EPA and Baltimore's CNX Marine Terminals, Inc. Settle Water and Waste Violations

Press release:

EPA and Baltimore's CNX Marine Terminals, Inc. Settle Water and Waste Violations

PHILADELPHIA (August 23, 2012) -- CNX Marine Terminals, Inc. has agreed to pay a $34,600 penalty to settle alleged violations of federal environmental laws involving the discharge of pollutants in stormwater runoff, the operation and maintenance of underground storage tank systems and waste storage, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today. The alleged violations were at the CNX terminal at 3800 New Gate Ave., Baltimore, Md.

According to the consent agreement and final order, the specific alleged violations include unauthorized stormwater discharges from a pipe into the Janney Run Creek, failure to properly operate and maintain the release detection system on a 2,000-gallon underground storage tank, failure to conduct a line tightness test on the underground storage tank every three years, and failure to properly store used fluorescent lamps.

The $34,600 settlement penalty reflects the cooperation of CNX Marine Terminals with EPA's investigation.

Uncontrolled stormwater runoff often contains sediment, suspended solids, oxygen-demanding compounds and other pollutants that can harm our nation's waterways. Under the Clean Water Act, facilities must obtain permits issued by EPA or the state environmental agency before discharging stormwater runoff into waterways. These permits include requirements for erosion and sediment controls and precautionary best management practices such as spill prevention safeguards, material storage, and employee training.

Underground storage tanks (UST) must be tested to prevent leaks because the greatest potential threat from a leaking UST is contamination of groundwater, the source of drinking water for nearly half of all Americans. These leaks can threaten public safety and health as well as the environment because UST systems contain hazardous and toxic chemicals. Cleaning up petroleum leaks is difficult and usually expensive. Federal regulations ensure that USTs are structurally sound because it is easier and less costly to prevent leaks before they happen.

U.S. Navy Settles Hazardous Waste Violations at Facility in Virginia Beach, Va.

Press release:

U.S. Navy Settles Hazardous Waste Violations at Facility in

Virginia Beach, Va.

PHILADELPHIA (August 23, 2012) -- The U.S. Navy has agreed to pay a $32,800 civil penalty to settle alleged violations of hazardous waste regulations and underground storage tank (UST) regulations at the Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story facility in Virginia Beach, Va. , the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

EPA cited the U.S. Navy for violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), the federal law governing the treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous waste. RCRA is designed to protect public health and the environment, and avoid costly cleanups, by requiring the safe, environmentally sound storage and disposal of hazardous waste. In addition, RCRA regulates underground storage tanks with the emphasis on preventing releases from USTs which can cause serious contamination to our nation's groundwater.

The U.S. Navy facility, which provides housing and training for the nation’s expeditionary forces, allegedly violated RCRA by failing to determine if the waste was hazardous; storing hazardous waste at the facility, failing to label containers with date and contents; failing to have functioning spill and over fill equipment for two USTs; and failing to notify the state when a new oil-containing UST was installed.

The settlement penalty reflects the Navy's compliance efforts, and its cooperation with EPA in the investigation and resolution of this matter. The facility has made significant improvements to come into compliance including the removal of an underground storage tank, providing personnel training and implementing better management practices. As part of the settlement, the U.S. Navy has neither admitted nor denied liability for the alleged violations, but has certified its compliance with applicable RCRA requirements.

EPA Takes Action against Buffalo Area Gas Stations to Protect Ground Water from Petroleum Contamination

Press release:

EPA Takes Action against Buffalo Area Gas Stations to

Protect Ground Water from Petroleum Contamination

Contact: John Martin, (212) 637-3662, martin.johnj@epa.gov.

(New York, N.Y. – August 14, 2012) The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued a legal complaint to the owners and operators of twenty-two underground storage tanks at gasoline stations in the Buffalo, New York area for violating various federal regulations dealing with ground water from petroleum contamination. The complaint, which seeks $582,803 in penalties, was issued to Amerimart Development Company, Inc., Qual-Econ Lease Co., Inc., Commercial Realty Fund II, MJG Enterprises Inc., and Clear Alternative of Western NY, Inc. (d.b.a. G & G Petroleum). These companies are either past or present owners or operators of gas stations in Buffalo, Amherst, and Tonawanda, N.Y. In addition to paying penalties, the complaint requires the facilities to all come into full compliance with the regulations.

“Gas station owners need to be vigilant in making sure that their petroleum storage tanks do not cause pollution,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. “When underground tanks are not properly maintained, ground water can be contaminated, putting people and the environment at risk.”

