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The Warren County Airport located in McMinnville, Tennessee was inspected by the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC) on June 27th, 2018. TDEC found a release detection violation within the airport’s Underground Storage Tank (UST) systems. According to TDEC’s records, the airport “was missing six months of release detection records”. Additionally, the airport was unable to provide records for the Automatic Tank Gauge’s (ATG) alarm history at the time of the inspection – a direct violation of State regulations.
While the airport was able to submit documentation of these records, they were received documentation on September 20th, 2018 – after the initial inspection was concluded.
TDEC has ordered the Warren County Airport to pay a civil penalty of $3,200, though the airport may make an early payment or undertake UST training to lessen the civil penalty amount.
Read the entire news release written by Walter Wright here: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/storage-tank-enforcement-tennessee-91680/
A Sunoco station in Philadelphia has agreed to pay $22,080 in penalties due to not meeting the UST’s leak detection and recordkeeping compliance requirements between 2015 and 2017. As part of the agreement, the Sunoco is now within the State and Federal compliance requirements.
The EPA’s UST regulations are intended to protect the public from a contaminated or a polluted water supply. If a UST malfunctions and a leak is detected, it endangers the health and safety of surrounding neighborhoods.
For site owners still scrambling after the October 13th deadline, we’re here to help! We complete over 2,000 inspections a month and we have over fifty years combined experience in the fuel compliance industry. Our team of professionals can help you navigate both your federal and state requirements to minimize your site’s non-compliance risk.
To speak to one of our compliance experts, call us at 888-400-3511 or email us at info@7g-enviro.com.
Read the original article here: https://www.petrolplaza.com/news/9635
The ADEM has delayed publishing their 30 day and annual walkthrough forms until the first week of December due to poor quarterly meeting turnout.
The updated legislation draft was published to the ADEM website during the ADEM conference last year, however there has been no update to the legislation.
We spoke to their offices directly for an update on Alabama’s walkthrough forms and proposed regulations which include delaying sump testing, overfill testing, and release detection or EPG tanks. According to their offices, there was low attendance at the previous ADEM quarterly meeting and the commission was unable to vote on the forms and proposed regulations. Therefore, the legislation approval was delayed.
However, there was another quarterly meeting with high-attendance in October and the commission was able to approve their annual walkthrough forms and proposed regulations. Due to Alabama’s mandated 45-day waiting period between approval of legislation and implementation, the regulations will not go into effect until the first week of December. Once the legislation is in effect, the documentation will be published to the general form list.
The general form list will be published to the ADEM website here.
As of June 1st, 2018 Oregon DEQ has revised UST regulations promulgated to rule and are now in effect. The regulations underwent public comment in February, and Environmental Quality Commission adopted the proposed rules on May 11th, 2018.
Some revises changes to the regulations include the following:
- 30 day notification for changing regulated substances of a UST containing greater than 10% ethanol or 20% biodiesel
- Demonstrations of UST system compatibility
- Under Dispenser Containment required for each new, moved, or modified dispenser
- All new or replacement USTs and connected piping must be secondarily contained and monitored using interstitial monitoring
- Flow Restrictors/Ball float valves are now longer allowed to be installed and cannot be repaired
- 30 day release detection for spill prevention and containment sumps used for interstitial monitoring
- 30 day walkthrough inspections for spill prevention and release detection begins 7/1/2020
- Annual inspections for containment sumps and hand held release detection
- Maintain these inspections for at least one year
- 24hr reporting on corrosion protection test failures
- Annual release detection operability testing
- Overfill prevention inspected at least once every 3 years
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On or after July 1st, 2020, owners and permittees of FCTs and AHSs must comply with 340-150-0137(2) and the training requirements for UST operators in this rule
- Vapor monitoring and groundwater monitoring are now longer allowed as an approved release detection method
- 24 hour notification to the DEQ for unusual operating conditions such as:
- erratic behavior of dispensing equipment
- sudden loss of product
- widely fluctuating water levels
- liquid in interstitial space (when brine is not used)
- Emergency generator tanks are subject to release detection requirements on 7/1/2020.
- All newly installed emergency generator tanks are subject to release detection requirements immediately
This month, a gas station in Bastrop, Texas was fined over $13,000 for failure to comply with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s regulations for Underground storage tanks. Some of their biggest violations included failure to obtain insurance/financial responsibility, failure to have monthly release detection, failure to provide documentation for the state’s inspection, and failure to have adequate corrosion protection.
The commission filed a preliminary report and petition, recommending an enforcement order, assessing an administrative penalty against the store’s owner and requiring the store to return to compliance.The store’s owner challenged the commission’s findings and requested a hearing with the state office. On August 24, 2017, a judge held a hearing in which the owner failed to appear for, and the judge ordered a default ruling against the owner.
