Source Water Areas And Underground Storage Tanks
Leaks of petroleum and other toxic substances from underground storage tanks (USTs) appear to be a leading threat to sources of drinking water in the U.S. On July 20, 2004, the Directors of the EPA Office of Underground Storage Tanks (OUST) and Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water (OGWDW) signed a memorandum to EPA Regional Directors recommending that the source water and underground storage tank programs in the Regional offices work together to coordinate their efforts and make the best use of resources to increase public health protection. The memorandum recommended that Regions work with state water and tanks programs to coordinate their efforts as well.
The memorandum set in motion a number of meetings and agreements between underground storage tank and source water staffs at both the federal and state levels. Coordinated program efforts focused on sharing data, maps, and resources to identify tanks that may pose a threat to drinking water supplies. Once these tanks are identified, EPA and state regulators are encouraged to make them a priority for compliance inspections.
- Joint OUST and OGWDW memo of July 20, 2004, on effort to reduce the risks of underground storage tanks to drinking water sources (PDF) (7 pp, 474K, About PDF)
On July 11, 2005, the two office directors released a second memorandum and a report that describes the accomplishments of this crossprogram initiative in its first year and outlines future goals and activities in this ongoing effort to better protect the nation’s drinking water and thus the public health.
- Joint OUST and OGWDW memo of July 11, 2005 (PDF) (3 pp, 138K, About PDF)
- Report on Protecting the Nation’s Drinking Water from Leaking Underground Storage Tanks (PDF) (7 pp, 366K, About PDF)
- Model Regional MOU (PDF) (2 pp, 96K, About PDF)
- State MOU (PDF) (4 pp, 86K, About PDF)
- Top 10 Things to Know [Bookmark] (PDF) (1 pg, 53K, About PDF)
- EPA Regional UST Program Offices
- Regional Source Water Contacts (PDF) (2 pp, 91K, About PDF)