Chelsea Tank Farm Gasoline Leak Litigation

About the Chelsea Tank Farm Gasoline Leak Litigation Against Defendants Monroe Energy and MIPC

The Chelsea Tank Farm in Aston, Pennsylvania, is a hazardous-liquid storage facility owned and operated by Monroe Energy, LLC (“Monroe”) and its wholly owned subsidiary MIPC, LLC (“MIPC”), also known as Monroe Interstate Pipeline Company. The facility sits in the middle of a residential community, bordering Aston, Upper Chichester, and Bethel townships, and has been identified by federal regulators as located in a “high consequence area.” It holds twelve breakout tanks with a combined storage capacity of roughly 1.7 million barrels.

According to a Class Action Complaint filed by Berger Montague on behalf of its clients and affected residents, one of those tanks — Tank 708, installed in 1951 — leaked gasoline into the surrounding soil, bedrock, and groundwater from a roughly one-quarter-inch, manmade hole in its floor. The Complaint alleges that Tank 708 leaked from at least March 3, 2025, the day it was returned to service following an out-of-service inspection, through early December 2025, discharging at least 9,000 barrels — approximately 378,000 gallons — of gasoline and related toxic chemicals into a residential neighborhood.

The Complaint alleges that Monroe and MIPC first observed gasoline on the facility grounds in August 2025 but did not disclose the leak to federal regulators, residents, or the public until December 2025 — roughly nine months after the leak began. During that period, it is alleged, the companies distributed gift cards to neighboring households while attributing the increased industrial activity at the site to routine “maintenance,” and characterized the incident to residents as an undefined “issue” at the Tank Farm.

Testing has confirmed gasoline-related contamination in the soil, groundwater, wells, and indoor air of properties in the surrounding neighborhood, including highly toxic volatile organic compounds such as benzene — a known human carcinogen — as well as ethylbenzene, naphthalene, isopropanol, cyclohexane, and n-hexane. As alleged in the Complaint, more than 100 groundwater monitoring wells have been installed across the Tank Farm and adjacent properties, dozens of which have been found to contain measurable free-floating gasoline product, including wells on residential properties. Only a fraction of the released gasoline has been recovered, the plume has not been fully delineated, and contamination continues to be found in newly installed wells on nearby residential properties.

Federal and state regulators are also involved. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (“PHMSA”) issued a Corrective Action Order in December 2025, finding that continued operation of the facility without corrective measures would be hazardous to life, property, or the environment, and requiring that Tank 708 be taken out of service and independently tested. The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (“PADEP”) separately issued an order finding that MIPC unlawfully discharged petroleum products into the waters of the Commonwealth in violation of the Clean Streams Law, failed to timely notify the agency of the release, and handled gasoline contrary to its air-quality permit.

The Class Action Complaint alleges that the leak has caused severe harm and poses a serious, ongoing danger to residents’ physical health and well-being, to the community’s groundwater, soil, air, and ecosystem, and to property values. Affected families have been forced to evacuate their homes, host invasive monitoring and recovery wells and vapor-intrusion mitigation systems on their properties, endure near-constant remediation activity, and confront the prospect of latent, exposure-related illness. The Complaint asserts claims for negligence, gross negligence, strict liability for an abnormally dangerous activity, public and private nuisance, trespass, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and medical monitoring.

Plaintiffs Brian and Michelle Mielnik — who own and reside at one of the closest homes to the Tank Farm — brought the action individually and on behalf of a proposed class of all Pennsylvania citizens who owned, rented, or resided in real property within one mile of the Chelsea Tank Farm, at any time from March 1, 2025 to the present. The lawsuit seeks compensation for property damage and diminution in value, environmental remediation, medical monitoring, and other relief for the residents of the affected community.

Attorneys Shanon J. Carson, Michael Twersky, Joseph Samuel, Jordan Hughes, and Jillian Knox of Berger Montague PC are leading the Chelsea Tank Farm gasoline leak litigation, and are working on behalf of their clients and the proposed Class members to obtain appropriate relief and justice for the residents of the community.

Read more about this case:

* How Jet Fuel Ended Up In Pennsylvania Community’s Drinking Water, Delaware County Daily Times,  July 11, 2029.
* Pennsylvania families want more testing after tank farm gas leak: “I just want to be able to sleep at night”, CBS News, May 27, 2026.
* Cancer-causing benzene detected near Aston gas tank, The Spirit, May 13, 2026.
* DEP addresses benzene detected in vicinity of Chelsea Tank Farm, Delaware County Daily Times, May 6, 2026.
* Elevated benzene levels detected in Delaware County homes months after thousands of gallons of gasoline leaked, CBS News, May 4, 2026.
* Vapors found in 2 houses bordering Chelsea Tank Farm, Delaware County Daily Times, May 2, 2026.
* Pipeline company holding open office hours in Aston in wake of major leak, Delaware County Daily Times, February 18, 2026.
* Residents hear Monroe Energy’s plans after thousands of gallons of gas leaked from its tank farm, The Spirit, February 11, 2026.
* 278,000 gallons of gasoline leaked from tanks in Aston, The Spirit, December 30, 2025.
* Residents could be given bottled water after a ‘significant’ amount of gasoline leaked at Delco tank farm, Philadelphia Inquirer, December 24, 2025.

Berger Montague is one of the nation’s preeminent law firms focusing on complex civil litigation, class actions, and mass torts in federal and state courts throughout the United States. With more than $2.4 billion in 2025 post-trial judgments alone, the Firm is a leader in the fields of complex litigation, antitrust, consumer protection, defective products, environmental law, employment law, securities, and whistleblower cases, among many other practice areas. For over 55 years, Berger Montague has played leading roles in precedent-setting cases and has recovered over $50 billion for its clients and the classes they have represented. Berger Montague is headquartered in Philadelphia and has offices in Chicago; Malvern, PA; Minneapolis; San Diego; San Francisco; Toronto, Canada; Washington, DC, and Wilmington, DE.