DERR-2024-005536

To: Kimberlee McEwan
From: Kayla Weiser, Legal Intern
With Changes From: Kimberlee McEwan February 2, 2021
Date: February 26, 2019
Re: Kano & Sons LUST Site

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Question Presented:
Who are the potentially responsible parties (PRPs) from whom costs may be recovered in relation
to the cleanup of the release (Release LWN) from an underground storage tank (UST) located at
2047 West 1700 South, Syracuse Utah 84075, Facility ID #3000503, also known as the Kano and
Sons site (site)?

Short Answer:
Ivin, Calvin, and Lyman Kano are all PRPs for the site. Additionally, the two petroleum companies
that operated at the site—Ogden Gasoline and Oil Co. and Utah Oil Refining Company—are PRPs
so long as they controlled operations during their lease periods at the site. However, we only have
records of those lease periods being for brief amounts of time. Ogden leased the site from 1931 -
1933, but assigned its lease to Utah Oil Refining Company in 1932, and Tolman extended that
lease for one additional year to 1934.

Discussion:
A suspected petroleum release at the site was reported to the Division of Environmental Response
and Remediation (DERR) on July 20, 2004. Ivin Kano, the current property owner, indicated that
a gasoline fueling tank—approximately 1,500 gallons—was removed from the property prior to
the implementation of the UST Rule, Utah Code Ann. Sections 19–6–401 to –429. Subsequent soil
and groundwater samples confirmed the presence of petroleum contamination at the site and the
need for cleanup.

The first record of ownership of the site was in the early 1900s, owned by William and Catherine
Beazer, both of whom have since deceased. The Beazers sold the property to the Syracuse
Mercantile Company in 1902, who would qualify as a PRP being the owner of the property, but
because of the time that has lapsed since they were incorporated at the site, it is unlikely that there
are any remaining associated parties who could answer for the cleanup costs. While there are no
records contained within the file that confirm the installation of a UST system at the site, it is likely
that the Syracuse Mercantile Company had one installed. A BYU thesis paper on the establishment
and history of the Syracuse community indicates that “[l]umber, hardware, coal, ice, gasoline, and
oil were also supplied . . . [by] the Syracuse Mercantile Company” in the early 1900s. J. Kent
Tucker, An Examination of the Mormon Settlement of Syracuse, Utah, All Theses and Dissertations
(1987). Furthermore, the first lease to an oil and gas company contained in the title report,
discussed below, indicates that a gasoline service station was already in existence at the time of
that lease.

The Syracuse Mercantile Company sold the property to Eugene Ora Tolman in 1927. Eugene and
his first wife, Hazel, would also be PRPs, but both have since died. Eugene remarried another
woman by the name of Garnet, who was listed on a deed at a later date, but she too has died. The
Tolmans leased the property to Ogden Gasoline & Oil Co. for a set period of October 1, 1930, to
October 1, 1933. This lease indicates that there was already a gasoline service station in place at
the site. Both Ogden Gasoline and Oil Company and its president, W.H. Harris (no further
indication of his full name) signed the lease. As lessees, Ogden Gasoline and Oil Co. would be a
PRP, unless they only allowed for the branding of the station. After considerable online research
trying to find records of the Ogden Gasoline and Oil Company, it does not look like the company
is still in existence.

During the lease period with the Tolmans, Ogden Gasoline and Oil Co. assigned all of its leases
over to the Utah Oil Refining Company on January 2, 1932. At the expiration of the first lease at
the site, Eugene Tolman entered into a subsequent lease with Utah Oil Refining Company on
October 1, 1933, for a period of one year. As lessees, again it is likely that Utah Oil Refining
Company would be a PRP, so long as they had some control over the operations. Utah Oil Refining
Company was acquired by the Standard Oil Company, later renamed Amoco, which was then
merged with BP Oil in the 1990s. The lease is for such a brief time in the history of the station,
that going after BP Oil for any cost recovery seems unlikely.

In 1962, another 1,584 square feet of property was consolidated with the main plat that, at the time,
still belonged to the Tolmans. The neighboring owners, Earl and Evaline Dahl and Dave and Mary
Thurgood, sold to the Tolmans the strip of land adjacent to their plat, effectively expanding the
property to the East by 8 feet. While the Dahls and Thurgoods may qualify as PRPs having been
owners of at least part of the current property, all have since died.

In 1968, the site was sold to the Kano family. According to Ivan Kano, there were two 500 gallon
tanks removed from the ground in approximately 1985. While there were a number of warranty
deeds transferring the property amongst various family members, the property eventually ended
up in the family trust, the Aileen Shizuko Kano Trust, from which Ivin Kano inherited the property.
As owners of the site, the Kanos would also be PRPs. The parents, Ray and Aileen, have both
passed away, but the children who had been listed on the various warranty deeds—Calvin, Lyman,
and Ivin—are all still alive.

Conclusion:
As owners of the site, and the only surviving individuals who have held title to the property, three
of the Kano sons—Calvin, Lyman, and Ivin—are all PRPs.

However, Ivan Kano submitted an “Exemption Application for Recovery of Management and
Oversight Expenses Financial Data Request Form” dated August 31, 2015, indicating an inability
to pay. His inability to pay was confirmed by the DERR accounting section, stating that he could
not even afford a $500.00 payment for oversight expenses.