By Patrick Baron

BLOOMINGTON – Last summer, Quinn’s Shell station at 802 N. Main St. had an underground tank leak that contaminated and polluted the ground around the gas station. Following over a year of cleanup, the end is in sight.

The Quinns hired environmental consultant Karl Newman of Professional Services to assist with the cleanup. Newman explained that the pollution doesn’t pose a threat to Bloomington residents.

“It’s not a case where there’s been any imminent hazard to the general public,” said Newman. “What we’re talking about is some soil and groundwater contamination.”

Newman explained that the cleanup process has been lengthy, but the job is nearly done.

“We’ve proposed a corrective action plan as to how we’re going to remediate it in some manner,” said Newman. “We’ve completed most of that work, so we have a few steps left.”

Newman said the project would likely take another three to four months to complete. Once the cleanup is done, owner Elmo Quinn will look to sell the property.

The Quinn family owned and operated the full service station for 72 years. It closed in 2013.

Patrick Baron can be reached at [email protected].