State to review costs of cleaning up fuel leaks

Tuesday, May 9, 2000 | 4:36 a.m.

State Controller Kathy Augustine, a member of the Executive Branch Audit Committee, said questions have been raised by a state employee with the Environmental Protection Division about overpayments to tank cleanup projects and payments on projects where there were no work plans on file.

"It appears to me we've had a lot of overpayments," she said.

The employee who raised the concerns with Augustine, Al Rushanan, said Monday that he's aware of cases where requests for payment from the fund have been approved without much review.

Rushanan, who is involved in a personnel dispute with the agency that arose from his concerns, said he personally has saved the fund about $193,000 by reducing payment requests for cleanups. It was a payment reduction of several thousand dollars in a cleanup request that led to his current dispute with the agency, he said.

Allen Biaggi, administrator of the Environmental Protection Division, which runs the program, said he welcomed the audit by the Division of Internal Audits.

The petroleum fund, created by the Legislature in 1989, provides reimbursement to eligible storage tank owners and operators for cleanup if their tanks leak.

The fund is supported by a 0.75-cent per gallon tax on different types of fuels imported into or refined in Nevada, primarily gasoline, diesel fuel and heating fuel.

Since its creation, 994 cases have been submitted to the fund for reimbursement of cleanup costs. Of the completed cases, more than $73 million has been paid at an average of $86,600 per case.