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Bayway Refining to Pay $28,000 for Lax Spill Prevention - Company Also Agrees to $93K in Upgrades

Release Date: 1/11/2000
Contact Information: Ruth Podems, (215) 814-5540

Ruth Podems, (215) 814-5540


BALTIMORE -- Bayway Refining Co. will pay a $28,000 penalty to settle allegations that the company violated federal oil spill prevention regulations at its 35-acre Baltimore terminal, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today.

In a consent agreement with EPA, Bayway also agreed to complete two special projects, at an estimated total cost of $93,000, to improve spill prevention safeguards at the terminal -- a 31.4-million-gallon fuel storage facility located east of Baltimore near Curtis Bay.

EPA’s July 1998 complaint alleged that Bayway violated the Clean Water Act’s oil spill prevention rules by failing to maintain and inspect oil tank supports and foundations, conduct periodic integrity testing, protect buried piping, and examine and maintain exposed piping. EPA also alleged that the terminal’s "facility response plan" plan did not include required information about the company’s ability to respond to oil spills.

In February 1999, EPA ordered the company to immediately empty a 3.3-million-gallon above-ground tank after inspectors discovered significant corrosion along the foundation perimeter of the tank. Bayway has complied with this order and tested the tank’s structural integrity under EPA supervision. 

In the settlement announced today, Bayway agreed to equipment upgrades that meet or exceed federal spill prevention standards, including replacement of above-ground piping and installation of a new leak detection system beneath four tanks.

Bayway contested EPA’s allegations and asked for an administrative hearing. In the settlement papers, the company neither admitted nor denied liability for the alleged violations.