Underground storage tanks(used to be Politics of MTBE

["Mitchell" <mitch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Regarding the discussion of MTBE/Ethanol, I'm in the gasoline
business(Exxon, Citgo & Conoco Distributor), so I have some exposure to
this stuff.  The Feds and the various States don't mandate a particular
additive, just the levels of oxygenate to be added.  MTBE is cheap and
Ethanol is political(You BET ADM poors money into Congress through PACS). 
Anyway, regarding the storage tank thing:
Some States do require double wall tanks, Florida for sure, but here in
Alabama, and in Georgia, where I also market, the four original
requirements from EPA are all that are needed:  Leak Detection, Overfill
Prevention, Spill protection, and Corrision protection.  None of these are
cheap, but the first and last are the biggies.  

Here we have a choice between fiberglass tanks, fiberglass coated steel(my
choice) or steel tanks protected with sacrificial annodes(called STiP3
tanks).
Since Florida is basically a floating state(ever dig down a couple of feet
there?) they have a VERY HIGH water table and thus the requirement for
double wall tanks.  Can be steel or fiberglass or a combination.  

We are seeing a lot of Mom and Pops go out, and the deadline is Dec. 22,
1998.  After that date, anyone putting product into a tank not meeting
standards is toast.  They aren't going after the tank owner, just the gas
companies(me).  There probably will be fines later, but no one knows for
sure.  The big kicker is that even if you want to just abandon your old
tanks, you can't, because the gov't says they have to be "closed"(gov't
speak for digging them up).  This closure can cost many thousands of 
dollars, even if the ground is not contaminated.  If it is, then you better
have a good banker friend.  Actually, many states have an insurance system
based on charging a few tenths of a cent per gallon to put into a fund to
pay for the cleanup, after a deductable($5,000 in Ala.).  After the first
million or two, the Feds pick up(Superfund) up to $10M.  I could tell you
horror stories about these closures, but I've ranted enough.  BTW, anybody
want to buy an oil company?
Bill Mitchell
'95 540i 6 sharked  

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