Volume XIII, Edition 5

May 1, 2013

GATEKEEPER NEWSLETTER
Arizona Emergency Response Commission
5636 East McDowell Road
Phoenix, Arizona 85008-3495

Lou Trammell, Chair

Janice K. Brewer, Governor
http://www.governor.state.az.us/

http://www.dem.azdema.gov/
Mark Howard, Executive Director
http://www.azserc.org

Inside this
issue:
EPA Settles with
Hydrofarm, Inc. for
Selling Unregistered
Pesticides:

2

Bio-diesel Fuel Company Owner Sentenced to 188 Months
in Federal Prison for
Crimes Connected to
Illegal Fuels Scheme:

4

EPA Announces
Chemicals for Risk
Assessment in 2013,
Focus on Widely
Used Flame Retardants:

6

Big Spills From Aging Oil Pipelines:

8

White House Advances Controversial
Nuclear Incident
Response Guide:

10

Companies Fined
$10.4 Million for
Environmental
Crimes:

12

Senators Propose to
Revamp TSCA with
Safe Chemicals Act:

14

Big Spills From Aging Oil Pipelines:
By Daniel Gilbert - WSJ
Seam Failures From Old, Outmoded Welds Are Under Study
After Exxon and Chevron Lines
Rupture
Recent pipeline ruptures, including
one at an Exxon Mobil Corp.
XOM -2.89%pipeline that caused a
major oil spill in Arkansas last
month, are raising fresh questions
about the safety of pipes made decades ago using obsolete welding
techniques.
Though the industry stopped making what is known as lowfrequency, electric-resistance
welded pipe by about 1970, it still
accounts for more than a quarter of
the 182,500 miles of liquid fuel
pipelines across the U.S., according
to federal data for 2011, the latest
available.
The accidents come as federal
regulators are examining whether
state-of-the-art inspection methods
are capable of detecting flaws in
these old pipe seams. A U.S. regulator has commissioned a study of
old, substandard pipe that could
help shape new rules.

In the Exxon rupture and another on a Chevron Corp.
CVX -2.89%pipeline in Utah
last month that spilled 600
barrels of diesel near the
Great Salt Lake, segments of
the pipes were made about 60
years ago by bending metal
sheets to form a tube, then
heating the edges with a lowfrequency electric current to
weld them lengthwise. Such
welds can leave defects in
seams that make them vulnerable to corrosion and cracks,
risks that have been known
for decades.
The Chevron pipeline appeared to split along the
welded seam, according to
federal regulators. A Chevron
spokesman said while the
investigation continues,
"Initial indications are that the
release may have been the
result of a longitudinal seam
failure in the pipeline."
The Exxon pipeline gushed
about 5,000 barrels of crude

into a residential neighborhood
through a 22-foot, incision-like
break.
"It clearly looks like a seamtype failure," Rick Kuprewicz,
a Seattle-based pipeline-safety
consultant, said after seeing
photographs of the Exxon rupture.
Exxon spokesman Alan Jeffers
said the company hasn't reached
any conclusions on the cause of
the pipeline failure and is
awaiting a third-party review of
the ruptured section, which was
removed on Monday.
"If we felt there was a problem
we would have done something
else, but in hindsight clearly
there was an issue," Mr. Jeffers
said of the company's safety
tests.
Continued on page 8

Page 2

EPA Corner

GATEKEEPER

EPA Settles with Hydrofarm, Inc. for Selling Unregistered
Pesticides:
Company to Pay $316,000 in Fines
SAN FRANCISCO – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced a settlement with Hydrofarm, Inc.
for selling two unregistered pesticides in
violation of federal pesticide law. As part
of the settlement, the Petaluma, Calif.based Hydrofarm, Inc., one of the nation’s
largest distributors of agricultural and hydroponic supplies, has agreed to pay
$316,000 in fines and has stopped selling
both products.
“This action is part of EPA’s effort to protect agricultural employees and consumers
from pesticide products that are not approved by the federal government,” said
Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “It is
critical that companies selling pesticides
provide users with the information they
need to safeguard their health and the environment.”
Hydrofarm sold sulfur to control mildew

through vaporization in greenhouses
without any instructions or precautionary language to minimize risks to
individuals from exposure to the
product. EPA has not yet evaluated
the human health risks associated
with the use of vaporized sulfur in
greenhouses.
The company also sold “Nutralife
Plant Products H2O2”— a 29 percent
hydrogen peroxide product used to
sanitize and disinfect hydroponic
equipment and growing areas—
without adequate directions for use
and safety precautions. Registered
products with similar hydrogen peroxide concentrations require users to
wear protective clothing. Hydrogen
peroxide at this concentration can
cause irreversible eye damage and
skin burns, and may be fatal if inhaled and harmful if swallowed or
absorbed through the skin.

The inspection at Hydrofarm was conducted by EPA staff. Hydrofarm was
targeted based on a tip resulting from a
California Department of Pesticide
Regulation inspection at a separate
hydroponic store.
Before selling or distributing any pesticide in the United States, companies
must register the pesticide with the
EPA. The domestic sale or distribution
of pesticides that have not been registered with the EPA, such as the two
unregistered pesticides sold by Hydrofarm, is a violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide
Act, which ensures the safe and appropriate distribution, handling, and application of pesticides.
For more information on EPA’s pesticide registration process, please visit:
http://www.epa.gov/opp00001/
regulating/registering.

Ethanol producer to pay $136,500 for risk management
and chemical reporting violations at Aberdeen and Huron,
S.D. facilities:
(Denver, Colo.,) – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced today that Advanced BioEnergy, LLC,
based in Bloomington, Minn., has agreed
to pay penalties totaling $136,500 to settle
claims related to violations at its Huron
and Aberdeen, S.D. ethanol production
facilities. The violations are related to the
facilities’ risk management programs and
the failure to properly file Toxic Release
Inventory (TRI) forms detailing with the
use and management of chemicals.
“Risk management plans help prevent and
reduce the impacts of potentially catastrophic accidents involving flammable and
toxic chemicals,” said Mike Gaydosh,
EPA enforcement director in Denver.
“These plans, along with timely reporting
about the use of chemicals, are vital to
keeping workers and communities
safe. Advanced BioEnergy has been re-

sponsive in correcting the violations
and coming into compliance, and we
will continue to ensure they do so.”
EPA inspections conducted in January, 2012 found that Advanced BioEnergy’s ethanol plants had deficiencies in their Risk Management Plans
associated with the use and storage of
hazardous chemicals. Under the
Clean Air Act, facilities like the
Huron and Aberdeen ethanol plants
are required to have viable plans in
place to reduce the risks associated
with toxic and/or flammable chemicals. These plans help companies,
industries and municipalities operate
responsibly and assist emergency
responders by providing vital information necessary to address accidents
and other incidents. By agreeing to
the settlements, the company has

agreed to come into compliance with
federal risk management program
regulations within 180 days.
Advanced BioEnergy also failed to
accurately file TRI forms detailing the
chemicals processed, manufactured or
used at its facilities. These forms are
required under the federal Emergency
Planning and Community Right to
Know Act. EPA’s actions are expected
to encourage better compliance with
TRI reporting requirements and to ensure that residents and responders have
complete information about chemicals
present in their neighborhoods. This
information also supports health studies based on the TRI database and
helps federal, state, and local authorities plan for cleaning up industrial pollution spills.

