Desert Town Wins Reprieve From New Fuel Law

RIVERSIDE —  And on Day Three of Crisis at Chiriaco Summit, the woman who runs the desert hamlet threatened to mobilize the old World War II tanks from the neighboring Gen. George Patton Museum and launch “Operation Power to the People” to protect her diesel tanks.

But, instead, through the mediation of a county supervisor, a war over legal diesel was averted and the life-sustaining fuel is now on its way to this desert outpost alongside Interstate 10.

That means the Chiriaco family can continue running the generator that powers the lights, heaters, refrigerators and water at the small community, population 60, where there is no other source of electricity.

The problem was fundamental and, in the end, the solution was simple. Chiriaco Summit relies on its diesel-powered generator because the nearest electrical lines are eight miles away, and they will not be extended to the small town, 30 miles east of Indio, until spring.

But the diesel fuel--as is the gasoline at the service station--is stored in aging underground storage tanks that could no longer be used as of Wednesday because of an environmental protection law adopted 10 years ago that took effect this week. Such tanks were banned because they are prone to leakage that could contaminate underground water supplies.

That irony was not lost here, where the aquifer is so deep that wells are of no use and water must be pumped in.

Because Chiriaco Summit’s new storage tanks are only now being installed and won’t be certified for about six weeks, its owners asked Riverside County supervisors to declare an emergency, seeking an extension of the law’s enforcement so the old tanks could still be tapped.

But state officials told the county that the law’s language was sealed as tight as a new oil drum and no exceptions could be made.

On Wednesday morning, Margit Chiriaco, who with her brother runs the businesses founded by their father 65 years ago, talked of a civil uprising, and she eyed Patton’s old tanks wistfully.

But she didn’t need to play out her fantasy war. With the intervention of Riverside County Supervisor Roy Wilson, a contractor was located who will rent a 1,000-gallon, aboveground storage tank to hold the diesel fuel that runs the small community’s power generator.

“Nobody’s going to freeze to death,” Chiriaco sighed Wednesday. “I’ll rent the tank. I don’t even know what it’ll cost, but there’s no option.”