The Lawrence filling station that leaked the gasoline that fueled an April 30 apartment house fire began temporarily selling gasoline again Friday.

Presto Phillips 66, 602 W. Ninth St., had not sold fuel for several weeks in the fire’s aftermath as the Kansas Department of Health and Environment made inspections and worked to clean up the area.

According to a KDHE statement released Friday, a concrete contractor recently finished work on a final curb-cut entrance to the station. The contractor also removed and replaced a 10- by 12-foot section of concrete because it did not meet the contractor’s quality inspection.

Fire investigators have blamed heavy rainfall on April 29 for helping wash underground gasoline that had leaked from a subterranean Presto tank into the basement of an apartment house at 838 La. They concluded that a spark from the pump or a pilot light or other device ignited the fire that destroyed the house and displaced several people living there.

The home’s owners, Lelon Capps and Kandis Capps Taylor, and a tenant, Curtis Johnson, have filed a petition in court seeking damages from Presta Oil Inc.

Because of little recent rain in the area, the recovery of underground fluid in the area had slowed, according to the KDHE. The recovery was part of the agency’s clean-up efforts.

The tank collecting the fluids to be pumped was about one-fifth full Friday morning, according to KDHE. The soil-vapor system that vents gasoline fumes continues to “effectively remove contamination,” KDHE said.

The agency also began more groundwater sampling Friday, and staff members expect results in about a week. KDHE also expects results on samples of fluids in the area by Monday.

KDHE workers had asked residents of the Old West Lawrence neighborhood to watch water levels in their basements in the event of a heavy rain. KDHE expected to have most of the gasoline cleaned in the area within months and all of the spilled fuel removed within a year.

Awarding a final permit for the station to sell gasoline will depend on “satisfactory performance of their facility operation,” according to KDHE.

Presto vice president Doug Wald did not return calls Friday seeking comment.