FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Release
Contact:
Kane Smart, Enforcement and Litigation Attorney, Agency of Natural Resources
802-272-7245, Kane.Smart@vermont.gov
Montpelier, VT (October 7, 2022) – The Agency of Natural Resources Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) announced today that Fred’s Plumbing & Heating, Inc., a fuel oil delivery business based in Derby, was fined $9,000 for violations of the Vermont Aboveground Storage Tank Rules.
Vermont’s Aboveground Storage Tank (AST) Rules protect human health and the environment by establishing standards for the design, installation, and inspection of all AST systems. For example, they require that AST systems be inspected immediately after the initial delivery of fuel to the AST system. Inspectors are also required to affix a red tag to any AST system that does not comply with the inspection standards to prevent future fuel oil deliveries to non-compliant tanks. Both requirements minimize the potential of spills from faulty AST systems. Vermont law prohibits the spilling of hazardous materials like fuel oil to the environment.
In May 2021, the company did not inspect an AST system after completing its initial delivery of fuel oil to a residence in Morristown. Over the next few days, more than 100 gallons of fuel oil was released to a basement floor drain through a pinhole leak in the system. Remediation activities following the spill resulted in the removal of approximately 48 tons of petroleum-contaminated soils and other materials. In a separate incident in 2020, while inspecting an AST system in Waterbury, the company failed to affix a red tag to an AST system that did not meet the inspection standards in the AST Rules. Fuel deliveries continued.
“Reducing the number of spills of hazardous materials lowers the threat and impact of petroleum products on human health and the environment,” says DEC Commissioner John Beling. “Properly inspecting AST systems is critically important to reducing the number of spills because inspections can identify problems before the release happens.”
Fred’s Plumbing & Heating, Inc., agreed to a fine of $9,000 for the violations. This agreement was incorporated into a Final Order of the Vermont Superior Court, Environmental Division, on October 3, 2022.
Visit https://dec.vermont.gov/waste-management/storage-tanks/aboveground for more information about inspection requirements for AST systems. For information about spills of hazardous materials, visit https://dec.vermont.gov/waste-management/spills.
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