Underground fuel storage watched closely

Underground storage tanks may be out of sight, but they’re not out of mind for businesses responsible for protecting the environment against spills or leaks of dangerous chemicals.

The nearly three-year-old electronic monitoring system employed at SB Petroleum and Sapp Bros. Truck Stop is state-of-the-art, said Jeff Johnson, general manager of SB Petroleum.

SB Petroleum is primarily a fuel wholesaler, hauling bulk supplies to area gas stations and larger farm operations. All the gas stations and some of the farming operations store fuel in underground tanks.

Sapp Bros. Truck Stop, which sells gas and diesel fuel at the retail level, maintains its own leak detection system at the facility that opened on East 23rd Street in the fall of 2005.

Operators of the leak monitoring system have a digital readout that provides figures on the overall volume of the underground tank and how much fuel can be pumped to reach the 95 percent level. The temperature and water content of the fuel are also measured.

If any of the data is out of whack, Johnson said the system sends up a red flag that alerts operators to make further checks. A tank can be filled up to 95 percent of its capacity, he said.

With millions of gallons of gasoline, oil and other petroleum products stored in underground tanks throughout the nation, leaking tanks are a major source of soil and groundwater contamination.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and state regulations are designed to reduce the risk of underground leaks, and thus avoid the costs of major cleanups.

Johnson said each underground tank is registered with state environmental officials and is inspected regularly for any violations of state or federal regulations.

SB Petroleum operates a 10,000-gallon fuel tanker and a couple of 4,500-gallon tank wagons for delivering supplies to its wholesale customers.

The supply trucks are all outfitted with high-volume automatic nozzles to guard against overfilling underground tanks or other spills. A spill kit is standard equipment on each vehicle in case there is a spill that needs to cleaned up.

The Sapp Bros. businesses are operating today with safety equipment that is just a few years old. But before moving to the east side of Columbus, the company had to retire old underground storage tanks at its midcity location.

Companies and individuals have incurred substantial costs in removing and replacing leaking underground storage tanks and in cleanup up the related contamination.

To “retire the hole,’’ Johnson said, a business has to pass state and federal tests for possible contamination before a tank site can be abandoned.

“You can’t yank them out at midnight,’’ Johnson said. “We got a clean bill of health (at the old truck stop site).’’

The removal of the old tanks includes removing the paving material covering the tanks, excavating a hole large enough to gain access to the old tanks, disconnecting any strapping and pipe connections to the old tanks, lifting the old tanks out of the hole, and properly cleaning and disposing of the old tanks.

Installation of the new tanks typically includes placement of a liner or barrier in the excavated hole, placement of the new tanks, installation of one or more leak detection systems, installation of an overfill system, connection of the tank to the pipes leading to the pumps, backfilling of the hole and replacement of the paving.

Ziegler Lp Gas & Oil Co.’s underground storage tank is a bit unique, said Jim Moser of the area company.

“We’re not the standard for what others in the industry are doing,’’ he said.

The Monroe company is required by regulators to have double-walled tanks, with leak monitoring equipment located between what is essentially a tank within a tank, Moser said.

The doubled-walled tanks are required by the state because of the tanks’ proximity to a village water well, Moser said. If fuel leaks out of the inside tank into the space between the two walls, a high-pitched, piercing whistle sounds to alert operators.

Moser joked that protecting against contamination is one reason for safety measures on underground storage tanks, but there is another.

“At $4 a gallon, you can’t afford to have a leak.’’