Volume XIII, Edition 5

Page 3

EPA Survey Finds More Than Half of the Nation’s River and
Stream Miles in Poor Condition:
WASHINGTON — Today, the
U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency released the results of
the first comprehensive survey
looking at the health of thousands of stream and river miles
across the country, finding that
more than half – 55 percent –
are in poor condition for aquatic
life.
“The health of our Nation’s
rivers, lakes, bays and coastal
waters depends on the vast network of streams where they
begin, and this new science
shows that America’s streams
and rivers are under significant
pressure,” said Office of Water
Acting Assistant Administrator
Nancy Stoner. “We must continue to invest in protecting and
restoring our nation’s streams
and rivers as they are vital
sources of our drinking water,
provide many recreational opportunities, and play a critical
role in the economy.”
The 2008-2009 National Rivers
and Stream Assessment reflects
the most recent data available,
and is part of EPA’s expanded
effort to monitor waterways in
the U.S. and gather scientific
data on the condition of the Nation’s water resources.

EPA partners, including
states and tribes, collected
data from approximately
2,000 sites across the country. EPA, state and university scientists analyzed the
data to determine the extent
to which rivers and streams
support aquatic life, how
major stressors may be affecting them and how conditions are changing over
time.
Findings of the assessment
include:
- Nitrogen and phosphorus are at excessive levels.
Twenty-seven percent of
the nation’s rivers and
streams have excessive
levels of nitrogen, and 40
percent have high levels of
phosphorus. Too much nitrogen and phosphorus in
the water—known as nutrient pollution—causes significant increases in algae,
which harms water quality,
food resources and habitats,
and decreases the oxygen
that fish and other aquatic
life need to survive. Nutrient pollution has impacted
many streams, rivers, lakes,
bays and coastal waters for
the past several decades,
resulting in serious environ-

mental and human health issues, and impacting the economy.
- Streams and rivers are at
an increased risk due to
decreased vegetation cover
and increased human disturbance. These conditions
can cause streams and rivers
to be more vulnerable to
flooding, erosion, and pollution. Vegetation along rivers
and streams slows the flow of
rainwater so it does not erode
stream banks, removes pollutants carried by rainwater and
helps maintain water temperatures that support healthy
streams for aquatic life. Approximately 24 percent of the
rivers and streams monitored
were rated poor due to the
loss of healthy vegetative
cover.
- Increased bacteria levels.
High bacteria levels were
found in nine percent of
stream and river miles making
those waters potentially unsafe for swimming and other
recreation.
- Increased mercury levels.
More than 13,000 miles of
rivers have fish with mercury
levels that may be unsafe for
human consumption. For

most people, the health risk
from mercury by eating
fish and shellfish is not a
health concern, but some
fish and shellfish contain
higher levels of mercury
that may harm an unborn
baby or young child's developing nervous system.
EPA plans to use this new
data to inform decision
making about addressing
critical needs around the
country for rivers, streams,
and other waterbodies. This
comprehensive survey will
also help develop improvements to monitoring these
rivers and streams across
jurisdictional boundaries
and enhance the ability of
states and tribes to assess
and manage water quality
to help protect our water,
aquatic life, and human
health. Results are available for a dozen geographic
and ecological regions of
the country.
More information: http://
www.epa.gov/
aquaticsurveys

GATEKEEPER

Page 4

Bio-diesel Fuel Company Owner Sentenced to 188 Months in
Federal Prison for Crimes Connected to Illegal Fuels Scheme:
Jeffrey Gunselman also fined $175,000
and ordered to pay nearly $55 million in
restitution
WASHINGTON — Jeffrey David Gunselman, 30, was sentenced today by U.S.
District Judge Sam R. Cummings to 188
months in federal prison, fined $175,000
and ordered to pay more than $54.9 million in restitution, following his guilty plea
in December 2012 to an indictment charging 51 counts of wire fraud, 24 counts of
money laundering and four counts of making false statements in violation of the
Clean Air Act.
“Today’s sentence is the second significant penalty against an alleged bio-diesel
producer who in fact produced no fuel at
all,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement
and Compliance Assurance. “These cases
demonstrate that EPA and our law enforcement partners have and will catch
criminals who defraud federal programs
and the American people by falsely selling
renewable fuel credits.”
“I commend the excellent investigative
work done by special agents and investigators with EPA’s Criminal Investigation
Division and the U.S. Secret Service in
this complex fraud case,” said U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña.
Gunselman admitted that from September
2010 to October 2011, he devised a
scheme to defraud the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by falsely representing that he was in the business of producing bio-diesel fuel, yet Gunselman did

not have a bio-diesel fuel-producing
facility. Instead, Gunselman’s business operation consisted of falsely
generating renewable fuel credits and
selling them to oil companies and
brokers. He instructed purchasers to
wire payments to a bank account he
solely controlled, and as a result,
approximately $41,762,236 was deposited into that account.
Gunselman was the owner of Absolute Fuels, LLC, dba Absolute Fuels,
LLC (Absolute Fuels), which he
formed in April 2009. He was also
named as Governing Person and/or as
Registered Agent for other business
entities associated with Absolute
Fuels, LLC, including Absolute Fuels, LLC; Absolute Milling, LLC;
Ellipse Energy, LLC; 21 Investments,
LLC; and YGOG Holdings, LLC.
However, Gunselman admitted that
these entities are solely alter egos of
himself, as an individual, as he alone
owns, manages, directs and controls
each of them and each has no separate and distinct existence from him.
From September 2010 to midOctober 2011, Gunselman conducted
51 fraudulent transactions, which
were transmitted by wire communications, that represented to the EPA
that bio-diesel fuel had been produced at the Absolute Fuels facility
in Anton, Texas, when in fact, no bio
-diesel fuel had been produced. This
ultimately resulted in Gunselman

requesting and receiving payments, by
electronic funds transfer, of approximately $41,762,236.
During the same time period, Gunselman engaged in monetary transactions
in criminally derived property by purchasing real and personal property
valued at approximately $12 million
with the funds derived from the wire
fraud. Included in that property are:
several vehicles, including a Bentley,
Mercedes-Benz, Lexus, Cadillac and
Shelby Cobra; a Patton Military Tank;
a Gulfstream airplane, professional
basketball season tickets and corporate
sponsorship; and agricultural, business
and residential real estate.
The false statements convictions stem
from Gunselman making material false
statements to the EPA, falsely claiming
and representing that bio-diesel fuel, a
renewable fuel, had been produced,
generating renewable fuel credits,
when Gunselman well knew that no
bio-diesel fuel had been produced.
The case was investigated by the EPA
Criminal Investigation Division and
the U.S. Secret Service.
More information about EPA’s criminal enforcement program: http://
epa.gov/enforcement/criminal/
index.html
More information about RFS enforcement: http://www.epa.gov/
enforcement/air/renewable-fuels/fuelnovs.html

