FUNERAL HOME SAYS GAS STATION POLLUTED PROPERTY

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, March 9, 1993                   TAG: 9303090163
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-1   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: By KATHY LOAN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG                                LENGTH: Medium
FUNERAL HOME SAYS GAS STATION POLLUTED PROPERTY
A Blacksburg funeral home and its owners have sued Exxon and a South Main Street gas station, alleging that petroleum products have leaked from underground storage tanks and damaged residential and business property.
William and June McCoy filed suit Friday in Montgomery County Circuit Court, asking for up to $13 million in damages.
The McCoys own residential and business property at 204 S. Main St. Blacksburg Exxon Servicenter is located at 210 S. Main.
Exxon Corp. was the owner of the service station until last Sept. 18, according to the suit. After that, M.E. McMurray Inc. became the owner and continued to sell Exxon products.
The suit alleges that during Exxon Corp.'s ownership, "numerous releases of petroleum occurred . . . into the ground water, surface water and on the lands and subsurface soils."
"These petroleum products, which were released from the tanks and flowed to the soil, have completely contaminated" the McCoys' property, the suit alleges.
Further, the contaminated soil and ground water have filled the funeral home and the McCoy residence with vapors, rendering the property worthless, according to the suit.
The suit alleges that the station failed to use appropriate monitoring techniques, failed to replace the underground storage tanks in a timely manner, and failed to adequately clean up the releases.
The suit asks for $5 million in punitive damages and up to $8 million in actual damages to the property and the McCoys.
Mac McMurray, co-owner of the station, said he has not seen the lawsuit.
He said underground storage tanks were replaced in 1985.
"We've had on ongoing problem and Exxon was rectifying it as far as I knew," McMurray said.
There are other gas stations close by, McMurray said, and Exxon was digging to see if the problem was actually caused by its station.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB