Concord: Peterson Petroleum agrees to pay a fine of $125,000

Concord: Peterson Petroleum, a company accused by the state of polluting soil and groundwater at several gas stations in New Hampshire, has agreed to pay a fine of $125,000. Assistant Attorney General Richard Head said some of the contamination happened a decade ago, when Peterson bought the gas stations. He said the company knew about the contamination at the time but ignored repeated requests from the Department of Environmental Services to clean up the stations. He said the state could not take action on the case for much of the 1990s because Peterson had filed for bankruptcy.