4 arrested in alleged debit card scheme:
WABC 7 New York City –
(New York) 4 arrested in alleged debit card scheme.
Four individuals were arrested
in New York City for allegedly

stealing more than $300,000
using fraudulent debit cards.
Source: http://
abclocal.go.com/wabc/story?

section=news/local/
new_york&id=9038333

Volume XIII, Edition 5

Page 5

Hazmat team responding to chemical spill at Hayward
business:
HAYWARD, Calif. —
The Alameda County sheriff's
hazardous materials team responded to a chemical spill at a
Hayward business Monday
morning, a fire captain said.
About 3 or 4 liters of hydrochloric acid spilled onto a counter
and the floor at the offices of
Forensic Analytical at 3777

Depot Road, around 8:20
a.m., Hayward fire Capt.
LaShon Earnest said.
According to the company's
website, Forensic Analytical is a lab that analyzes
asbestos, lead-based paint,
metals, hazardous waste,
mold and other materials.
The spilled chemicals, of-

ten used for pool cleaning, got
onto an employee's shoe, but
he was not harmed, Earnest
said.
The six employees in the office were evacuated, and
nearby businesses were told
to have their employees stay
inside, Earnest said.

The hazmat team entered
the building around 10 a.m.
to neutralize the chemical,
and the scene was expected
to be cleared by around 11
a.m., Earnest said.

New Revisions to Mercury and Air Toxics
Standards, Proposed Revisions to Oil and Gas
Storage Tank Standards:
.EPA has issued updates to
pollution limits for new power
plants under the mercury and
air toxics standards, based on
new information and analysis
that became available to the
agency after the rule was finalized.
The updates are largely technical in nature and will have no
impact on the sensible, achievable, and cost-effective standards already set for existing
power plants. The public
health benefits and costs of the
rule remain unchanged. EPA
estimates that the standards,
which will protect the health
of millions of families, especially children, will prevent as
many as 11,000 premature
deaths and 4,700 heart attacks
every year. The standards will
also help America’s children
grow up healthier—preventing

130,000 cases of childhood
asthma symptoms and about
6,300 fewer cases of acute
bronchitis among children each
year.
The updated standards only
apply to future power plants
and do not change the types of
pollution control technology
that plants would install. The
updates ensure that emissions
limits are achievable and that
pollution levels can be measured continuously.
EPA’s mercury and air toxics
standards are the first national
standards to protect American
families from power plant emissions of mercury and toxic air
pollution like arsenic, acid gas,
nickel, selenium, and cyanide.
EPA considered dozens of public comments from a range of
stakeholders, including industry

and environmental groups, as part
of the public process to update
the new source standards.
Also on March 28, 2013, EPA
proposed updates to the agency’s
2012 performance standards for
storage tanks used in oil and natural gas production. The proposed
changes reflect recent information showing that more highervolume storage tanks will be
coming on line than the agency
originally estimated and would
provide storage tank owners and
operators additional time to comply with a requirement to reduce
volatile organic compound emissions while equipment to reduce
those emissions is being manufactured. EPA will take comment
on the proposal for 30 days after
it is published in the Federal Register and will hold a public hearing if requested.

GATEKEEPER

Page 6

CAMEO Companion is now available for printing please contact:
State of Arizona Department of Corrections
Dirk Johnson, Account Manager
3107 W. Cambridge Avenue
Phoenix, AZ 85009
602-272-7600 Ext. 207
Toll Free: 800-992-1738
Fax: 602-272-1007
Cell: 602-388-7230
djohnso1@azcorrections.gov

EPA Announces Chemicals for Risk Assessment in 2013, Focus on
Widely Used Flame Retardants:
WASHINGTON – Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced it will begin assessments on 23
commonly used chemicals, with a specific
focus on flame retardant chemicals, in
order to more fully understand any potential risks to people’s health and the environment. This effort is part of the Toxic
Substances Control Act (TSCA) Work
Plan which identifies commonly used
chemicals for risk assessment.
Americans are often exposed to flame retardant chemicals in their daily lives;
flame retardants are widely used in products such as household furniture, textiles,
and electronic equipment. Some flame
retardant chemicals can persist in the environment, bioaccumulate in people and
animals, and have been shown to cause
neurological developmental effects in animals.
“EPA is committed to more fully understanding the potential risks of flame retardant chemicals, taking action if warranted,
and identifying safer substitutes when possible,” said James J. Jones, Acting assistant administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.
“Though today’s announcement represents
a significant step forward on chemical
safety, it’s important to remember that
TSCA, this country’s chemicals management legislation, remains in dire need of

reform in order to ensure that all
Americans are protected from toxic
chemicals in their environment.”
EPA will begin evaluating 20 flame
retardant chemicals, conducting full
risk assessments for four of the flame
retardants, three of which are on the
TSCA Work Plan, and one that was
the subject of an Action Plan development under TSCA. In addition, we
are assessing eight other flame retardants by grouping flame retardants
with similar characteristics together
with the chemicals targeted for full
assessment. EPA will use the information from these assessments to
better understand the other chemicals
in the group, which currently lack
sufficient data for a full risk assessment.
EPA will also begin analyzing how
eight of the 20 flame retardant chemicals transform and move in the environment. These chemicals were selected because they are likely to persist in the environment, bioaccumulate in people and/or have high exposure potential, but there are not adequate data to conduct full risk assessments.
During its review of data on flame
retardant chemicals in commerce,

EPA also identified approximately 50
flame retardant chemicals that are
unlikely to pose a risk to human health,
making them possible substitutes for
more toxic flame retardant chemicals.
As EPA develops its draft risk assessments, the agency will use information
that is available through a wide range
of publicly available data sources. EPA
also encourages submission of additional relevant information on these
chemicals, such as unpublished studies
and information on uses and potential
exposures. This information should be
submitted by May 30, 2013, to ensure
that it is included in the agency’s review.
Submit relevant information on these
chemicals or find more information on
TSCA Work Plan and flame retardant
chemicals for risk assessment:
http://www.epa.gov/oppt/
existingchemicals/pubs/
workplans.html
A full list of the chemicals announced
for further assessment is available
here: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/
existingchemicals/
pubs/2013wpractivities.html

