Fuel from leaking storage facilities is one of the greatest threats to the quality of the nation's ground water resource. Half of our population depends on ground water for drinking. In rural areas, more than 90% of the residents depends on ground water. Most farms utilize some form of bulk fuel storage while at the same time drawing their drinking water from a private well in the same vicinity. As a result, a fuel leak poses a threat to the quality of the farm family's drinking water, to their neighbors, and to the community.
Threats from fuel spills and leaks, with both aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) and underground storage tanks (USTs), include:
EPA estimated at one time that nearly 25% of the underground fuel storage tanks in the U.S. may be leaking. If an UST is more than 20 years old, especially if it's not protected against corrosion, the potential for leaking increases dramatically. Newer tanks and piping can leak too, especially if they weren't installed properly.
Preventing spills and leaks at storage tanks is especially important since gasoline, diesel, and fuel oil can move rapidly through the soil into ground water and because petroleum is composed of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including some of the most carcinogenic compounds known. An unrestricted gasoline leak of one drop per second releases about 400 gallons per year. A few quarts of gasoline in the ground water may be enough to severely pollute a farmstead's drinking water. At low levels, fuel contaminants in water may not be detected by smell or taste, yet seemingly pure water may be contaminated to the point of affecting human health.
Clean up of contaminated soil and a ground water system may involve the excavation of soil and the pumping of large volumes of water. Contaminated soils must be disposed in a hazardous waste facility, or, in some situations, may be conditioned using approved bioremediation techniques. Contaminated water must be treated and either returned to the ground water system or a surface stream. Excavation, disposal, and treatment are expensive operations and should be done under the supervision of proper regulatory authorities. The owner of the fuel storage facility is responsible for all costs associated with the clean up of a fuel spill or leak.
Choosing a method to store farm fuel used to be fairly simple. But as farm sizes and quantities of fuel to be stored have increased, the decision has become less straight-forward - the trade-offs are more difficult to assess.
Modern fuel storage facilities should be built with safeguards to prevent contamination of water resources. Underground facilities need leak detection and monitoring devices. These features provide early detection of leaks, thus enabling the owner or operator to stop the leak before significant environmental damage has occurred. Aboveground storages need secondary containment systems. These provide a barrier that prevents the movement of fuels to ground water and bodies of surface water. It also provides emergency storage until the leaking fuel can be pumped to a secure container.
Most existing farm fuel storage facilities do not have leak detection devices for USTs or secondary containment structures for ASTs. Existing steel underground storage tanks have a service life of roughly 20 years. Most of these have no protection from corrosion, so it is just a matter of time before they begin to leak. The federal government has set rules that require the addition of leak detection, corrosion protection, and spill/over fill prevention to existing USTs greater than 1,100 gallons. Retrofitting USTs may require excavation of tanks and other costly procedures. As a result, many older tanks are simply being replaced with new tanks which meet the regulatory requirements.
[Note -- Many farms have USTs for fuel that are 1100 gallons or less in size - and do not fall under these regulations. Even so, farmers operating these tanks should seriously consider replacing these existing USTs with modern USTs that have leak detection, corrosion protection, and spill/overfill protection, or with AST facilities.]
Farm fuel in ASTs may also be subject to federal regulations set for other types of businesses - depending on the size of the tank(s) and the environmental consequences that might result from a catastrophic tank failure. These rules have been set for ASTs greater than 660 gallons (or more than 1320 gallons for multiple-tank sites) where a "major release could reasonably be expected to reach the waters of the United States."
In different parts of the country these various rules and regulations concerning the on-farm storage of fuels (used for farming) may come under the authority of one or more administrative agencies or jurisdictions. In Indiana, for instance (at this time), the environmental rules for ASTs over 660 gallons are administered by EPA Region 5, while the fire-explosion rules which apply to farm fuel storage are the responsibility of the State Fire Marshal's Office. Rules for USTs over 1100 gallons are administered by the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM), while the program for certified contractors (for fuel storage installation, removal, etc., both UST and AST) is carried-out by the State Fire Marshal's Office.
While the federal government has set minimum standards for state regulations, some state rules may be even more strict - check with local and state authorities before installing and/or modifying farm fuel storage facilities. Though the new rules may focus almost entirely on environmental concerns, rules about fire and explosion hazards are still just as important and must be followed to safeguard against the possibility of personal injury and property damage.
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