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DEC to require registering small tanks Regulations expected this fall for fuel tanks from 1,000-420,000 gallons; because of spills from operator error, next step training TIM BRADNER For Petroleum News
Alaska’s Department of Environmental Conservation will be rolling out new regulations this fall requiring registration of fuel tanks from the 1,000-gallon to 420,000-gallon size.
In concept form the plan will be made public in July, said Kristin Ryan, director of DEC’s Division of Spill Prevention.
“Seventy percent of our environmental contamination is from fuel storage tanks,” mostly in the small to medium-sizes, Ryan said.
Larger bulk storage facilities are regulated by the DEC and must file spill contingency plans with the agency. But the locations of most small fuel storage facilities and even how many there are is unknown, Ryan said.
“We need to know where they are, and how many there are, and points of contact for the responsible persons. There are certainly hundreds of tanks and there may be several thousand. We need to know how big the universe is,” she said.
Many small communities in rural Alaska have several medium-sized fuel tanks, usually with different owners and operators. “It’s common that a school would have its own tanks, the village wastewater system its tank, and typically there is a separate storage facility to supply heating oil and gasoline to consumers,” Ryan said.
Operator error at smaller tanks The bulk of the small spills from these tanks are due to operator errors, and sometimes maintenance problems, so the second phase of DEC’s fuel facilities initiative, once the location and number of tanks is known, is training for operators, Ryan said.
Becky Spiegel, program manager in the spill response division, said, “We’re doing this in phases. Right now the priority is to find out how many and where these tanks are. We’ll be beginning a discussion of this with stakeholders in July and hope to have a set of draft regulations by the end of the year.”
Once these rules are in place, DEC would build on them with requirements for operator training. Eventually, some kind of spill prevention and response capability would be built in, “but this would be a very basic kit,” Spiegel said.
A full-blown regulatory regime like that applying to large bulk fuel tanks isn’t in the cards for small tank fuel facilities. “We’re not interested in having a program that doesn’t work for people,” she said. “A system similar to what is done for large bulk facilities is too complex for small operations,” Spiegel said.
Plans required for larger tanks Large fuel tanks, or combinations of tanks in one facility that store more than 420,000 gallons must have an approved spill contingency plan from DEC that includes not only a spill containment and cleanup capability but preventative and maintenance measures, including corrosion control and periodic inspections, Spiegel said.
There are 141 contingency plans currently approved for bulk fuel and crude oil facilities in the state, but this isn’t an accurate count of large fuel facilities because they include bulk fuel vessels and pipelines. One contingency plan can also cover several tank facilities, however.
Contingency plans must be renewed every five years, and in any one year several are in the renewal process, Spiegel said.
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