State says ConocoPhillips 'double-dipped' $25M from state cleanup fund

A state lawsuit says petroleum giant ConocoPhillips used false insurance claims to take $25 million from Utah over 14 years, allegedly misrepresenting it had no other insurance to pay for cleanup of leaky underground storage tanks.

In a complaint filed Monday in 3rd District Court, state assistant attorney general Paul McConkie said the Houston-based multinational company filed at least 1,500 claims from 1995 to 2009 with the state's Petroleum Storage Tank Fund — even though it had its own private insurance to cover the costs.

According to the complaint, the fund reimbursed the company for action taken at 47 ConocoPhillips sites in Utah. Prior to the merger of the Conoco Inc. and Phillips Petroleum Co. in 2002, the stations operated under names or brands known as Husky, Phillips 66, Conoco, Tosco, Circle K, Flying J and Phillips.

The state established the fund in 1989 to help owners and operators of gas stations to cover costs when a tank had a release of petroleum. Members of the fund are assessed a surcharge on the petroleum products dispensed from their gas stations to help pay for the expenses of cleanup if a leak happens. Deseret News