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Stonington, Maine Company Fined for Oil Spill Prevention Violations

Release Date: 10/28/2008
Contact Information: David Deegan, (617) 918-1017

(Boston, Mass. – Oct. 28, 2008) - An oil distribution company will pay $8,000 for failing to adequately prepare and implement Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) plans at two of its Stonington, Maine facilities.

An inspection by EPA and the Maine Dept. of Environmental Protection found that R.L. Greenlaw’s oil storage facilities in Stonington had failed to fully implement adequate SPCC plans for two sites – on Sea Breeze Avenue and Indian Point Road. The company failed to maintain sufficiently impervious secondary containment for its oil tanks at both locations and failed to construct adequate containment for the loading and off-loading areas at the Sea Breeze Avenue facility, which are adjacent to the harbor. The two facilities also lacked adequate security measures, which are required by the EPA regulations to prevent unauthorized access to oil storage containers.

Following EPA’s inspection and contacts with the company, R.L. Greenlaw submitted and has begun implementing corrective action plans for both facilities. These plans include liquid-tightness tests at the Sea Breeze Avenue site to identify leaking areas in the containment walls and floor, dike repairs, and construction of poured concrete spill containment areas for the oil transfer areas.

Spill prevention and control laws help ensure that a tank failure or spill does not lead to oil being released into surface waters, such as harbors, rivers or streams. The regulations require that certain spill prevention and response measures be implemented at facilities that store oil above threshold amounts. Both R.L. Greenlaw oil storage facilities are located directly adjacent to Penobscot Bay, thus posing a threat to the Bay if spills were to occur.

EPA continues to focus on oil spill prevention in New England. Since 2007, EPA has conducted inspections at well over 100 facilities in New England to determine their compliance with the Oil Pollution Prevention regulations. This action contributes to EPA's record-shattering enforcement results for the 2008 Fiscal Year. Nationwide this year, EPA has concluded enforcement actions requiring polluters to spend an estimated $11 billion on pollution controls, clean-up and environmental projects, an all time record for EPA. After these activities are completed, EPA expects annual pollution reductions of more than three billion pounds.

More information:

- Federal oil spill prevention requirements (epa.gov/oilspill/spcc)
- Oil Spill prevention in New England (epa.gov/region1/superfund/er/oilstor.htm)

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