Electric vehicles are here to stay — and possibly, to put traditional fueling stations out of business. One 2019 study estimated that between 25% and 80% of gas stations could be unprofitable by the early 2030s. 

But closing gas stations and selling off the land means first cleaning up what’s underneath them: often decades-old steel gasoline storage tanks, some of which are already leaking toxic chemicals into the soil and groundwater surrounding them. And a half-million confirmed leaks across the country could cost more than $22 billion to clean up. 

Back in the 1980s, gasoline tank spills were an environmental and health disaster in some areas. One tank in Brooklyn leaked more gallons of gas into the soil than the Exxon Valdez oil spill did into Prince William Sound. 

The clock is now ticking on a newer generation of tanks, writes Kate Yoder, a staff writer at Grist. 

“The question of who pays to clean up the contamination is kind of a mess in itself,” Yoder said. “Honestly, sometimes the answer is that no one cleans it up. These abandoned lots just sit around and developers don’t really want to touch them.” 

So what happens to these contaminated areas when gas stations start to go out of business? The answer isn’t clear, but having fewer gas stations means less leakage liability. 

“I do think that the decline of gas stations that we’re going to see is one of the benefits of switching to electric vehicles that no one really talks about,” Yoder said. “We don’t have to have these thousands of tiny toxic waste sites all over our cities and neighborhoods.” 

Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal talked to Yoder about the costs of gas tank leaks. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation. 

Kai Ryssdal: So let’s start in the ’90s with a bunch of new regulations that oblige gas station owners to replace these big underground tanks. Those tanks have a lifespan of 30 years. And oh, look, here we are.

Kate Yoder: Yeah, so the tanks that were installed in the ’80s and ’90s are starting to get older, and many of them are approaching the 30-year warranty, when experts say that they’re likely to leak again. Today, big leaks are rare, but they still do happen. There is better technology available now to prevent leaks, like double-walled tanks with better monitoring, but I found that more than 40% of gas stations aren’t meeting all the safety standards to prevent leaks. There are 145,000 fueling stations all over the country, and so a state not enforcing all these regulations — that just increases the chance of a disaster.

Ryssdal: Who, then, is on the hook to clean these up? If we’ve got a leaking problem, who pays the bills?

Yoder: Well, to be honest, the question of who pays to clean up the contamination is kind of a mess in itself. In theory, station owners are supposed to pay, but sometimes the leak happened before they owned the station, or they’re unable to pay, or they’re long gone. So then, lawyers get involved, and depending on when the leak happened, it might fall on an insurance company, or an oil company, or the government. States deal with cleaning up gas stations in different ways. Often they have funds that oil companies pay into. But sometimes these costs get transferred to the public. In states like Indiana, Tennessee and Arizona they’ve actually shifted the responsibility for cleanups to taxpayers through a small tax on gasoline. And honestly, sometimes the answer is that no one cleans it up. These abandoned lots just sit around, and developers don’t really want to touch them.

Ryssdal: And so that land just sits there, because it’s toxic and contaminated and expensive to clean up. And so it just turns into a brownfield. 

Yoder: Exactly.

Ryssdal: What happens now as we oh-so-very-slowly electrify transportation in this economy, and people eventually stop buying gasoline?

Yoder: Well, you know, gas stations have some different options for their future. But there was one analysis a few years ago that found that between a quarter and three-quarters of gas stations could be unprofitable by the early 2030s. 

Ryssdal: Sorry, by the early 2030s? That’s, like, tomorrow!

Yoder: I know. And that analysis was done in 2019, before all the recent policies we’ve seen around promoting electric vehicles. So these stations could be going out of business in a really big wave, even though, of course, some are going to be around for a long time, because we’re still going to have gas-powered cars on the road for a while.

Ryssdal: But the ones that go out of business, those tanks are gonna stay there. Sure, maybe they’ll drain them, but the expense of digging them up and cleaning things up is going to be prohibitive.

Yoder: Yeah, exactly. You know, I think people kind of assume all these gas stations are just going to turn into electric vehicle charging stations, but it’s not actually that simple. Most people charge their vehicles at home or maybe while running longer errands, because it takes some time to charge up. I do think that the decline of gas stations that we’re going to see is one of the benefits of switching to electric vehicles that no one really talks about. We don’t have to have these thousands of tiny toxic waste sites all over our cities and neighborhoods.