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Sam Penrod reportingA woman whose home is in the middle of the cleanup of the Gunnison gasoline leak wants to move, but she can't sell her house.
It's the latest fallout from last summer's leak from a Top Stop gas station in Gunnison. Several homes and businesses have been affected by the leak.
The cleanup effort so far has topped a million dollars, and the price tag will undoubtedly keep growing. But the scope of this situation continues to cause hardships for those who live and work where the gasoline leaked.
Crews continue to cleanup the 20,000 gallons of gasoline that leaked out of an underground tank in Gunnison. So far, more than 6,000 gallons have been extracted from the ground.
Seven months after the leak was discovered, the aftermath continues to impact residents. Carissa Kuhni's home has been dug up for the cleanup, and her backyard has become the center of the work after high concentrations of gasoline were found underneath her entire property.
She's now trying to sell her home, but was told no real estate agent would list it. She says, "My home is unmarketable, unless someone with $100,000 cash wanted to come right now and buy it. It would have to be cash. I can not refinance, and I can't sell."
Carissa works from her home. The leak has made it difficult, although her employer has been helping her out. Her father, Carl Brewer, believes the home is unfit for anyone to be living in. He says, "It's just wrong to be forcing a single mom to go through this kind of a process when they know she doesn't have the resources to be able to deal with the disruption in her life. And it's so obvious that the house has become unlivable. It's just obvious."
Top Stop was paying Kuhni's expenses when she was temporarily evacuated last year, but now that her home is considered safe again by the environmental contractor, those payments have stopped. "Knowing what they know and what we know about the dangers of these chemicals, I want a safe, clean home, and that's all I want. I'll be happy to go back to work, and I'll be happy to live my life as I was living," Carissa says.
A recent inspection of Kuhni's home found no unsafe levels of vapors inside.
Still she has moved out and is staying with a friend because of the concern she has for both her and her daughter's health, if they continue living in her home.
