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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 21, 1997
97-122
CONTACTS: Barry Rogowski, (360) 407-7236
Mark Henderson (360) 407-6263
Denise Clifford, (360) 407-6160, pager (360) 534-8589
"More than 80 percent of the 14,000-plus tanks that are actively storing petroleum products in our state are in compliance with leak detection requirements. Over half are entirely upgraded to meet current requirements that are aimed at keeping contaminants out of the environment," said Barry Rogowski, Underground Storage Tank Program Coordinator for the Washington State Department of Ecology.
The Department of Ecology manages the state's underground storage tank program. As part of a national effort in May to check that tank owners were meeting leak detection requirements, Ecology inspected 120 facilities across the state including gasoline stations, school districts, and fueling facilities. There were 10,000 facilities that were inspected nationwide.
"We found very few facilities that were out of compliance. When we did find problems, most tank owners were willing to get the problem corrected - - very few inspections led to a citation or penalty," said Rogowski.
Of the 120 facilities inspected, tank owners at 18 facilities received warning letters for being in violation of leak detection requirements; 5 of them received a field citation with fines assessed totaling $1,400. Nationwide, 2,600 violations were noted with fines totaling $900,000.
"Washington State tank owners are doing a good job at meeting current requirements. We believe this is largely a result of the Department of Ecology's success at providing tank owners with assistance and incentives to manage their tanks properly," said Lauris Davies, Underground Storage Tank Program Manager at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Seattle.
Results from the three other states in the Northwest Region are: Alaska conducted 16 inspections, found 4 facilities in violation, and issued 4 citations totaling $1,650 in fines; Idaho conducted 54 inspections, found 12 facilities in violation, and issued 3 citations totaling $900 in fines; Oregon conducted 98 inspections, found 47 violations, and issued one department order totaling $4,200 in fines.
Tank owners and operators have less than two years to meet both state and federal requirements to either upgrade their tanks for spill, overfill, and corrosion protection or properly close the tank and cease receiving product. The deadline for compliance is December 22, 1998.
Most of the more than 7,000 contaminated sites in Washington are a result of leaking underground storage tanks. The Department of Ecology's underground storage tank program offers one-time, penalty-free inspections to tank owners and operators to help them identify problems early on and correct the problem to prevent petroleum releases to the environment.
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
