The following PR release was issued by the US EPA today, and concerns Morris, Essex and Sussex county superfund sites.

Contact: Elias Rodriguez, (212) 637-3664, rodriguez.elias@epa.gov or John Martin, (212) 637-3662, martin.johnj@epa.gov

(New York, N.Y. – Sept. 13, 2013) On Monday, Sept. 16, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck and Congressmember Rodney Frelinghuysen and State and local officials will announce the removal of rusting and leaking drums and containers found on-site at the Radiation Technology, Inc. Superfund site located in Rockaway Township. They will also travel throughout Morris, Essex and Sussex Counties to review and assess progress on Superfund cleanups at four other hazardous waste sites. The other sites on the tour are the Mansfield Trail Dump (Byram Township), the Rockaway Borough Wellfield (Rockaway Borough), the Rockaway Township Wells (Rockaway Township) and the Caldwell Trucking Co. (Fairfield Township).

Superfund is the federal cleanup program established by Congress in 1980 to investigate and clean up the country’s most hazardous waste sites. The program was enacted in the wake of the discovery of toxic waste dumps such as Love Canal in the 1970s. It allows the EPA to clean up such sites and to compel parties responsible for the pollution to perform cleanups or reimburse the government for EPA-lead cleanups.

What: Announcement of cleanup, tour of Superfund sites with EPA Regional Administrator, member of Congress, state and local officials and subject matter experts, photo opportunities and interviews.

Who: Judith A. Enck, EPA Regional Administrator, Rodney Frelinghuysen, U.S. Congressman

When: 10:00 a.m. Monday, Sept. 16, 2013
Where: Radiation Technology, Inc. Superfund Site, Rockaway Township, NJ.

Attendees gather across the road from “Sterigenics”: 108 Lake Denmark Road, Rockaway Township, NJ 07866

Note: For the day’s full itinerary, please email: rodriguez.elias@epa.gov

From the PetroPlaza News, dated July 16, 2013:

About once a week, a curious passerby stops into Darrell MacKay’s shop in downtown Gladstone, USA, asking, “What exactly is this place?” It’s easy to see why. From the outside, it appears to be a bright, late-1940s Flying A filling station, complete with a trio of porcelain pumps and a porch swing. Inside, it’s MacKay’s motorcycle and ATV accessory shop, Cycle Express. To read the full article Click here.

From the Tulsa Newsletter, [a publication from Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI)] dated May 9, 2013

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection last week told the Petroleum Equipment Contractors Association of New Jersey that the state "currently has no plans to remove the Stage II vapor recovery requirement in the state" and "expects Stage II to be around in New Jersey for a long time."

From GamaJet’s website:

Rotary Impingement Tank Cleaning

“Gamajet’s rotary impingement tank cleaning machines combine pressure and flow to create high impact cleaning jets. Cleaning occurs at the point in which the concentrated stream impacts the surface. It is this impact and the tangential force that radiates from that point which blasts contaminants from the surface, scouring the tank interior. In conjunction with this impact, the Gamajet is engineered to rotate in a precise, repeatable and reliable, 360-degree pattern. This full-coverage, global indexing pattern ensures the entire tank interior is cleaned, every time. This combination of impact in a controlled indexing pattern results in an economic ideal, because impact is a one time investment; chemicals, temperature and time are continual, never-ending expenditures. With a short ROI, Gamajets impingement cleaning is GUARANTEED to positively impact the ultimate scorecard, your bottom line.

See more information and a cool video by clicking the "Read More"

The ALLU® Power Mixer as a means for in-situ treating of contaminated soils by mixing NJ DEP approved mixes directly into subject soils. These mixes would be dependent upon type and concentration of contaminate found. This method has the capability of reaching soil depths of 16.4 feet. However, this will not penetrate rock. Using the ALLU® Power Mixer is by far the most practical means of treatment compared to soil removal and disposal.

The Automotive Lift Institute (ALI) has introduced a national certification program to improve safety and operation of automotive truck lifts.

From the ALI website: “Proper vehicle lift certification, installation, and inspection have come under increased scrutiny in recent years by OSHA and other local, state, provincial and federal health and safety officers,” explains R.W. “Bob” O’Gorman, ALI president. “This has resulted in an increase in shops looking for qualified automotive lift inspectors. Without a national certification program in place, vehicle lift inspection companies haven’t been able to offer independent validation that their inspectors are qualified. The Lift Inspector Certification Program will provide third-party assurance that a Certified Lift Inspector has been tested and proven competent to thoroughly inspect an installed vehicle lift and report on its suitability for continued use and/or the need for maintenance or repair. We encourage all vehicle lift inspectors to demonstrate their professionalism and differentiate themselves from their competitors by getting certified.”

From the Steel Tank Institute’s newsletter comes this video showing a styrene tank explosion. This tank was “launched” from a neighboring facility and landed on the Dow site in Lavrion, Greece.

Constant vigilance when working on and around petroleum tanks and products is paramount!

The September issue of Tank Talk , published by the Steel Tank Institute, contains updates about ULSD Corrosion Concerns.

“Severe and rapid corrosion has been observed in systems storing and dispensing ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) since 2007. In addition, the corrosion is coating the majority of metallic equipment in both the wetted and unwetted portions of ULSD underground storage tanks (USTs). To investigate the problem in an objective manner, multiple stakeholders in the diesel industry, through the Clean Diesel Fuel Alliance (CDFA), funded this research project.”

Click here to read their document.

Anne Marie Gregg of Battelle, who managed this project, will present the findings at the upcoming PEI conference in Las Vegas on Oct 8, 2012 at 10:30 am.

Now that the public comment period is closed, Robert Renkes discusses what he believes the EPA will do regarding proposed revisions to strengthen the 1988 Federal Underground Storate Tank (UST) regulations. In his article which appeared in the 3rd quarter 2012 edition of the PEI Journal, Renkes provides his personal opinions based on the comments that appeared to have merit and were well supported. Comments ranged from a few sentences to 70 pages or more. The 191 public comments were submitted by UST owners/operators, manufacturers, trade associations, insurance companies, implementing agencies and other interested parties. See his entire article here.

WASHINGTON — The EPA has determined that the systems used at gas station pumps to capture harmful gasoline vapors while refueling cars can be phased out. Since 2006, vehicles are equipped to capture those emissions. This final rule is part of the Obama Administration’s initiative to ensure that regulations protect public health and the environment without being unnecessarily burdensome to American businesses, it said. Onboard refueling vapor recovery (ORVR) for capturing gasoline vapor when gasoline-powered vehicles are refueled is in widespread use throughout the highway motor vehicle fleet.

NOTE: ORVR only covers about 70% of all vehicles on the road today, meaning that fully 1/3 of all vehicles on the road do NOT have ORVR capability, and will therefore release gasoline vapors while refueling.

See the full article here.