The Bolinas Community Land Trust has announced it will soon start planning to decommission Bo-Gas, the filling station it runs on Wharf Road, saying the operation has run at a deficit for more than a year. Annie O’Connor, the co-director of the land trust, said the station has been a challenge to sustain and that the effects of climate change will only make things harder. “We are basically at sea level here and the tanks are underground. The pressure from the rain is substantial,” she said at a community meeting on Sunday. Bo-Gas was purchased and renovated by the trust in 2004 with the plan to direct its surplus into the trust’s operating budget. But as the gas station has fallen into financial hardship, the trust is now subsidizing the station. In 2017, Bo-Gas shut down for repairs that lasted several months and required that the trust take out loans to cover the expense. After an atmospheric river caused more damage in 2021, the station needed another set of expensive repairs. In both cases, high pressure from an underground river that runs downtown triggered failures. The trust plans to form a subcommittee focused on the station, which will at least stay open through the busy summer season. According to Ms. O’Connor, the station’s gas prices are pegged to prices over the hill, with an additional $1.50 to $2 fee to adjust for low sales volumes and repairs. Bo-Gas is the only source of gas and diesel between Mill Valley and Point Reyes Station. “It’s a challenging situation,” said Alby Foreman, the manager of the station. “As conditions have gotten more expensive to maintain the gas station due to climate change, full-time residents have become even more dependent on the local sale of gas and diesel for emergency use. When you can’t get over the mountain because of slides and treefall, we know people are depending on Bo-Gas to power their generators and vehicles.”
Bo-Gas will likely shutter
