Oil Company to Pay for Inadequate Spill Prevention Controls
Inergy Propane, LLC will pay $157,500 for failing to adequately prepare and implement federally regulated oil spill prevention, control, and countermeasure (SPCC) plans at four of their heating oil distribution facilities in New Hampshire.
The Inergy facilities were originally inspected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the N.H. Department of Environmental Services as part of an effort to improve compliance at oil storage facilities that could pose a threat to water supplies. The inspections found that while Inergy Propane LLC had developed SPCC plans, it was not meeting all of the federal prevention requirements and not fully implementing the plans at each site.
The four Inergy facilities in New Hampshire have a combined oil storage capacity of about 360,000 gallons and are located in Atkinson, Brentwood, Derry, and Hampstead. Inergy operates approximately a dozen facilities across New England that are subject to federal oil spill prevention and control regulations.
Following EPA’s inspection and contacts with the company, Inergy had been responsive to the requests to bring its facilities into compliance. Under the terms of the settlement, Inergy also committed to ensuring that all of its regulated New England facilities are in full compliance by July 1, 2009.
For more information, visit epa.gov/oilspill/spcc or epa.gov/region1/superfund/er/oilstor.htm.