Posts Tagged ‘regulations’

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First Coast News

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. — The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration today announced Coomes Oil & Supply Inc. has been cited in August’s explosion at a BP gas station.

According to an OSHA news release, a delivery driver for Florida Rock & Tank Lines was refilling an above-ground gasoline storage tank that had a broken gauge.

PICTURES: BP Gas Station Explosion

The tank overflowed. Vapors then combined with heat from the running delivery truck to trigger the explosion.

The OSHA inspection found that the gas station and Florida Rock & Tank Lines refilled the tank despite the inoperable liquid level gauging system.

OSHA has proposed a $70,000 fine be leveled against Florida Rock & Tank Lines along with a citation for one willful violation.

This violation is for “failing to provide the delivery driver to determine if the storage tank had enough capacity for additional gasoline.”

A “willful violation” is one committed with intentional knowing or voluntary disregard for the law’s requirements, according to the release.

In addition to Florida Rock & Tank Lines, Coomes Oil & Supply has also been issued a citation by OSHA.  Coomes Oil & Supply has been cited for failing to provide employees and delivery drivers a mean to determine the gasoline levels in the above-ground storage tank, a “serious violation” according to OSHA.

Read the rest of the story at the source here

Too often broken gauges are ignored for years, never being repaired or replaced, the underlying danger going unnoticed.  As the story above goes to prove, the danger is all to real.  Don’t ignore that broken gauge.

In order to prevent breakage and weathering to a gauge, order a Krueger Sentry Level Gauge with the optional inner Glass Calibration and Gauge Guard.  These two components, when combined, severely limit the possibility of weathering and breakage of your liquid level gauge.

News Story REblogged by Lee Geurts

http:www.ksentry.com

• University of Nebraska – Aboveground Petroleum Storage Tanks – Safe Operating Procedure

• NFPA 30 AST Code – Aboveground Storage Tank Installation NFPA Code

• Prepaid Heating Oil Scam – http://www.heatingoil.com/blog/no-compo-for-fuel-oil-customers-0201/

• California’s Above Ground Storage Tank Act is NOW in effect! - California Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act

Blogged by Lee Geurts

www.ksentry.com

New law requires oil heat system upgrade – Boston Real Estate – Boston.com

Under a new Massachusetts oil heating law which went into effect on September 30, 2011, every homeowner with an oil heating system is required to install an oil safety valve or an oil supply line with protective sleeve in their system. The cost is approximately $150 to $350 depending on the system. The required upgrade is to prevent leaks from tanks and pipes that connect to your furnace. The upgrade will reduce the risk of an oil leak so by making a relatively small expenditure now, you can prevent a much greater expense in the future.Who Must Upgrade?
Owners of 1- to 4-unit residences that are heated with oil must already have or install an oil safety valve or an oil supply line with a protective sleeve. Installation of these devices must be performed by a licensed oil burner technician. Technicians are employed by companies that deliver home heating oil or are self-employed. It is important to note that heating oil systems installed on or after January 1, 1990 most likely are already in compliance because state fire codes implemented these requirements on new installations at that time.

Who Is Exempt? Homeowners are exempt from taking these leak prevention steps if: • the oil burner is located above the oil storage tank and the entire oil supply line is connected to and above the top of the tank OR • an oil safety valve or oil supply line with protective sleeve was installed on or after January 1, 1990, AND • those changes are in compliance with the oil burning equipment regulations; a copy of the oil burner permit from the local fire department may be used to demonstrate compliance.

www.ksentry.com

Inspectors from the state Department of Environmental Resources are ramping up efforts to find unregistered fuel storage tanks, as one local farmer discovered when he was recently fined by the DEP because he had not obtained a permit for his 8,000-gallon tank.

Why the increased scrutiny?

According to DEP spokesman Kevin Sunday, there was no one specific instance that sparked the agency’s actions to seek out unregistered fuel tanks.

“This is something that the department has been aware of for some time,” Sunday said, “and with the winter months coming up, we wanted to get everyone on board.”

