‘Environmental Disaster’: Monroe Energy Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Following Pennsylvania Gasoline Leak

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A proposed class action lawsuit alleges that Monroe Energy LLC and Monroe Interstate Pipeline Company (MIPC) negligently operated and maintained the Chelsea Tank Farm in Aston, Pennsylvania, leading to a nine-month chemical spill during which hazardous gasoline and petroleum products were discharged into a nearby residential area.

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The 53-page lawsuit claims that Monroe Energy and MIPC, which own and operate a hazardous-liquid storage and distribution network, failed to address a vulnerability in Tank 708 at the Chelsea Tank Farm at 920 Cherry Tree Road. The suit contends that the defendants’ negligence caused a massive leak beginning in March 2025 that discharged at least 9,000 barrels, or about 378,000 gallons, of “hazardous and toxic” chemicals into underlying soil, bedrock and groundwater, contaminating nearby residential properties.

According to the complaint, Tank 708 began to leak gasoline from a roughly one-quarter-inch manmade hole around March 3, 2025, following an inspection that authorized the tank’s return to service. Per the case, Monroe Energy did not notice the leak until August 2025, even though a “basic” inspection would have revealed the problem, the suit says.

The class action lawsuit asserts that Monroe Energy, which touts its commitment to the health and safety of the community and “environmental stewardship,” failed to operate in a “safe and transparent” manner following the spill.

The case says that contamination from the leak is detectable in groundwater, air and soil samples within the affected area and includes volatile organic compounds—such as benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (BTEX)—commonly found in gasoline and petroleum products.

The suit relays that long-term exposure to BTEX compounds can have serious health consequences, such as anemia, compromised immune systems, bone marrow damage, irreversible hearing loss, liver and kidney damage, fertility complications, leukemia, and other forms of cancer. The lawsuit adds that these compounds are so dangerous that their very presence poses a “direct and immediate” threat to affected residents’ health and well-being.

Instead of communicating the scope and severity of the leak to residents, Monroe Energy, the case says, began to distribute gift cards to residents under the guise of community goodwill and claimed that the uptick in activity at the Chelsea Tank Farm was routine maintenance.

Furthermore, the complaint alleges that Monroe Energy spent four months confirming the leak while withholding information about the spill from the public and federal regulators such as the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). When Monroe Energy finally disclosed the leak nine months later, in December 2025, the company minimized the damage and avoided mentioning the uncontained environmental contamination, the filing says.

“[Monroe Energy’s] [l]eak has unleashed an environmental disaster on an otherwise idyllic Pennsylvania community, causing serious physical and financial harm to a beautiful suburban neighborhood,” the complaint emphasizes.

Indeed, the case conveys that the leak has caused a “nightmare scenario” for residents such as the plaintiffs.

After the plaintiffs observed the trees on their property wither and die for months, the residents planned to meet with agents from Monroe Energy to discuss contamination levels on their property. According to the lawsuit, however, instead of the expected discussion, Monroe Energy’s agents “descended” on the property in black SUVs, “swarming” through the house with handheld meters to measure benzene contamination at concentrations “even higher” than previously detected, began caulking, set up temporary fans, and told the family they had to vacate their home immediately.

The case says that the plaintiffs were informed by the defendants two weeks after evacuating that it was safe to return to their home, even though the companies at the time had not yet received test results confirming the indoor air quality.

“Plaintiffs have suffered the loss of peace and enjoyment in the use of their [p]roperty, which is now the site of a major environmental disaster and remediation zone for the indefinite future and will be a reasonable and well-founded source of stress, anxiety, distress, and fear for just as long,” the case states.

The Monroe Energy class action lawsuit looks to cover all Pennsylvania citizens who owned, rented, and/or resided in real properties in Pennsylvania within one mile of the Chelsea Tank Farm from March 1, 2025 to the present.

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