Volume XIII, Edition 5

Page 7

U.S. EPA, Hawaii Department of Health fine ship repair
co. more than $700,000 for water pollution violations:
HONOLULU – The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency and the Hawaii State
Department of Health announced today
their settlement with Marisco Ltd. including civil penalties of $710,000 for water
pollution control violations at its ship repair and drydock facilities at Kalaeloa
Barbers Point Harbor on Oahu. This is the
largest Clean Water Act civil penalty
against a ship repair facility nationwide.
The settlement, a consent decree, was
lodged with the U.S. District Court for the
District of Hawaii and is subject to a 30day public comment period and court approval.
“To protect Hawaii’s precious coastal waters and coral reefs, ship repair facilities
must have pollution controls in place,”
said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional
Administrator for the Pacific Southwest.
“Our action will help improve Oahu’s water quality by having Marisco redesign its
operations to comply with federal law."
"Our Clean Water team is committed to
guarding the quality of Hawaii's waters,"
said Gary Gill, Deputy Director, Environ-

mental Health Administration,
Hawaii State Department of
Health. "We work hand-in-hand
with EPA to perform the tough
field work necessary to protect
Hawaii's people and the island
environment from pollution."
EPA’s complaint against Marisco
finds that the company failed to
implement water pollution controls required by its Clean Water
Act discharge permit at its main
ship repair facility and at its separate 3,500 metric ton “Lil’ Perris”
floating drydock. During an inspection in 2008, EPA and Hawaii
DOH observed storage of leaking
equipment, workers washing
down work areas directly into the
harbor, and sandblast material
from Marisco’s operations discharged into the harbor.
In addition to the civil penalties,
the settlement requires Marisco to
use clean water to wash the drydock after paint removal and sand-

blasting, collect the water used for
washing, and treat it to ensure that it is
not discharged when the drydock is
lowered into the harbor.
EPA and DOH’s actions will ensure
that Marisco’s discharges meet the
Clean Water Act permit effluent limits,
particularly for copper and zinc.
Marisco must treat and dispose the
water used for washing the drydock in
accordance with federal, state and local
laws and ordinances. These actions
should result in the reduction of about
295 pounds per year of copper, 94
pounds per year of zinc, 14 pounds of
solids and 8 pounds of oil and grease
to the harbor waters.
The consent decree may be viewed at:
www.justice.gov/enrd/
Consent_Decrees.html
For more information, please visit:
http://www.epa.gov/region9/water/
npdes/compliance.html, http://
www.epa.gov/region9/water/npdes/
index.html

Ore. hazmat teams prepared for fertilizer
chemical spill: by KGW staff
.PORTLAND – Fire crews in
Portland and around the state
keep up with specialized
hazmat training just in case of
an event like Wednesday's
fertilizer plant explosion in
West, Texas.
The state fire marshal said
dozens of businesses in Oregon store dangerous chemicals used to make fertilizer.
There are 13 hazmat teams in
Oregon are equipped and
trained to deal with those dan-

gerous materials.
There’s also an emergency
planning committee in Portland
where firefighters meet with
businesses that carry hazardous
materials to come up with a
game plan on how to respond to
an incident similar to the one in
Texas.
“The scariest thing is the unknown. With hazardous materials like Ammonium Nitrite, it's
dynamic. It's continually changing, so it's our job to do the

research and plan for it before it
goes high energy like that and
that would be the ultimate solution for that,” said Capt. David
Davies with Portland Fire Bureau
The state keeps a close eye on
this list of fertilizer manufacturers
and how the chemicals are stored
and transported. If things do go
wrong, however, teams are prepared to act quickly.

Page 8

LEPC Corner

GATEKEEPER

Big Spills From Aging Oil Pipelines:
By Daniel Gilbert - WSJ

It isn't clear from federal records how often obsolete welds
play a role in accidents. Of the
1,151 accidents on liquids pipelines since 2010 reported to
federal regulators, 78% don't
show what kind of weld was
involved, and 85% don't show
when the pipe was manufactured, according to a Wall Street
Journal review of government
data. The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration says most of the accidents involved very small spills,
or weren't related to pipe welds,
so operators weren't required to
furnish detailed information
about them.
But the number of pipeline
accidents has been rising; the
364 accidents on liquids pipelines last year were the most
since 2008, but fewer than in
2002, according to federal data.
The threat of substandard welding "seems to be rearing its ugly
head again," said Carl Weimer,
a pipeline-safety advocate and
executive director of nonprofit
Pipeline Safety Trust. "The issue is how well are companies
mitigating for that risk?"
A spokesman for the Association of Oil Pipe Lines says old
pipe is safe as long as it is well-

maintained, and that spills
are relatively rare.

when placed back in service,
Battelle says.

Federal regulators have
questioned the adequacy of
inspection methods that
failed to reveal problems
with these pipes before
major explosions, including
a 2007 blast in Mississippi
that killed two people and
injured seven.

The other chief testing
method involves running a
robotic device through the
interior of the pipe to detect
any anomalies. This device,
commonly called a "smart
pig," has at times failed to
catch flaws that later resulted
in a rupture.

The welds are such a concern that PHMSA, the pipeline regulator, in 2011 commissioned a $4.2 million,
multiyear study of electricwelded pipes and how to
prevent them from failing
while in use.

"Neither of them is foolproof," said Brian Leis, a researcher leading Battelle's
study. "Both are better than
one."

Battelle Memorial Institute,
which is conducting the
study, has analyzed 280
cases in which electricwelded pipes failed between 1950 and 2005, including 55 failures while
the pipe was in use. The
nonprofit research group
says the surest way to identify a weld defect is to
pump water through the
pipe at high pressure. Such
tests are costly, requiring a
company to shut down the
line, and in some cases apparently led to failures

Chevron last pressure-tested
the pipeline that ruptured in
Utah in 1987, and inspected it
internally in 2009. Exxon
conducted a pressure test on
its Arkansas pipe in 2006,
according to regulators. It
conducted an internal inspection in 2010 that didn't find
any significant anomalies, and
another one in February, but
hasn't received the results,
regulators say.
By 1970, most pipe manufacturers began using a highfrequency current to weld,
which produced seams less
prone to fractures, according
to a Battelle report submitted
to federal regulators in Sep-

tember.
Last July, a pipeline carrying gasoline in southeastern Wisconsin split along
an old electric-welded
seam, spilling about 1,000
barrels and prompting the
evacuation of two homes.
The operator, West Shore
Pipeline Co., reported a
second rupture in August
on an similarly antiquated
seam. It pressure-tested
both pipelines more than a
decade ago, and performed
several different internal
inspections on them between 2009 and 2012.
Both pipelines were running at or above the maximum pressure determined
to be safe, and one was
significantly corroded, according to federal records."We are continuing
to consistently re-evaluate
our programs, and consistently look to further test
our lines to maintain them
safely and operate them
safely," said Patrick D.
Hodgins, a spokesman for
Buckeye Partners LP,
which controls West Shore
Pipeline.

