76-05-A2 Article
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DECATUR HERALD
Decatur, Illinois
Thursday, August 12, 1976
In Toledo, Two Gallons of Gasoline Spark Furor
Government Drifting Into Shoal Waters of Sheer Balminess
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Washington James J. Kilpatrick, National Columnist At approximately 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 5, on Douglas Road just past its intersection with Monroe, in the City of Toledo, Lucas County, Ohio, there occurred a four-car accident. The accident was of a type known as a sequential rear-end multiple collision. And thereby hangs a tale. It is a sad tale, in its way, for it illustrates how far our government has drifted into the shoal waters of sheer balminess. What happened, you see, is that as a consequence of the sequential rear-end multiple collision to which reference has been made, supra, two gallons of gasoline leaked onto the aforementioned public way. From that point, thanks to the efficiency of the Toledo Fire Department, the two gallons of gasoline were flushed into a storm sewer. The sewer runs into Peterson Ditch. Peterson Ditch runs into the Ottawa River. The Ottawa River runs into Maumee Bay; which runs into Lake Erie, all of which are waters of the United States within the purview of Section 1321 (b) (1) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act. And someone is in a heap of trouble, son. This all began, according to the report of Patrolman Larry Schultz, Badge No. 342, when an automobile driven by Gary L. Beckhoff, 35, proceeding north on Douglas Road, stopped to allow another car to turn into a private drive. Just behind the Beckhoff car was an automobile driven by Michael E. Harok, 22. Just behind the Harok car was a van truck, the property of Gogolin & Sons, Inc., driven by David L. Egan, 24. And just behind the Egan van was a red Chevrolet Nova sedan driven by William D. Long, 18. The Long car hit the Egan van, which hit the Harok car, which hit the Beckhoff car. When the tinkling of shattered tail lights subsided, there could be heard the drip-drip-drip of leaking gasoline. The Egan van, bearing a license number of 4DF820, and having an odometer reading of 44,500, had sprung a seam. Patrolman Schultz, dispatched at 3:34, arrived on the scene at 3:40. He summoned wreckers. He also summoned the Fire Department. And as luck would have it, just as these proceedings were proceeding, a Coast Guard inspector happened to drive by on his way home. The inspector's sharp eye perceived the pollutant as it flowed into Peterson Ditch. "This was noted by all witnesses." He identified the pollutant at once as gasoline. "All persons concerned agreed that the pollutant was gasoline." Thereupon, on a visible sheen of regular gas, events floated into the balminess alleged aforesaid. On June 9, Ensign James J. Gordon Jr., filed a report with the Marine Safety Office in Toledo, citing David L. Egan, driver of the Gogolin van, as the discharger of pollutants, to wit, two-gallons of leaked gasoline, into the waters of the United States. MK1 C.J. Hoff, USCG, investigated and confirmed Ensign Gordon's report. MK3 Randall K. Heyer, USCG, was dispatched to photograph the horrid scene. Commander H.E. Gafford reviewed the incriminating evidence and bucked the report to Captain W.C. Ochman, USCG, chief of the Marine Safety Division. One June 24, Captain Ochman wrote Gogolin & Sons, Inc., threatening the company with a civil penalty of up to $5,000. "The specific allegation," he wrote, "is that on 5 May 1976 oil was discharged into Peterson Ditch from a Gogolin Heating Company automobile, an onshore facility within the meaning of the FWPCA, and that you were the owner or operator of such onshore facility on that date." Captain Ochman asked how a $50 penalty would sit with Gogolin. "I have preliminarily determined that amount to be an appropriate penalty after a careful review of the investigatory report, based upon my assessment of the gravity of the violation." The Gogolin people, outraged at the injustice of it all, have balked absolutely. Says Elton E. Gogolin, Jr.: "Why a small businessman should be subject to this classic example of federal harassment is beyond rational comprehension." And indeed it is. But when this correspondent mildly suggested" to Captain Ochman that the matter seemed too trivial to justify a $50 fine, the captain's reply was: "Nothing is trivial." And the sad part of the tale is that in the shoal waters of the federal bureaucracy, 'tis true, ‘tis true. (c) Washington Star Syndicate, Inc. |
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