Ground water is the source of drinking water for nearly half of all Americans. When petroleum or other hazardous substances leak from underground tanks, such leaks are difficult and expensive to clean, particularly if they involve a public source of drinking water.

The complaint alleges that one or more of the companies failed to:

        Test the protection systems for two tanks and two fuel lines

        Meet corrosion protection or other new standards for two tanks and seven fuel lines

        Conduct release detection every thirty days on eleven tanks:

        Perform annual tests of automatic line leak detector systems for nineteen underground storage tanks

        Provide adequate equipment to protect against tank overfills for thirteen underground storage tanks

        Conduct an annual line tightness test or conduct monthly monitoring of underground pressurized piping for seventeen fuel lines

        Properly cap off two temporarily closed underground storage tanks

        Keep adequate records of release detection monitoring for three facilities

         Respond to a request for information for one facility

The law authorizes EPA to seek between $11,000 and $16,000 per tank for each day a violation exists.

For more information on proper maintenance of Underground Storage Tanks, visit:

http://www.epa.gov/oust/

Follow EPA Region 2 on Twitter at twitter.com/eparegion2 and visit our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/eparegion2.

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EPA Region 7 and Contractors Begin Removal of Underground Storage Tank at Former Strehlow Garage in Omaha, Neb.

Press release:

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7

901 N. Fifth St., Kansas City, KS 66101

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations

EPA Region 7 and Contractors Begin Removal of Underground Storage Tank at Former Strehlow Garage in Omaha, Neb.

Contact Information: Chris Whitley, 816-518-2794 (Blackberry), 913-551-7394 (office), whitley.christopher@epa.gov

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., July 24, 2012) - EPA Region 7 and its contractors have begun work to remove an underground storage tank from a former automotive garage in Omaha, Neb., as one step of clearing the way for city authorities to redevelop the property as part of a planned $5 million low-income housing project.

The former Strehlow Garage, at 2107 N. 16^th Street in Omaha, is currently owned by the Omaha Housing Authority (OHA), which plans to transfer ownership of the property to the Omaha Economic Development Corporation (OEDC) for inclusion in the housing project after the tank removal and related environmental assessment work is completed. The removal work is necessary to allow for the sampling of subsurface soil and groundwater beneath the tank.

Funding for removal of the tank and the other site assessment work, totaling approximately $60,000, is being provided by EPA Region 7’s Targeted Brownfields Assessment Program. The program is designed to assist states, tribes and local governments to minimize the uncertainties of contamination often associated with brownfields properties.

Brownfields are those properties, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse of which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant. Cleaning up and reinvesting in these properties protects the environment, reduces blight, and takes development pressures off greenspaces and working lands.

The former Strehlow Garage property was recommended to EPA by the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ). NDEQ, along with OHA and OEDC, applied to EPA Region 7 for funding to conduct a dual-phase environmental site assessment. That assessment includes removal of the underground tank, screening the garage building for asbestos, lead and other hazards; and environmental sampling of subsurface soil and groundwater.

EPA Region 7’s Storage Tanks and Oil Pollution branch has worked with the region’s Targeted Brownfields Assessment Program to prepare for the tank’s removal and facilitate with NDEQ when necessary.

Contractors working under the supervision of EPA staff will prepare the site today for the removal of the tank, which is presumed to have stored gasoline, oil or other petroleum products while the automotive garage was in operation. The process of removing the tank and conducting the environmental assessment work at the site should be completed by the end of the week.

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U.S. Navy Settles Underground Storage Tank Violations at Hampton Roads Facility

U.S. Navy Settles Underground Storage Tank Violations

at Hampton Roads Facility

PHILADELPHIA (April 26, 2012) -- The U.S. Navy has agreed to pay a $5,855 penalty to settle alleged underground storage tank (UST) violations at its Building NH94, located at 7918 Blandy St., Norfolk, Va., the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

There are three 25,000-gallon underground storage tanks at this facility containing diesel fuel. Each UST is required to be tested every three years to make sure the tank is not corroded and that the corrosion protection system is operating properly. During a March 2011 inspection, the inspectors found that these tanks had not been tested since 2004.

The $5,855 settlement penalty reflects cooperation of the U.S. Navy with EPA in the investigation and resolution of this matter. The Navy has certified its compliance with applicable UST requirements and the tanks were tested for corrosion on April 4, 2011.

