By ANN PIERCEALL
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
HANNIBAL, Mo. — The Hannibal City Council learned Tuesday night that the city was cited by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources for three violations involving the underground gasoline storage tank at the marina.
The violations were for:
• Failure to properly conduct and maintain corrosion protection.
• Failure to comply with temporary closure requirements.
• Failure to permanently close a substandard underground storage tank.
Hannibal Parks and Recreation Department Director Chris Atkinson said the problems stem from the flooding of the marina last summer. At that time, all electricity was shut off to the riverfront. Electricity is used to run a 24-hour monitoring system at the gas dock as well as to operate a protection system for the buried pipes to keep them from rusting and corroding from Nipper Park to the gas dock. Floodwaters moved the gas dock from its moorings, and the city was forced to disconnect it from electrical service as well as the gas lines.
Atkinson said removal of the current underground tank, along with required testing by the DNR, will put the city in compliance again. The cost could be as high as $21,000, but Atkinson said there was money in reserves to cover the cost.
At that point, Atkinson said the city has three options: Discontinue the sale of gas at the marina, install an above-ground tank or install another underground tank.
“No matter what we do, there’s going to be a cost, and frankly none of this is in the budget,” Atkinson said.
Council members debated about putting gasoline back at the marina. Kevin Knickerbocker stating that the city’s parks and recreation tax is designed to “support the parks in Hannibal, and that includes the marina.” However, Jeff Lyng questioned “spending a considerable amount of money” to pump gas for “out-of-town people.”
Council members ultimately directed Atkinson to further explore the options connected to putting in an underground tank. The cost was expected to be as high as $50,000.
The council also approved spending $179,608 to repair the flood-damaged parts of the marina. The total cost for all repairs as estimated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency was $240,477.80. FEMA will reimburse the city 75 percent for the work.
Atkinson said work on the damaged docks is expected to be done May 1. The project includes repairing the marina’s north side docks and replacing the walkway, gas dock and covered docks on its south side. The contract for the work was awarded to Atlantic MEECO, Inc.
— apierceall@whig.com/(573) 221-5879
