ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Legal Newsline) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Oct. 31 that Shoreside Petroleum Inc. paid $89,000 after allegations of violating federal clean air rules designed to prevent toxic air pollution at the company’s fuel terminals in Seward and Cordova, Alaska.
Shoreside Petroleum self-disclosed the alleged violations to EPA, stating that since 2005 the facilities had failed to install vapor capture and control systems on the Seward loading rack and on storage tanks at both terminals, failed to limit gas loading to vapor-tight tank trucks, and failed to check for leaks in the gasoline service equipment during loading. The self-disclosure allowed the company to qualify to EPA’s Self-Audit Program, significantly reducing penalties.
In addition to paying the penalty, Shoreside Petroleum will commit $402,000 to the installation and testing of pollution controls.
“To protect the health of their workers and the surrounding community, bulk gasoline terminals need to have pollution controls in place to prevent the release of harmful gas vapors, a known source of air toxics,” said Ed Kowalski, director of EPA Region 10's Office of Compliance and Enforcement. "Operating bulk gasoline terminals without the required pollution controls and monitoring for leaks are serious violations that we enforce aggressively.”