Underground storage tanks must be tested to prevent leaks, because the greatest potential threat from a leaking UST is contamination of groundwater, the source of drinking water for nearly half of all Americans. These leaks can threaten public safety and health as well as the environment because UST systems contain hazardous and toxic chemicals. Cleaning up petroleum leaks is difficult and usually expensive. Federal regulations ensure that USTs are structurally sound because it is easier and less costly to prevent leaks before they happen.

For more information on underground storage tanks, go to: http://www.epa.gov/oust/index.htm.

News Release from EPA Region 7 - Sutherland, Nebraska

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Region 7

901 N. Fifth St., Kansas City, KS 66101

Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and Nine Tribal Nations

EPA Provides Technical Assistance to Sutherland, Neb.

Contact Information: Ben Washburn, 913-551-7364, washburn.ben@epa.gov

Environmental News

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(Kansas City, Kan., March 15, 2012) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 announced that the Village of Sutherland, Nebraska, recently received technical assistance from EPA that will help the village become more sustainable. The assistance came in the form of a comprehensive report that provided the means for Sutherland to redevelop a number of former gas stations in its downtown.

At the core of the technical assistance are four abandoned gas stations located along U.S. Highway 30, which runs through downtown Sutherland and is the former Lincoln Highway. The abandoned gas stations may pose potential environmental and public health hazards due to underground storage tanks that remained after the stations closed. By addressing the tanks, including potential contamination and liability issues, these sites can be made viable for reuse that benefits the community while removing community eyesores and transforming the sites into community assets. The redevelopment of these sites can spur further revitalization in the area.

“The technical assistance provided to the Village of Sutherland allows the community leaders to restore four Brownfields properties to beneficial use for the community,” said Karl Brooks, EPA Region 7 Administrator. “This is a clear example that shows how being environmentally conscious can bring positive growth and development for our small rural communities.”

The project location was identified through the EPA Region 7 inventory of abandoned gas stations situated along the historic Lincoln Highway (U.S. Highway 30). EPA, in partnership with the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development Program, provided redevelopment planning support to village officials as they plan to revitalize the downtown community, including the four former downtown gas station sites that serve as gateways to the community.

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Naval Base Kitsap Fails to Properly Monitor Fuel Tanks

EPA News Release:


Naval Base Kitsap fails to properly monitor fuel tanks near Puget Sound for leaks

Contact Information: Hanady Kader, EPA Public Affairs, (206) 553-0454, kader.hanady@epa.gov
Anne Christopher, EPA Ground Water Unit, (206) 553-8293, christopher.anne@epa.gov

Navy correct violations and settles with EPA for nearly $161,000.

(Seattle—Jan. 17, 2012) Naval Base Kitsap Bangor failed to properly monitor pipes and underground fuel storage tanks for leaks on its property in Silverdale, Washington in violation of federal laws that protect groundwater, according to a settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The Navy will pay nearly $161,000 in fines.

“EPA is working hard to restore Puget Sound and fuel leaks near the shoreline could seriously set us back,” said Peter Contreras, Manager of the Ground Water Unit in EPA’s Seattle office. “Nearby communities also rely on groundwater for drinking water, so preventing releases protects both Puget Sound and public health.”

The violations occurred between 2006 and 2010. The holding capacity of the inspected tanks ranges between 170 gallons and 45,000 gallons.

The Navy has 53 underground storage tanks on the base it uses for storing diesel, used oil and gasoline. EPA inspectors identified 37 violations including failure to properly monitor the tanks and pipes for leaks; failure to have the proper leak detection equipment installed for the pipes; and failure to provide an adequate alarm system to prevent delivery drivers from overfilling the tanks.

Leaks from underground storage tanks allow toxic fumes and vapors to escape and collect in areas such as parking garages or basements where they can cause explosion or respiratory illness. Toxic contaminants can also leak into groundwater sources that people depend on for drinking water. Regularly monitoring tanks and pipes minimizes contamination risks.

To detect leaks quickly, underground storage tanks must be monitored monthly and the pipes must be equipped with a leak detector and tested annually or monitored monthly.  The Navy had the appropriate monitoring equipment in place at most of the sites, but failed to check the monitors on a monthly basis and document that the tanks and pipes were not leaking.

Since the 2010 EPA inspection of the base, the Navy has corrected the violations. The Navy has agreed to provide EPA with documentation showing it is in compliance with proper monitoring.

The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and requires owners of underground storage tanks to regularly monitor their tank systems for leaks.

For more information on underground storage tanks, visit http://yosemite.epa.gov/R10/WATER.NSF/UST/UST+LUST+home