The DEP’s effort, Sunday said, “is to make sure we register both in-ground and above-ground tanks that are not currently registered.”

So in October, DEP sent letters to 1,172 fuel oil providers across the state asking them to help find unregistered tanks. Fuel distributors are required to ask the tank owner to provide a DEP-issued registration certificate before any fuel (gasoline, diesel fuel or kerosene) can be placed in the tank.

“If the distributors deliver product to an unregistered storage tank, they are also liable for any damages” that may occur if fuel escapes from a leaky tank, Sunday said.

If DEP is not aware of unregistered tanks, it cannnot conduct routine inspections on them and the tanks could pose a threat to the environment if the tank or its pipes fail.

Read more: http://lancasteronline.com/article/local/543126_Got-a-permit-for-that-storage-tank-.html#ixzz1gKr8vuzo

Diesel fuel leak closes UC Berkeley’s Stanley Hall

By Robert Jordan and Sean Maher
Contra Costa Times

Posted: 12/11/2011 11:03:22 AM PST

Updated: 12/11/2011 09:31:07 PM PST

Click photo to enlarge

A university employee posts a warning sign by Strawberry Creek after a diesel fuel spill closed…

BERKELEY — Emergency crews from five different agencies spent Sunday cleaning up a diesel fuel leak that closed UC Berkeley’s Stanley Hall and seeped into nearby Strawberry Creek.

A pump valve failure for a diesel fuel storage tank for an emergency generator in the basement of Stanley Hall is being blamed for 1,700 gallons of fuel leaking into the basement and eventually into Strawberry Creek and the San Francisco Bay, according to university spokeswoman Janet Gilmore.

A campus police officer noticed an odor of diesel fuel coming from Strawberry Creek around 7 p.m. Saturday, Gilmore said. After an investigation, employees from the Office of Environment, Health and Safety discovered the leak and closed the building, which is the largest research building on campus and home to the university’s bioengineering department.

The leak was contained by 9 p.m. Saturday but an unspecified amount of fuel seeped into Strawberry Creek through pumps in the basement of Stanley Hall.

The emergency generator tank needs to constantly hold enough gas to power the building for 24 hours should there be an emergency, Gilmore said. It’s regularly tested to be sure it’s working, and as those tests use fuel, a dedicated storage tank sends the generator a top-off.

Read More Here…

If the tank was equipped with our simple Overfill Alarm, this spill would have been detected sooner or possibly avoided altogether.  A 110 DB alarm would have signaled a problem, and helped to bring attention to the equipment failure.

To see more about the Krueger Sentry Gauge Overfill Alarm and it’s variations, visit our site.

http://www.ksentry.com/alarm.htm

-Lee Geurts

Montana DEQ – Storage Tank Inspection

from Google Alerts – aboveground tank

Is the aboveground storage tank (AST) temporary or permanently removed from … Is the aboveground tank protected from vehicle impacts by posts constructed …
www.deq.mt.gov/pet/Forms/PDFS/StorageTankCkecklist.pdf

PDF is a check list provided by The Montana DEQ for AST self instpection.

Krueger Sentry Gauge can provide a high level overfill alarm (both visual and audible) to notify the person filling the tank that the fluid has reached 90 percent.  This should satisfy step eleven on the inspection shee.

See example products and documents from our website.

Level Gauge for visual indication

Overfill Alarm for audible indication

PDF for ordering instructions on gauges for the purpose of Overfill alert.

Committed to streamlining the operation and performance of risk …

Above Ground Storage Tank Regulations. Changes to the aboveground storage tank (AST) regulations were effective April 14,. 2011. Changes were made to …
www.cdphe.state.co.us/op/wqcc/…/SB181arDOPS2011.pdf

www.ksentry.com

Vermont’s Above Ground Storage Tank Rules

What is required for new tank installations?
All new tank installations must have….
http://www.vermontfuel.com/ASTfaqs_files/VTsabovegroundstoragetankregs.pdf