Volume XIII, Edition 5

Page 9

NOAA Software Protects Responders to Chemical Hazards,
Spills:
Newly updated software from NOAA and
experts at Dow Chemical could provide
emergency workers responding to hazardous chemical spills more and better information about the chemical reactions they
may encounter.
The free software, known as the Chemical
Reactivity Worksheet, predicts potential
hazards from mixing chemicals. This significant update is the result of a two-yearlong collaboration between NOAA chemical response specialists and technical experts at Dow Chemical.
“This innovative collaboration between
industry and government scientists has
produced a valuable tool that addresses
reactive chemical hazards,” said Jim Farr,
NOAA chemist and project coordinator.
“We hope this effort paves the way for
other projects that enhance our understanding of chemical hazards and lead to a
safer work environment for the chemical
industry, and especially those who respond
to chemical incidents.”
“We’ve greatly appreciated the opportunity to partner with NOAA on this and see
this as a win-win for everyone,” said Dave

Gorman, Dow chemist and project
leader. “This collaboration has allowed us to merge a number of best
practices and tools used within Dow
with the very powerful Chemical
Reactivity Worksheet tool. The result
is a much more powerful and versatile tool that we hope will become the
gold standard within industry for
determining chemical compatibility.”
The Chemical Reactivity Worksheet,
currently for Windows only, is available for download. Versions for Mac
and iOS will be available soon. The
work was done as part of NOAA and
the EPA’s joint development of a
larger software suite, which provides
valuable emergency response and
planning tools for releases of hazardous materials.
The Chemical Reactivity Worksheet
provides information about 5,200
chemicals, each assigned to one or
more “reactive groups” of chemicals
which may create a hazard if they
come in contact with certain substances. The user creates a virtual
mixture of chemicals, which could

include the chemicals involved in a
hazardous incident or stored in a laboratory, warehouse, or transport vehicle,
and the program predicts the possible
hazards, including fire or explosion,
from mixing all possible pairs of those
chemicals.
This latest release of the software increases the number of reactive groups,
allowing for better predictions of potential chemical reactions, and expands
the description of reactive chemicals.
The program now also includes an
alert for possible gases released from a
chemical mixture, as well as information on the compatibility of common
absorbents used in response to spills of
hazardous chemicals.
In addition, managers of chemical facilities and university chemistry departments now can add chemicals
unique to their facilities, enabling them
to further customize their evaluations
of potential hazards.

VSkimmer trojan steals card data on point-of-sale
systems:
SC Magazine – (International)
VSkimmer trojan steals card
data on point-of-sale systems. A new trojan called
VSkimmer is capable of infecting Windows systems and

stealing financial information
from any point of sale (PoS)
devices attached to infected
systems. VSkimmer appears to
be similar to the Dexter PoS
malware and to spread via

USB devices. Source: http://
www.scmagazine.com/
vskimmer-trojan-steals-carddata-on-point-of-sale-systems/
article/285725/

GATEKEEPER

Page 10

White House Advances Controversial Nuclear Incident
Response Guide:
The White House has cleared the
way for a controversial guide on
responding to nuclear incidents that
is expected to relax long-held
cleanup standards, prompting watchdog groups to call for Senate scrutiny of the matter during hearings on
Gina McCarthy's nomination to
become the next Environmental
Protection Agency administrator.
The White House Management and
Budget Office completed its review
of the Environmental Protection
Agency’s protective action guidance
for radiological incidents on Friday,
according to the OMB website.
While the document is not yet public, it is widely expected to suggest
cleanups do not have to comply with
public health guidelines established
during the 1980s by the EPA Superfund program.
One of the Obama administration’s
first actions upon taking office in
January 2009 was to halt publication
of a Bush-era draft of the document.
The earlier version suggested people
could drink water contaminated with
radiation levels thousands of times
above what the Environmental Protection Agency would normally
allow following an incident such as
a radiological “dirty bomb” attack or
a nuclear power plant accident. It
also embraced a loosely defined
approach to cleanup called
“optimization,” under which stakeholders would be permitted to develop unique remediation standards
for a given incident rather than follow Superfund rules.
The Obama White House now backs
optimization, according to a recently
completed draft report sponsored by
the Homeland Security Department.
This has alarmed nuclear watchdogs,
particularly since the report suggests
optimization would permit annual
radiation doses that could cause as
many as one in about 20 people to
develop cancer over a 30-year period. In a worst-case scenario, EPA
rules do not typically allow a cancer

risk greater than one in 10,000
during this time frame.
Given the findings of the DHS
report, nuclear watchdogs say
they expect the EPA guide will
suggest that following its own
Superfund rules is not necessary in all cases. A version of
the EPA guide floated internally during President Obama’s
first term included such language, and activists say the
findings of the DHS report
show the White House approves such statements.
Activists would have preferred
that the EPA guide continue to
languish in a state of perpetual
review, but now that it has been
cleared by the White House
they are pushing the Senate to
scrutinize the issue when it
considers Gina McCarthy’s
nomination to become the
agency’s next administrator.
McCarthy, who as assistant
administrator for air and radiation was responsible for overseeing revisions of the guide, is
due to appear before the Senate
Environment and Public Works
Committee on April 11.
“The responsibility is shared
between the EPA officials who
did not stand up for strong
environmental protection and
the White House which has
been eager to show its tilt toward industry when it comes to
environmental protection,” said
Daniel Hirsch, president of
Committee to Bridge the Gap,
which led some 60 public interest groups against the Bush-era
version of the guide in 2008.
A spokeswoman for Senate
Environment and Public Works
Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) did not
respond to a request for comment. White House and EPA
officials also did not respond to
requests for comment by press

time.
Activists, meanwhile, are calling
for the private National Council
on Radiation Protection, which
organized the drafting of the report on optimization on behalf of
the Homeland Security Department, to extend its public comment period for the document.
The present deadline is Thursday,
but activists are asking that it be
pushed back 60 days after learning of it from reports in Global
Security Newswire.
“It has just come to our attention
that this extensive and potentially
highly influential NCRP document is available for public review and comment,” 16 watchdog
groups, including Physicians for
Social Responsibility, Friends of
the Earth and the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, said
in a Monday letter. “It is clearly
intended to serve as an influential
recommendation that will affect
the regulations that protect the
public from ionizing radiation. To
our knowledge, the public and
public interest groups have not
been included in the development
of this document despite many of
us actively interacting for decades
in the issues it covers.”
Activists have previously raised
concerns about the makeup of the
panel that drafted the report.
While the document discusses the
Superfund cleanup approach extensively, no experts from the
EPA office that works on the
program directly were included on
the panel. Instead, representatives
of the agency’s radiation and
emergency management offices –
which have routinely argued
against the Superfund approach –
were selected to participate as
consultants or advisers.
The draft report argues that the
2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan
demonstrated that abandoning
normal EPA standards is neces-

sary in some cases. The DHS
report says the disaster contaminated an area the size of
Connecticut and, it claims,
showed that cleaning up as
thoroughly as the U.S. government usually requires would
not be possible.
Activists have challenged this
argument, noting that many
dirty bomb scenarios the DHS
report and the pending EPA
guide address would affect
areas substantially smaller than
those traditional Environmental Protection Agency
standards have been applied to
in the past. The normal EPA
benchmarks have been used at
hundreds of sites, including
nuclear weapons facilities
owned by the Energy Department, mining grounds stretching across hundreds of square
miles and the urban areas affected by the 2001 attacks on
New York and Washington.
A major concern of not only
activists, but also some EPA
and state government officials,
is the precedent a federal document allowing for relaxed
remediation standards in a
wide range of radiological
scenarios could set for routine
cleanups. Private companies
and government officials are
already arguing against using
the Superfund approach at
several radiological sites, including the Santa Susana Field
Laboratory in California and
an area of in central Florida
where EPA officials fear some
40,000 people living on former
phosphate mines may be exposed to dangerous levels of
radiation.

