Legislators Tackle Tank Farm
Recent oil spills have raised alarms about storage facility.

By Julia O'Donoghue
Tuesday, December 21, 2010   

Elected officials are pursuing new regulations and tighter restrictions from the state and federal governments for a gasoline storage facility near the southeast border of the City of Fairfax and Fairfax County.

The facility, often called the tank farm, has long drawn the ire of local residents. An oil leak from the farm, where several companies store gasoline, contaminated a large swath of the Mantua community in Fairfax County during the early 1990s.

More recently, a tanker truck associated with the farm overturned corner of Pickett Road and Main Street/Route 236 and spilled approximately 4,000 gallons of oil into a local sewer drain at the end of August.
Most of the oil was cleaned up, though not before it made its way into a local creek that runs through Mantua.

A smaller spill, again involving an accident with a tanker truck, occurred about a month later in September. Earlier in 2010, the tank farm also had problems with an underground leak, during which 14,000 gallons of diesel fuel escaped into the ground.

"We are brainstorming about what we can do to make that tank farm safer. It is just not OK for these things to be happening. It is located right in the middle of a dense residential area," said Fairfax County Chairwoman Sharon Bulova (D-At-large).

U.S. REP. GERRY CONNOLLY (D-11) is seeking the assistance of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to clamp down on the facility.

"Any owner of a tank farm with this many oil spills should have either cleaned up its act or shut down, but this tank farm continues to endanger our neighborhood," wrote Connolly in a letter to Lisa Jackson, the Environmental Protection Agency’s administrator, on Nov. 18.

The congressman lives in Mantua and was president of the local Mantua Citizens Association in the early 1990s, when the farm's oil leak contaminated his neighborhood.

The congressman asked Jackson to investigate the tank farm and "take all possible steps" to prevent future oil spills. If possible, the Environmental Protection Agency should try to shut the tank farm down permanently.

"The negligence of the tank farm’s owner continues to endanger the health of everyone who lives near the tank farm, in addition to the health of the Accotink Creek watershed," wrote Connolly in his letter.

He also welcomed any suggestions for legislation he could introduce on Capitol Hill that might help get the tank farm shuttered.
According to City of Fairfax tax records, the tank farm is made up several parcels, which are each owned by different corporations. The owners of record are: TransMontaigne Products, Product Services Inc. of Denver, Colo.; Citgo Petrolium Corp., of Tulsa, Okla.; TransMontaigne Operating Company, L.P.; American Oil Company; and TRMI Holdings Inc., in care of Motiva Enterprises L.L.C.

Jim Hinkle, current president of the Manuta Citizens Association, said he was appreciative of Connolly's efforts, particularly the congressman's focus on wanting to shut down the tank farm permanently.

"We have just had multiple spills recently. During one, some of the oil ran over into our neighborhood and into people's backyards," said Hinkle.

"The fact that they have had these multiple accidents means that they need to concentrate more on what they are doing over there," he said.

Del. David Bulova (D-36) also plans to introduce legislation during the 2011 Virginia General Assembly session that would give the community more safeguards against the tank farm.

David Bulova’s first bill would call for increased penalties on tanker truck drivers that speed or engage in other reckless behavior. Bulova said several of his constituents regularly complain of tanker trucks driving too fast and running red lights along Little River Turnpike/Route 236.

"The tank farm is less than quarter of a mile away from Frost [Middle School] and Woodson [High School]. When we have an accident, it can put the students in jeopardy," said David Bulova.

The delegate also submitted another bill that would require all above-ground storage tanks at tank farms in Virginia to be upgraded.
After the Mantua spill in the early 1990s, the state required all new tank farms to use the latest technology but, ironically older tank farms, including the one in the City of Fairfax, were not obligated to purchase new equipment, he said.

According to David Bulova, the above-ground tanks at the Fairfax facility have not been improved significantly since they were first installed in the 1960s and 1970s. They also only get inspected once every 10 years.

"The capacity for those storage tanks is a million gallons or more," said David Bulova.

VIRGINIA’S DEPARTMENT of Environmental Quality is also in negotiations with the tank farm owner to impose new penalties when a leak, spill or other type of incident occurs, said Sharon Bulova.

In addition to fines, the tank farm would have to make expensive upgrades to its equipment if there was another accident.

According to Sharon Bulova, the tank farm should move all of its valves above ground, which would make it easier to tell if a leak or a spill occurs. Currently, some of its valves are below ground.

"It is a costly thing for them to make that sort of change," said Sharon Bulova.

Both county and city officials think the tank farm should be responsible for reimbursing the localities for clean up and emergency response related to an oil spill, she said.

The City of Fairfax has committed to trying to maximize the taxes and fees it can impose on the tank farm.

That money would then be used to pay for state-of-art equipment needed for tank farm-related hazards and accidents. The city would also use the revenue to step up enforcement at the facility, said Mayor Robert Lederer.

"We are looking at what the city's ability is to maximize user fees at the tank farm," he said.

"We want to make the tank farm as safe as possible," said Lederer.

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