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Puerto Rico Land Authority Will Pay $50,000 For Underground Storage Tank Violations

Release Date: 06/01/1998
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(#98062) San Juan, P.R. -- The Puerto Rico Land Authority (Autoridad de Tierras de Puerto Rico) has agreed to properly remove all underground storage tanks at its facilities island-wide and will pay a $50,000 penalty for violating federal underground storage tank regulations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.

The Puerto Rico Land Authority is a commonwealth government agency that provides parcels of land for farming in Puerto Rico. The Authority, which maintains numerous gasoline filling stations for agricultural machinery, has failed to provide leak detection for underground storage tanks at four stations located in Manati, Arecibo, Barceloneta, and Santa Isabel Puerto Rico, and failed to close and remove underground storage tanks at one station in Barceloneta. The requirement to permanently close tanks that are out of use is designed to substantially reduce the possibility of a release from an old storage tanks. EPA issued a complaint to the Puerto Rico Land Authority in May 1997 citing these violations.

"It is very important that underground storage tank owners follow the regulations, because if they neglect the tanks, the owners may be poisoning their community's groundwater or surface water -- possibly its drinking water," said EPA Region 2 Administrator, Jeanne M. Fox. "EPA has made every effort to help facilities understand and comply with the regulations, and we have an aggressive enforcement program against those who don't. The Puerto Rico Land Authority certainly did not follow the regulations, but we now have them on the right track."

Under EPA regulations that took effect December 22, 1988, owners of underground storage tanks were required to install leak detection devices. Compliance deadlines varied with the age of the tanks, but all tanks had to have detection devices installed by December 22, 1993. In April 1995, the Puerto Rico Land Authority notified the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico that the underground storage tank at one Barceloneta station was "not in use." According to the regulations, this tank should have been closed and removed within 12 months of the notification and it was not.

For more information contact:
Richard Cahill, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3666 FAX: 212-637-5046 E-Mail: [email protected]