed," says the lawsuit, which is also before the Sanpete County Court.
Both suits talk about a history of Wind River dawdling on reporting leaks and completing cleanups. Wind River is co-owned by former Salt Lake City Councilman and GOP mayoral candidate Keith Christensen.
Meanwhile, a contractor for the company, under the supervision of the state Division of Environmental Response and Remediation, continues to blow fumes out of nine homes affected by the spill.
The contractor also has installed six special pumps to draw the gasoline out of the contaminated ground.
State officials have set March 21 as the deadline for a long-term cleanup plan.
Taylor has lived with her in-laws now for three months. Each day she looks across the street gloomily at the modest brick home she can't even visit.
"We've all felt better since we were out," she said. "I guess we didn't realize what it was doing to us physically."
Even though her in-laws have been gracious, it's been hard. She hopes the lawsuit can help return life to normal.
"All we are asking for is to have our lives back," she said. "I just hope that is not too much to ask for."
fahys@sltrib.com
