A gasoline leak originating from the Speedway gas station in Hermosa is being remediated this month by a state agency and a water treatment contractor.
The leak sent an plume of gasoline spreading several hundred feet underground, potentially threatening dozens of water wells. But the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment said no drinking water wells have been contaminated.
According to the agency’s April 29 quarterly report, Speedway employees discovered a leak in a specialized pump connected to a buried fuel tank on Feb. 7, 2023.
The leak was immediately reported to the agency’s Division of Oil and Public Safety, and Speedway operators were given a year to submit a cleanup plan, said spokeswoman Jennifer Hudgins Smith.
Speedway’s operator hired Santec Corp., a water treatment firm, to drill monitoring wells and determine the plume’s spread and potential groundwater contamination.
Smith said the initial plan was rejected because Santec failed to fully map the spill’s extent by the Feb. 7, 2024, deadline. A revised plan was approved on July 17, 2024, but remediation didn’t begin until May 2025.
Santec then began volatizing fuel vapors in and around the affected area, Smith said – a process that turns liquid fuel in soil or groundwater into gas, which is then extracted using a vacuum.
According to the Department of Labor and Employment report, 66 residential wells and several surface water features were identified within a 2,500-foot radius of the site. Only two commercial wells were near enough to raise concern, both of which have been undergoing quarterly contamination testing.
The report said additional remediation will take place off-site, to the south and east of the Speedway along U.S. Highway 550.
sedmondson@durangoherald.com