Volume XIII, Edition 5

Page 11

McCreary County Schools closed due to chemical spill on US
27:
McCREARY COUNTY, Ky. (WKYT/
WYMT)- McCreary County Schools are
closed Friday, due to the danger posed by
a chemical spill on U.S. 27.
A tractor trailer crashed Thursday evening
and spilled hazardous material in Southern
Kentucky. As a result, the highway has
been closed well into Friday morning.

The McCreary County Sheriff says that
the truck was trying to make a sharp
turn Thursday when it flipped on its
side. This caused the truck to spill hazardous material all over the roadway.
Investigators say the truck spilled ten
gallons of sodium hydroxide solution.
Haz-mat units were called to the scene

to clean up the spill and flush out the
hazardous material.
No one was hurt in the crash, but U.S. 27
has been shut down between Highway
700 and Highway 90. As of 6:30 AM on
Friday, there was still no word as to
when the road would be re-opened.

Colorado Springs unveils new Emergency Operations Center:
by Andrea Sinclair
THE GAZETTE
The City of Colorado Springs Office of
Emergency Management on Monday unveiled a new Emergency Operations Center
and celebrated achieving conditional accreditation from the Emergency Management Accreditation Program, making it the
ninth municipality in the nation to be
awarded the elite status.
The $300,000 EOC is a central command
and control facility from which emergency
operations can be directed and coordinated.
It is responsible for the strategic overview
of a disaster and making operational decisions.
Representatives from city, county and state
agencies were in attendance for Monday’s
grand opening, which came on the heels of
the release last week of the city’s afteraction review of the Waldo Canyon fire.
“This was in the works prior to Waldo
Canyon, although we incorporated some
lessons learned from that crisis,” Director

of Emergency Management Bret Waters
said. “We have all new technology and
new computers, because one of the issues we ran into was slow computers.
It’s a dedicated facility and the activations are much quicker.”
Full accreditation of the center is anticipated next month.
The State of Colorado contributed
$100,000 to the dedicated, permanent
Emergency Operations Center; other
partners included Colorado Springs
Utilities, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, El Paso County Public Health, Memorial and Penrose hospitals, American
Red Cross, Fort Carson and Peterson Air
Force Base.
Colorado Springs Police Chief Pete
Carey said the EOC’s main purpose is to
be a 24-hour facility that is ready to go
whenever a disaster or crisis hits the city
and surrounding communities.
“I am very proud of the city’s response,
both from the police and fire depart-

ments, in the wake of the Waldo Canyon
fires,” Carey said. “The EOC is really
going to help every agency communicate
better and allocate our resources as efficiently as possible.”
The EOC also will serve as a training
facility for law enforcement and emergency response personnel for all partner
agencies, Carey said. The center will
provide accountability to ensure anyone
assigned to handle a crisis knows their
exact role, Carey said.
The EOC drafted specific procedures
and policies to dictate response initiatives to emergencies.
“We have policies for each agency in
terms of priority and order of activation
and which agencies are supposed to respond together,” Waters said. “There are
activation plans for each position, who
they coordinate with and who they report
to, ensuring accountability and efficiency. We exercise and train here every
month.”

Minnesota oil spill: Canadian train derails, spilling
30,000 gallons of crude in U.S:
Reuters – (Minnesota) Minnesota
oil spill: Canadian train derails,
spilling 30,000 gallons of crude in
U.S. A train operated by Canadian
Pacific Railway Ltd. derailed and

leaked up to 30,000 gallons of
crude in western Minnesota. Authorities are investigating the incident which was the first major spill
during the massive expansion of

crude shipment by rail in the U.S.
Source: http://
www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/28/
minnesota-oil-spill_n_2967118.html

Page 12

Industry Corner

GATEKEEPER

Companies Fined $10.4 Million for Environmental Crimes:
Two shipping firms based in
Germany and Cyprus recently
pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of justice charges and violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships related to the
deliberate concealment of vessel
pollution from four ships that
visited US ports in New Jersey,
Delaware, and Northern California, announced the Department
of Justice Environment and
Natural Resources Division, the
US Attorney’s Offices in New
Jersey and Delaware, and the
US Coast Guard.
US Attorney for the District of
New Jersey Paul J. Fishman and
US Coast Guard Deputy Commander of the Delaware Bay
Sector Capt. Todd Wiemers
announced the plea agreement—which includes a $10.4
million penalty, $2.6 million of
which will be used address environmental damage caused by
Hurricane Sandy—at a press
conference in Newark, New
Jersey.
According to a multi-district
plea agreement arising out of
charges brought in the District
of New Jersey and District of
Delaware, Columbia Shipmanagement (Deutschland) GmbH
(CSM-D), a German corporation, and Columbia Shipmanagement Ltd. (CSM-CY), a
Cypriot company, have agreed
to pay a $10.4 million penalty
and be placed on probation for
four years. During probation,
the companies will be subject to
the terms of an environmental
compliance program that requires outside audits by an independent company and oversight
by a court appointed monitor.
The shipping firms admitted
that four of their ships (three oil
tankers and one container ship)

had intentionally bypassed
required pollution prevention equipment and falsified
the oil record book, a required log regularly inspected by the US Coast
Guard. The case is the largest vessel pollution settlement in either New Jersey
or Delaware. The guilty
pleas were entered before
US District Judge Susan D.
Wigenton in Newark federal court. Sentencing is set
for June 24, 2013.
“Deliberate pollution and
intentional falsification of
ship records to hide environmental crimes are serious offenses. These reprehensible actions not only
damage the marine environment, but also put law
breakers at a competitive
advantage over those who
respect the law and play the
by rules” said Ignacia S.
Moreno, Assistant Attorney
General for the Justice Department’s Environment
and Natural Resources Division. “We intend to send
a message with these prosecutions that those engaged
in deliberate despoiling of
our precious natural resources will be vigorously
prosecuted.”
“We in New Jersey are as
sensitive as anyone to the
need to preserve the shoreline,” said US Attorney for
the District of New Jersey
Paul J. Fishman. “Shipping
companies who foul the
water by deliberately discharging oil and lying
about it to the Coast Guard
can expect to be prosecuted.”

