January 26, 2017
By:
Walter G. Wright
Category:
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Arkansas Environmental, Energy, and Water Law
Download PDF
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) and Severy Coop Bulk Petroleum Facility (“SCBPF”) entered into a January 18th Expedited Settlement Agreement (“ESA”) addressing alleged violations of the Clean Water Act Spill Prevention Control Encounter and Countermeasure (“SPCC’) regulations.
SCBPF is stated to operate oil storage tanks in Severy, Kansas.
The ESA alleges that SCBPF violated SPCC Regulations implementing Section 311 (j) of the Clean Water Act.
The regulatory requirements allegedly violated included:
- No plan amendments if the facility has had a change in:design, construction, operation or maintenance which affects the facility’s discharge potential
- Plan has inadequate or no facility diagram
- No inspection records were available for review
- No training on the operation and maintenance of equipment to prevent discharge and/or facility operations
- No training in discharge procedure protocols
- No training on the applicable pollution controls laws, rules and regulations, and/or SPCC plan
- Spill Prevention Briefings are not scheduled and conducted at least annually
- Starter controls on pumps are not locked in the “off” position or located at a site accessible only to authorized personnel when pumps are not in a non-operating or standby status
- Inadequate secondary containment, and/or drainage does not flow to catchment/basin/treatment system, or quick drainage system
- Secondary Containment appears to inadequate
- Above ground tanks are not subject to visual inspection
- Above ground valves, piping and appurtenances are not inspected regularly
The ESA assesses a penalty of $3, 425.
A copy of the ESA can be downloaded below.
The Between the Lines blog is made available by Mitchell, Williams, Selig, Gates & Woodyard, P.L.L.C. and the law firm publisher. The blog site is for educational purposes only, as well as to give general information and a general understanding of the law. This blog is not intended to provide specific legal advice. Use of this blog site does not create an attorney client relationship between you and Mitchell Williams or the blog site publisher. The Between the Lines blog site should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state.