MONTPELIER, Vt. (Legal Newsline) - A South Burlington, Vt., gas station will pay the state $35,000 in civil penalties as part of a settlement for an alleged gasoline leak from an underground storage tank that contaminated the soil and groundwater at the station.

Vermont Attorney General William Sorrell announced Monday that Slimain Handy's Convenience Stores, the owners of the Gracey's Store gas station and convenience store in South Burlington, had agreed to the settlement, brought on from the alleged release of gasoline from the store's underground storage tanks in October 2006 that contaminated the soil and groundwater nearby.

"We take the enforcement of our environmental laws seriously, particularly when it involves a release of a hazardous substance like gasoline," Sorrell said.

"Because even a small amount of gasoline can cause serious environmental harm, owners of underground storage tanks must be vigilant in monitoring their tanks."

After the allegedly contaminated soil and groundwater was cleaned up, the Attorney General's Office and the Agency of Natural Resources Underground Storage Tank Program sought the cleanup costs.