On 1 September this year the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001 come fully into force and will affect all industrial, commercial, or institutional sites that externally store at least 200 litres of oil in drums, intermediate bulk containers, or fixed tanks.1,2 Affected companies need to be fully prepared. Miles Hillman explains how.
Oil is used in large quantities throughout business and industry, so it requires an extensive storage and distribution system if widespread loss and pollution are to be avoided. The opportunities for spilling, or otherwise releasing oil into the environment are probably greater than for any other type of chemical pollutant. The main causes of oil pollution are loss from storage facilities, spillage during delivery, and deliberate disposal of waste oil to drainage systems.1 Poor bunding is a prime example of inefficient storage that, as from 1 September, will no longer be acceptable to the Environment Agency.
Although oil pollution does affect land, the vast majority of incidents affect the water environment.1 An ‘empty’ 45-gallon drum contains, on average, one gallon of residual oil. This can spread to cover an area of water equivalent to two football pitches. One litre of spilled or leaked solvent is enough to contaminate 100 million litres of drinking water.
Many drains lead directly to rivers, streams, or lakes. If oil is allowed to enter these drains it has the same effect as pouring it directly into the watercourse. Highly visible, even at low concentrations, oil pollution can make drinking water unusable, harm wildlife and, if released into groundwater, cause long-term damage.
Water watch
In an effort to protect the environment from oil spills, the Water Resources Act 1991 and the Groundwater Regulations 1998 have made pollution of controlled waters a criminal offence. In addition, the Environment Agency regulates the largest and most complex industrial processes through the Integrated Pollution Prevention Control (IPPC) regime.
The Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001 were brought into force on 1 March 2002, after which minimum standards were required to avoid spillage to ground or drains, as well as a regular checking regime to ensure continual compliance. All new installations (installed after 1 September 2001) with capacity to store more than 200 litres of kerosene, gas oil, diesel, petrol, vegetable, synthetic, or mineral oil had to comply with the new Regulations. Existing oil stores “at significant risk”, i.e. within 10m of a watercourse or 50m of a well or borehole, were given a further two years to comply. Now the last remaining deadline is impending: all remaining oil stores and secondary containers must comply by 1 September 2005.3
Bunding exercise
The Regulations state that oil must be stored in a container that is of sufficient strength and structural integrity to ensure that it is unlikely to burst or leak in its ordinary use.3 The container must be situated within a secondary containment system, more commonly referred to as a catchpit, or bund. Some storage tanks are now produced with the secondary containment manufactured as part of the tank, but bunds are mainly constructed from concrete or masonry and must comply with certain guidelines.4
Under the Regulations, a bund must comply with the following minimum requirements:
* It must have a capacity of not less than 110 per cent of the container’s storage capacity, or not less than 110 per cent of the largest container’s storage capacity if there is more than one container within the bund, or 25 per cent of their aggregate storage capacity, whichever is the greater;
* The bund must be positioned, or other steps must be taken, so as to minimise any risk of damage by impact, so far as is reasonably practicable;
* Its base and walls must be impermeable to water and oil;
* Its base and walls must not be penetrated by any valve, pipe or other opening that is used for draining the system;
* If any fill pipe, or draw-off pipe penetrates its base or any of its walls, the junction of the pipe with the base or walls must be adequately sealed to prevent oil escaping from the system.
Even the slightest movement in the bund walls can lead to cracking, which can subsequently lead to oil permeating through the walls, or leaking on to the floor, causing a potential hazard. Plant life growing in a bund is a clear indication that it is not impermeable. This is not acceptable to the Environment Agency. In order to bring bunds into compliance with the legal standards by 1 September it may be necessary to repair, reconstruct and/or reline the bund.
Spill risks
In addition to the risk of environmental damage, oil spilled on to the floor area of a commercial or industrial workplace can lead to increased risk of slips for people working or walking in the vicinity. Slips and trips are the most common cause of major injuries at work. The HSE reports that, on average, slips and trips cause two fatalities a year, while 33 per cent of all reported major injuries are caused by a slip or trip.5 This costs employers around £512m and the health service £133m a year.
The motor vehicle repair and associated industries, in which oil storage and use is prevalent, have fatal and ‘all injuries’ accident rates higher than the average for the whole of manufacturing. Between 1997 and 2002, slips and trips due to poor housekeeping and failure to promptly clear up oil/water spills accounted for around 20 per cent of some 8000 injuries reported to the HSE and Local Authorities by businesses where the main activity was motor vehicle repair.6
Accidents do happen so, in addition to the provision of spill prevention equipment, spill control should be a major consideration. Spill kits or spill control products should be easily accessible and provided in addition to secondary containers, and for areas where such containers are not required. All staff should undertake emergency spill response training, so they are aware of best practice in an emergency. Training sessions should ideally allow trainees to participate in the simulation of spills, deployment of equipment, spill response procedures, and after-spill analysis. Discussions should cover spill prevention and control issues, and how easily environmental damage and health and safety risks can be caused by oil and fuel spills.
Conclusion
In readiness for the enforcement of The Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001, companies should ask themselves if their oil storage facilities meet all the minimum standards. Simple and cost-effective solutions can minimise health and safety risks to workers and help avoid environmental damage, large fines, adverse publicity, environmental clean-up costs, and the loss of high-value liquids in the event of an accidental spill.
Oil pollution facts and figures
* Oil and fuel account for around 5000 pollution incidents every year – more than a quarter of all pollution incidents in the UK7
* Oil is the most frequently reported type of pollutant of inland waters7
* Enforcement action taken by the Environment Agency in 2002 led to 1700 successful claims, resulting in a total fine amount of £3.65m
* In 2003, fuel and oil was responsible for 160 of the most serious (category 1 and 2) water pollution incidents
* On average, an oil spill costs a typical business up to £30,000 in fines, clean-up charges and production losses1
* The Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001 aim to reduce the number of significant oil pollution incidents by 50 per cent.
Tank without bund leads to fine from The Environment Agency
On 4 January 2005 the Environment Agency received reports of diesel on the River Maun in Mansfield. Two Agency officers attended the scene and inspected the river downstream of the point where the pollution had been reported. The general manager at a nearby building materials company confirmed to the officers that there had been a delivery of diesel to the site that morning. On inspection, the holding tank did not have a bund and a hole was found in the delivery pipe. The ground sloped away from the tank toward the river. Those responsible for the pollution pleaded guilty and were fined £5000 and ordered to pay £1595 costs.8
References
1 The Environment Agency: The Environment Agency’s Role/The Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001
2 The Environment Agency: ‘Blue River costs the lives of 2400 fish – directors to pay £12,000′, news report dated 28 Oct 2004 (see www.environment- agency. gov.uk/news)
3 The Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001, HMSO (see http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/si/
si2001/20012954.htm)
4 CIRIA Report 163 – to order, visit www.ciria.org/acatalog/R163.html; The Environment Agency’s Pollution Prevention Guideline PPG26 is specifically related to oil storage; and PPG02 is related to bund construction. See www.environment-agency.gov.uk/ business
5 Health & Safety Executive – see www.hse.gov.uk/slips/index.htm
6 HSE: Health and Safety in Motor Vehicle Repair – see www.hse.gov.uk/mvr/ index.htm
7 The Environment Agency NetRegs – see www.environment-agency.gov.uk/netregs
8 The Environment Agency – ‘Diesel pollution costs building suppliers more than £6500′, news report dated 24 Jan 2005 (see www.environment-agency. gov.uk/news)
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