Sav-O-Mat gas station owner Buzz Calkins again appealed to Silverthorne Town Council to waive the need for a site plan in order to install on-site remediation equipment – and again town planning staff recommended council deny the request.

In response, on Tuesday, Calkins’ waiver request was withdrawn and will not be considered at Wednesday’s council meeting.

In November, the initial waiver request was brought before council and was denied. Remediation equipment is needed at the Sav-O-Mat site because underground benzene contamination levels vastly exceed the state’s standards – a reported 15 parts per million versus the state’s .005 ppm standard. Benzene, a known carcinogen, is a colorless, highly flammable gasoline additive.

Town council members questioned how far the contamination has spread – including whether it has infiltrated drinking water supply (current tests indicate the closest wells are clean) and whether it has reached the Blue River.

Prior to withdrawing his request, Calkins said he would submit a site plan by Feb. 8, 2011 and was willing to pay $1,000 per day if it’s not submitted in time. Staff recommended denying the request on the premise that the proposal doesn’t have “substantive standing.”

“The town is not concerned with fees paid, but is concerned with the clean-up and improvement of the site,” the documents state. Town planning director Mark Leidal said that “clean up and improvement” applied to the business’ overall appearance, not just the necessary remediation.

Leidal said he’s unsure of Calkins’ next step. A letter from the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment states that the gas station’s remediation equipment must be implemented prior to Dec. 16, 2010.