“This prosecution is a fine
example of multi-district cooperation in enforcing federal
environmental law and
achieving a just sentence,”
said US Attorney for the District of Delaware Charles M.
Oberly III.”
“This was a case of willful
pollution and deliberate falsification of records designed to
deceive the Coast Guard,”
said Captain David Fish,
Chief of Investigations for the
Coast Guard. “It takes both
resources and a culture of
compliance to abide by the
law. We are hopeful that the
remedial measures required as
part of this criminal conviction will have a positive impact on these companies and
serve as a message to other
maritime companies as to
what is expected.” The proposed $10.4 million penalty
includes $2.6 million in organizational community service payments to assist the
coastal maritime environment
in New Jersey and Delaware
damaged by Hurricane Sandy.
The plea agreement directs
the funds to environmental
projects that will be selected
by the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation to help conserve, preserve, and restore
the coastal environment of
New Jersey and Delaware hit
by Hurricane Sandy.
The investigation into the M/
T King Emerald was launched
on May 7, 2012, after several
crew members provided cell
phone photos and other evidence to Coast Guard officers
conducting a routine inspection. The King Emerald was
engaged in various types of
illegal discharges of bilge

waste dating back to at
least 2010. In pleading
guilty, the defendants admitted that illegal discharges of both sludge and
oily bilge waste were discharged at night off the
coast of Central America,
including a discharge
within the Exclusive Economic Zone of Costa Rica
where a national park is
located. The ship’s second
engineer pleaded guilty
previously and will be sentenced in Newark on April
3, 2013.
The Delaware investigation
began in October 2012,
after several crew members
of the M/T Nordic Passat
provided the Coast Guard
with a thumb drive containing photographs and video
showing how illegal discharges had been sent overboard through the ship’s
sewage system. They also
alleged that sludge had
been put into the ship’s
cargo tanks and that logs
showing sludge had been
incinerated onboard had
been falsified. The charges
involving the M/V Cape
Maas stem from a whistleblower report to the Coast
Guard when the ship visited the port in San Francisco. He provided a video
showing the operation of
the oily water separator
pumping overboard without the use of the oil content monitor to detect and
prevent oil from being illegally discharged.
Continued on next page.

Volume XIII, Edition 5

Page 13

Companies Fined $10.4 Million for Environmental Crimes: Cont.
Just two weeks prior to the
plea, the defendants and their
attorneys disclosed violations
on a fourth ship, the M/T Cape
Taft that was then anchored in
New York waters and destined
for New Jersey. After the ship
disclosed problems to the company, an internal investigation
revealed that the ship’s oily
water separator had been used
improperly for some time. Instead of sensing a sample of
overboard discharges, it was
instead flushed with fresh water by the crew. The ship’s oil
record book was revised by
CSM-D to reveal 16 instances
where it was false. The defendants cooperated with the investigation and provided the
government with video replays
of the oil content monitor
showing when the crew had
“tricked” the sensor with fresh
water.
In pleading guilty, the defendants have admitted the following in a detailed joint factual statement filed in court:
The King Emerald oil tanker
used three different methods to illegally dispose of
oily bilge waste. In April

2012, approximately
five tons of oily waste
was discharged in the
exclusive economic
zone of Costa Rica approximately 45 miles
from a national park.
At least three chief engineers and the second
engineer were involved
in illegal discharges and
intentional falsification
of the oil record book
for the King Emerald. In
one instance, the oily
water separator was
operated solely for the
purpose of generating
data on the ship’s electronic recording device
to account for an illegal
discharge that had already taken place.
During the Coast Guard
boarding in Carteret,
New Jersey, the second
engineer lied to inspectors and then hid a valve
used to make illegal
discharges in an overhead space on the ship.
Oil contaminated bilge
waste was illegally
pumped overboard from
the M/T Nordic Passat

on the orders of the chief
engineer and second engineer with a portable pump
and “magic hose” that was
draped down three levels
of the engine room to
dump overboard through
the sewage system.
Illegal discharges have been
made from the M/T Nordic
Passat since 2006 by
“tricking” the sensor designed to detect oil with
fresh water during overboard discharges on a
regular and routine practice by or at the direction
of the chief engineer and
second engineer. As a result, virtually every discharge totaling approximately 2,000 tons of unmonitored and oil contaminated bilge waste
were discharged into
ocean waters illegally and
in violation of MARPOL
over at least a six year
period and all of the corresponding entries in the oil
record book were false.
During the Coast Guard
boarding of the Nordic Passat, senior ship engineers
lied to the Coast Guard and

told lower level crew
members to lie.
On the M/V Cape Maas, a
container ship, the manufacturer’s seal on the oil
content monitor had been
broken and fresh water
had been used to trick the
sensor.
The plea agreement sets
forth the counts charged as
to each defendant in each
district including six counts
involving three vessels in
New Jersey and four counts
involving one ship in Delaware. The guilty pleas include violations of the Act
to Prevent Pollution from
Ships for failing to maintain
an accurate oil record book;
obstruction of justice, and
making false statements.
The maximum penalty for
each of these felony offenses is $500,000 or up to
twice the gross gain or loss
from the offense for a corporation.

Former Kearny councilman charged in $13M
mortgage fraud scam:
Jersey Journal – (New Jersey)
Former Kearny councilman
charged in $13M mortgage
fraud scam. The FBI arrested
and charged a former Kearney

councilman for involvement in
an alleged mortgage fraud
scheme that used straw buyers
to obtain $13 million. Source:
http://www.nj.com/jjournal-

news/index.ssf/2013/03/
former_kearny_councilman_charg
.html

Page 14

GATEKEEPER

Senators Propose to Revamp TSCA with Safe Chemicals Act:
Recently, Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Senator Kirsten
Gillibrand (D-NY), joined by 27
Senators, introduced the “Safe
Chemicals Act of 2013,” a landmark bill that seeks to protect
families in America from exposure to harmful chemicals. The
bill mirrors legislation that
passed out of the Environment
and Public Works Committee in
the 112th Congress.
The “Safe Chemicals Act of
2013” seeks to protect families
from exposure to harmful chemicals. The crucial proposal would

overhaul the outdated Toxic
Substances Control Act
(TSCA) of 1976, by
strengthening the authority
of the EPA to learn more
about the safety of chemicals and limit their use if
they pose a threat to public
health and the environment.
“From Maine to Florida,
Oregon to Minnesota, 29
Senators are standing with
the 77% of Americans who
support reform that will
protect us from toxic chemicals before they enter our

homes and workplaces,” said
Andrea Delgado, Legislative
Representative for Earthjustice. “We applaud Senator
Lautenberg and Senator Gillibrand for leading the charge to
safeguard the health and safety
of all families in America and
urge their colleagues in Congress to follow suit.”
Along with Sen. Lautenberg
and Sen. Gillibrand, cosponsors of the bill include
Senators: Schumer (D-NY),
Durbin (D-IL), Murray (DWA), Boxer (D-CA), Udall (D

-NM), Baucus (D-MT),
Mikulski (D-MD), Bennet
(D-CO), Klobuchar (DMN), Franken (D-MN),
Tester (D-MT), Whitehouse
(D-RI), Feinstein (D-CA),
Blumenthal (D-CT), Cowan
(D-MA), Sanders (I-VT),
Warren (D-WA), Harkin (D
-IA), Merkley (D-OR), Wyden (D-OR), Cardin (DMD), Leahy (D-VT), Menendez (D-NJ), Schatz (DHI), Nelson (D-FL),
Cantwell (D-WA), and
King (I-ME).

