A town with little wherewithal

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency will cover more than $500,000 in costs to clean up soil and replace a well tainted by a 1995 gasoline leak near the well field that supplies Pelican Rapids, Minn., with water. Normally, the party responsible for causing contamination is required to pay associated costs. But Park Region Cooperative, which reported the leak from one of its bulk storage tanks in 1995, recently informed MPCA officials it lacks the wherewithal to proceed with the work. After reviewing the company’s books, the agency agreed, said Paul Stock, an MPCA spokesman in Detroit Lakes.