By Wade Linville – 

Most Brown County residents born prior to the 1980’s can surely remember the small “mom and pop” gas stations that could be found in nearly every village in the area. The majority of these small, independently owned gas stations were forced to close their doors as chains owned by large corporations grew more and more dominant in the gasoline sales industry. But what happened to the underground gasoline tanks at the independently owned stations after they closed up shop? In most cases, the gasoline tanks remained underground. There are also many cases where these abandoned underground tanks have leaked into the surrounding soil, causing contamination. Fortunately, there is a solution for communities in Ohio, and the Village of Russellville has taken its first step in removing abandoned underground gas tanks inside the village’s corporation limits.