BP, Arco to pay $14 million in suit over gas tanks in California

Cars still manged to refuel as about 60 protesters gathered in front the ARCO station (owned by BP) at Divisadero and Fell streets in San Francisco on Friday to protest the use of oil and the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The group eventually managed to shut down two entrances into the gas station. less Cars still manged to refuel as about 60 protesters gathered in front the ARCO station (owned by BP) at Divisadero and Fell streets in San Francisco on Friday to protest the use of oil and the oil spill in the ... more Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close BP, Arco to pay $14 million in suit over gas tanks in California 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

British Petroleum and its former subsidiary Arco will pay $14 million to settle a lawsuit over allegations that they failed to properly inspect and maintain underground storage tanks at nearly 800 gas stations around the state, prosecutors said Thursday.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris and eight district attorneys around the state, including Alameda County’s Nancy O’Malley, said the oil companies have violated 71 different state regulations for dealing with hazardous materials going back to 2006.

The violations included tampering with leak detection devices and alarms, failing to tell local officials about releases from the tanks, having no evacuation plans at gas stations and dumping hazardous waste into trash containers, according to the lawsuit, filed in 2013 in Alameda County.

Harris and local prosecutors filed a similar suit around the same time against ConocoPhillips and its affiliate, Phillips 66. The company settled in 2015 for $11.5 million.

“BP endangered our water supply, environment, and the health of Californians by failing to adequately operate underground gasoline storage tanks,” Harris, an incoming U.S. senator, said in a statement. “The California Department of Justice takes environmental violations seriously and will hold accountable companies that jeopardize public health or safety.”

Since the lawsuit was brought, the number of gas stations operated by BP in California plummeted from 780 to 73. The company sold Arco in 2013 to Tesoro.

Kimberly Veklerov is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: kveklerov@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @kveklerov