PHILADELPHIA — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reached three separate agreements with the U.S. Army, Navy and Air Force to settle alleged violations of underground storage tank (UST) regulations at three military bases, according to a press release.
The three bases — Fort Pickett in Blackstone, Va., Joint Base Langley-Eustis near Newport News, Va. and Joint Expenditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story in Norfolk, Va. — allegedly did not comply with federal and state environmental safeguards designed to prevent, detect and control leaks of petroleum and other hazardous substances from underground fuel tanks, the release reported.
Read more on EPA here.
Millions of gallons of petroleum products and hazardous substances are stored in USTs throughout the U.S., noted the release, and since leaking tanks are a major source of soil and groundwater contamination, EPA and state UST regulations are designed to reduce the risk of underground leaks and promptly detect and address them to minimize environmental harm and avoid the cost of major cleanups.
According to the release, the three military branches paid the following amounts to the EPA: $41,427 from the U.S. Army for allegedly failing to conduct annual fuel line leak detectors for 13 USTs at Fort Pickett; $12,709 from the U.S. Air Force for allegedly failing to conduct required annual testing of line leak detectors for nine USTs; and $8,498 from the U.S. Navy for allegedly failing to comply with required corrosion prevention safeguards for steel USTs at Joint Expenditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story.
Read the full release here.