The full article is available for reading here.
The State of Washington has now filed for its next rule proposal phase (CR-102), which was filed with the legislature on 1/24/2018. This proposal incorporates federal rule changes needed to maintain their state program approval for their underground storage tank program.
The comment period on the new proposed rules will remain open until March 16, 2018. The public comment form can be found on their webpage here.
If you are interested in learning more about the proposed rules, Washington will be hosting a webinar and in-person hearing on February 28th, 2018 at 1pm PST (4pm EST). A link to the webinar can be found here.
The proposed rules changes include the following:
Tank Installation
- Corrosion assessments used to avoid installing cathodic protection must be performed every 5 years after installation and reports are sent to the department for determination
- Eliminating secondary barriers for hazardous substance UST systems installed on or before 10/1/12
- UDCs must be factory built or machine-tooled until otherwise approved by department
- Compatibility demonstration requirements for USTs including hazardous substances; records retained for life of UST or change in service
- Existing and previously deferred USTs must maintain upgrade records be maintained for life of UST in addition to repairs
- Product deliverers must comply with spill and overfill requirements and report spills to Owner/operator
- Walkthrough inspections (30 days) begin upon installation (after effective date) or one year after effective date for UST systems installed before effective date
- 3 years of inspections must be maintained
- 24 hour notification to corrosion expert for cathodic protection not operating correctly
- Record retention for cathodic protection tests changed to 6 years; rectifier inspections maintained for 3 years.
- Spill prevention and sump tightness testing must be performed by certified provider and reported to agency
- Periodic monitoring of sumps/spill buckets be retained for 3 years
- Tightness test documents retained for 6 years
- Overfill prevention inspections must be performed by certified provider and be reported
- Flow restrictors that are broken must be replaced with other overfill protection
- Testing after repairs to UST system within 30 days; records retained for 3 years. Testing is reported
- Monitoring or tightness testing of containment sumps used for interstitial monitoring of piping, monitoring or tightness testing of spill prevention equipment (spill buckets), Inspections of overfill prevention equipment, and tests of release detection equipment has specific implementation dates based on your facility compliance tag number
- If your facility compliance tag number is even, then these must be completed within two years after the effective date of rule
- If you facility compliance tag number is odd, then then these must be completed within three years after the effective date of rule
California air regulators approved a cut to carbon pollution from gasoline and diesel fuels. This will force oil producers to reduce the amount of carbon generated by transportation fuels in the state. This rule was added in 2009 but many oil and gas companies protested, and were able to keep it at bay until recently. Oregon is the only other state with a carbon fuel standard like California’s. This new ruling is now projecting that fuel cost could possibly rise 13 cents per gallon by the year 2020.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/09/26/us/california-board-backs-new-limits-on-carbon-from-gas-and-diesel.html?ref=topics&_r=0
Credit card skimmers are not the only heckle at the pumps these days. Credit card fraud at the dispenser is a pervasive problem, but not a new problem. What is new is that the culprits are no longer just filling up their own tanks on someone else’s dime. Most recently culprits are using truck bladders and stolen cards to enter the retail fuel business. These culprits are taking stolen gas down the road and selling it well below rack price to another station. What’s even more sickening is that station owners are actually buying it.
Currently, a man in South Florida is being held on 8 counts of counterfeiting & the use of the bladder within the truck. Hopefully the EMV change in credit cards providing a secure chip will eliminate the risk of having fraud at the pump. Hopefully, the industry will join together to rid itself of station owners who buy stolen gas.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/credit-card-fraudsters-pump-gas-stations-for-profit-1441253132
Being hacked is becoming more and more common place. So what about your Automatic Tank Gauge?
“The vulnerability of the gauges used to monitor gasoline tanks is the latest security issue plaguing consumer and industrial devices that are increasingly being connected to the Internet.” – Robert Lemos
Hacking an ATG and triggering environmental alarms could prevent a facility from dispensing fuel.
Sale data and environmental data could also be extracted and used by competitors, collection agencies, and potential buyers of the property who valuate the property based on gallonage.
Robert Lemos wrote a thought provoking article in ars technica about the issue. Check it out here.
Make sure to take the necessary and inexpensive steps to secure your ATG!
In Lansing, Michigan, two insurance agents have pleaded guilty to selling fake insurance certificates for Underground Storage Tanks in the region.
The two men have pleaded guilty to federal charges of falsifying a document with intent to impede, obstruct, or influence. The actions took place over a two-year period, was spread out over 30 different cities, and earned them about $500 per falsified certificate, and they face up to 20 years in prison.
They produced these fake certificates so that tank owners could claim compliance with regulation, even though these owners have tanks that could not be insured due to age or condition.
The offending gas stations have been shut down until they can obtain a real policy.