Frederick families sue over drinking water

Twenty Frederick County families are suing the owners of a Monrovia gas station for allegedly contaminating the area’s drinking water supply with gasoline.

The lawsuit filed Monday in Frederick County Circuit Court seeks $2.4 billion in damages from eight defendants, including the most recent owner, SAABA Corp. of Ellicott City.

The complaint centers on the Green Valley Citgo station, which is now a BP convenience store.

State environmental regulators say signs of groundwater contamination from underground storage tanks surfaced in 2004. The agency alerted area residents in 2007.

The station has had three successive owners since 1990. Lawyers for those companies didn’t immediately return calls from the Associated Press.

A Citgo Petroleum Corp. official said Wednesday that the company doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

-- Associated Press