DEADLINE LOOMS: DNR REQUIRES REMOVAL OF UNDERGROUND FUEL TANKS IN MISSOURI

A man worked to test an underground tank.

A once-distant deadline for upgrading Missouri's older underground storage tanks is now just over a year away. The upgrades are costing gas stations and other owners thousands of dollars and much more if a contamination cleanup is required.

A deadline of Dec. 22, 1998, for completing the upgrades was imposed by a federal regulation that took effect in 1988. The state wrote parallel rules which cover underground storage tank (UST) systems installed before Dec. 22, 1988.

The Missouri Department of Natural Resources currently has 35 employees assigned to oversee the program of upgrading the tanks. The exact number of tanks which still need upgrading is unknown.

Upgrading can consist of installing devices which prevent or contain spills and overfill, corrosion protection for the tank or lining, and corrosion protection for the piping.

Those costs can range from a few thousand dollars to tens of thousands depending on how fancy the upgrade is.

Leaks have occurred at more than one-third of the estimated 12,000 total tank sites in Missouri, according to statistics compiled by the DNR. Many of those sites have multiple tanks, for an estimated statewide total of 35,000 registered tanks.

The usual cause of leaks is corrosion, because many of the older tanks were installed with light coatings of paint or had galvanized or bare steel pipes. They had a design life of about 10 years.

Fire, explosions and contamination of water supplies are among the dangers posed by leaks.

"We have had releases that impacted drinking water supplies and vapors in nearby basements at potentially explosive levels," said Fred Hutson, the Jefferson City-based DNR official who oversees the storage tank closure and registration program.

The regulations apply to tanks used to store petroleum or other hazardous materials which include dry cleaning fluid, antifreeze and methanol.

Statistics compiled by the DNR in April show that only about 1,200 of about 20,000 older tanks, still in use or temporarily shut down, had been equipped to meet the 1998 standards.

But Hutson says that number is low. That's partly because the DNR wasn't notified about the completion of upgrades until recently.

"Industry surveys estimate that two-thirds of the sites have met upgrade standards," Hutson said.

An estimated 13 percent of the state's older underground tanks are in Southeast Missouri, which is served by a regional office manned by four people in Poplar Bluff. One environmental consultant said he is aware of about 100 underground tanks that still need to be updated in Southeast Missouri.

Cape Girardeau Fire Marshal Tom Hinkebein said most of the sites with older storage tanks he's aware of in Cape Girardeau have been upgraded or have upgrades in the works.

The fire department is replacing two tanks at Fire Station No. 1 because the cost is cheaper than upgrading. "We would have still had 20-year-old tanks," Hinkebein said.

The city's Public Works Department is planning to upgrade its storage tanks during the next fiscal year.

Under the city's building code, the fire department has the job of testing the storage tanks and lines, monitoring installation and removals.

Dr. Ed Close, who owns an environmental consulting business in Jackson, said cleaning up an average site can cost $70,000-$100,000. He said consultants may act as go-betweens with the state and site owner and sometimes can get the cost reduced.

Most of the companies which still need to perform the upgrades are small ones, Close said.

"The big companies have already taken care of this."

Much of the cleanup cost of contamination is borne by government for those who qualify for the Petroleum Storage Tank Insurance Fund. The fund requires the owner to pay a $10,000 deductible fee.

Recent legislation expanded the fund to cover above-ground tank owners at petroleum marketing facilities and extended the deadline for applying for eligibility until the end of December.

Owners of underground storage tanks who don't meet the Dec. 22, 1998, deadline are subject to enforcement action by the state. A gasoline station could be forced to cease operations. Fines also can be imposed.

One way gas stations can delay action by the government is to temporarily cease operations and empty their tank. That would buy the owner 12 months to decide whether to upgrade or replace the tank.

"It's one way a person who couldn't get things done in time could protect themselves," Hutson said.

He said federal Environmental Protection Agency officials consider the 10-year compliance deadline to be sufficient and are not talking about extending the deadline. What's more, industry trade groups do not support an extension of the deadline because many of their members already have complied, Hutson said.

A technical assistance seminar on the program will be held from 8:30 a.m. to noon Nov. 13 at the DNR office in Poplar Bluff. Anyone wanting to attend should phone Gene Nickel at 1-(800)-361-4827.