Glossary

Lessee/Lease Dealer: The dealer owns the business. A major or regional oil company or a distributor owns the land and building (i.e. gas station) and leases it to a dealer. The dealer operates the location and pays rent to the owner (as opposed to an open dealer that owns the property). This arrangement gives the oil company or distributor a guaranteed supply outlet for their petroleum products, pursuant to a supply contract. A typical lessee dealer operates 1-2 stores and does not wholesale gasoline. Also known as company controlled, contractor-operated, and direct serve dealer.
liquid limit (LL): the lower limit for viscous flow of a soil.
liquidity index (LI): quantitative value used to assess whether a soil will behave as a brittle solid, semisolid, plastic, or liquid. LI is equal to the difference between the natural moisture content of the soil and the plastic limit (PL) divided by the plasticity index (PI).
lithology: the gross physical character of a rock or rock types in a stratigraphic section.
lower explosive limit (LEL): the concentration of a gas below which the concentration of vapors is insufficient to support an explosion. LELs for most organics are generally 1 to 5 percent by volume.