Located in the town of Fowler (NY), family-owned and operated Tripp Fuels LLC is St. Lawrence County's largest local distributor of petroleum energy products including propane, heating oil and branded gasoline. Tripp's Fuel also provides furnace service and maintenance for its heating oil and propane customers in surrounding St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Lewis Counties.
As reported on October 22’s watertowndailytimes.com (an online new source serving northern New York State’s Jefferson, Lewis and St. Lawrence Counties) Tripp Fuels has been fined $20,000 in following the state Department of Environmental Conservation Region 6 discovery of multiple violations of state environmental conservation law in relations to Tripp’s bulk fuel storage facilities, including potentially hazardous unreported spills.
In late August, Tripp Fuels signed a consent order agreement with DEC Region 6. The Tripp family runs the diner and convenience store Bob's Market, at 1464 County Route 22 (offering “Gourmet-To-Go carry-out deli sandwiches and restaurant fare), as well as the adjacent propane, heating oil and gas retailer (also called Tripp Fuels.) Unfortunately for the Tripp family, both of these facilities were cited for violations of state environmental conservation law.
"There was a serious potential danger which has now been fixed through the installation of new fixtures and other storage hardware," according to DEC Region 6 spokesman Stephen W. Litwhiler.
The family made a statement yesterday (Wednesday, October 21) that the installation of new equipment will be complete within the week, and they hope to reopen the fuel retail-side of their business next week, which has been closed since a DEC inspection in May); Bob's Market, however, has remained open.
The Town of Fowler is located on the southwest border of the county and is southwest of Canton and southeast of Gouverneur, and was named after Captain Theodosius Fowler, a respected captain during the American Revolutionary War.