California sues truck stop chain

SACRAMENTO
April 14, 2009 12:03am

California is suing TravelCenters of America LLC, an operator of truck stops in the Central Valley and elsewhere in the state, saying the corporation does not comply with underground fuel storage laws.

"TravelCenters of America has knowingly and repeatedly disregarded California's underground fuel storage laws for years," says California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr.

The state’s suit dovetails with one filed last year by Riverside District Attorney Rod Pacheco but would apply to all of the company’s operations in California, a spokesman for the attorney general says.

TravelCenters of America did not respond to a request for comment.

It earlier argued in a filing countering the Riverside County lawsuit that the law is unconstitutional, is pre-empted by federal law, and violates due process.

Over a number of years, the Riverside Department of Environmental Health conducted inspections at the TravelCenters facility in Riverside County, which revealed numerous, longstanding violations of California's underground storage tank law, Mr. Brown says. The company failed to correct many of the deficiencies, even after repeated warnings, he says.

In addition, the lawsuit seeks up to a statutory maximum of $25,000 in civil penalties for each day of each violation, which could amount to millions of dollars in penalties. 



TravelCenters of America, based in the Cleveland suburb of Westlake, Ohio, operates travel centers along interstate highways of 41 states and in the province of Ontario, Canada. 
 In the Central Valley, it has operations on I-5 in Buttonwillow, Corning, Santa Nella and Wheeler Ridge. It also has a travel center on Highway 99 in Livingston.