How to Tell If Your UST is Leaking:
You should suspect a leak when you discover
any of the following warning signals:

• You, your co-workers, or customers
smell escaped product or see anything like an
oily sheen on water near the facility.
• Your neighbors complain of vapors in
their basements or about water that tastes or
smells like petroleum.
• Someone reports unusual operating conditions at your facility, such as erratic behavior of the dispensing pump.
You receive or generate results from leak
detection monitoring and testing that indicate
a leak.
If you suspect that a release may have occurred, you must immediately notify your
state or local implementing agency. If your
tank is in Indian Country, you must contact
EPA's regional UST program office. Quick
action on your part can minimize the extent
of environmental damage and the threat to
human health and safety, and it can minimize
your share of the high costs that can result
from cleaning up extensive releases and responding to third-party liability claims.
UST Leak Detection
The leak detection requirements for storage
tanks containing petroleum products or hazardous chemicals are quite extensive and
technical. UST systems must provide a
method or combination of methods that can

detect a release from any portion of the
tank and any underground piping that
routinely contains product. The leak
detection system must be installed, calibrated, operated, and maintained in
accordance with the manufacturer's
instructions.
The storage tanks must be designed and
operated with spill and overfill protection systems to prevent leaks and to
protect the groundwater from contamination.
UST Best Management Practices: Leak
Detection
Leak Detection Requirements for
ASTs
There is no uniform federal program
that regulates aboveground storage
tanks (ASTs). A complex overlapping
network of miscellaneous federal statutes and regulations directly or indirectly governs tanks as well as local
requirements imposed by state and local
authorities. For the most part, the applicable rules are determined by tank content, size, and location.
Owners and operators of certain ASTs
used for the storage of petroleum products are required to prepare a spill prevention, control, and countermeasures
(SPCC) plan, which includes provisions
for secondary containment. If the owner

of a facility determines that the installation of secondary containment is not
practicable, a clear explanation must be
provided in the SPCC plan of why secondary containment is not practicable.
SPCC regulations do not actually use the
term AST, but rather use the term “bulk
storage container, which is defined as any
container used to store oil. For bulk storage containers, periodic integrity testing
of the containers and periodic integrity
and leak testing of the valves and piping
must be conducted. Also, unless the facility owner has submitted a facility response plan under 40 CFR 112.20, additional information must be addressed in
the SPCC plan if secondary containment
is not provided, including:
• An oil spill contingency plan following the provisions of 40 CFR 109
A written commitment of manpower,
equipment, and materials that are required to quickly control and remove any
quantity of oil discharged that may be
harmful
For ASTs that store hazardous waste, the
key difference between a container and a
tank is that a container is a portable device whereas a tank remains stationary.

Volume XIII, Edition 5

Page 15

Co Fined for Late Notification to State DEP:
On May 29, 2012, at about 7:30
a.m., a spill of an estimated 20
gallons of hydraulic fluid occurred when a hydraulic hose
ruptured on a truck-mounted
crane that was loading telephone poles at the facility. The
hydraulic fluid impacted paved
surfaces in the vicinity of the
crane. According to MassDEP,
personnel took steps to control
the spill and retained contractor
assistance in cleaning up the
spill. A facility representative
reported the spill to MassDEP
that day at 1 p.m. Massachusetts
State regulations require that
MassDEP be notified as soon as
possible, but in no case more
than 2 hours after the responsible party became aware of a
spill of greater than 10 gallons.
According to MassDEP, the
facility appropriately performed
a complete cleanup of the spill
and submitted cleanup documentation to MassDEP. To resolve the outstanding violation,

the facility entered into a
consent order with the
Agency. The company has
agreed to retrain its personnel regarding response to
spills of oil and hazardous
materials that occur from
its equipment and vehicles
at locations in Massachusetts. In addition, the company has agreed to pay the
penalty of $2,000.
Massachusetts requires
notification of any release
or threat of release of oil or
hazardous material that
exceeds threshold amounts.
Under the Massachusetts
Contingency Planning
(MCP) requirements, notification thresholds have
been established for 2-hour,
72-hour, and 120-day-type
releases.
The MCP rules establish
reportable quantities (RQs)
and reportable concentrations (RCs) for releases that

trigger the notice requirement. RQs refer to quantities of oil or hazardous material, the release or threat of
release of which requires
notification. RCs refer to
concentrations of oil or hazardous material contamination in soil or groundwater
that requires notification.
Notice must be given to
DEP within 2 hours, 72
hours, or 120 days, depending on the type, location,
and severity of the release or
threat of release.
Even if a release or threat of
release does not require notice to MassDEP, MCP rules
require that response action
be taken if the release is a
threat to health, safety, public welfare, or the environment. Such response action,
however, is not subject to
state rules for submittals,
approvals, and fees.
The purpose of the MCP is

to provide for the protection
of health, safety, public welfare, and the environment by
establishing requirements and
procedures for the prevention
of activities that may cause a
release or threat of release of
oil and/or hazardous material,
to assess the nature and extent of any contamination,
and to evaluate and implement appropriate remedial
action. The law requires that
the owner or operator of a
facility or vessel, or any other
liable person, including a
secured lender or fiduciary,
notify DEP of the release or
threat of release of oil or hazardous material that exceeds
regulated thresholds. The
notice requirement applies to
current releases and threats of
releases as well as contamination resulting from past
releases.

TRANSCAER® (Transportation Community Awareness and Emergency Response) is a voluntary national outreach effort
that focuses on assisting communities prepare for and respond to a possible hazardous material transportation incident. TRANSCAER® members consist of volunteer representatives from the chemical manufacturing, transportation, distributor, and emergency response industries, as well as the government. Visit: http://www.transcaer.com/state.aspx for more information.

GATEKEEPER

Page 16

DHS seeks comments on screening employees for CFATS
and for ag retailer anhydrous ammonia program:
The Department of Homeland
Security (DHS) Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards
(CFATS) Personnel Surety Program has a new proposed structure that would allow companies
to directly submit employee
background information for
screening to DHS; to submit information to verify an employee
was enrolled in another terrorism
screening program; or to verify
information using a Transportation Worker Identification Credential program reader.
DHS estimates the program
would affect 192,000 individuals
and cost $4.7 million to operate
and maintain. A previous personnel surety proposal was withdrawn by DHS in July after industry groups raised concerns the
program would impose significant burdens on facilities with

limited security benefit.

gent requirements.

DHS has met several times with
the Agricultural Retailers Association and other members in crafting
the new proposal that “reflects
input from all sides,” a senior
DHS official told a congressional
subcommittee March 14.

“The department should not require
every tier, facility and personnel
under the PSP definition to be electronically verified,” Kennedy said.
“This requirement is impractical at
most agricultural retail facilities
operating in rural areas.”

The proposal, in the form of an
information collection request, is
open for public comment through
May 21.

Under Section 550 of the 2007 DHS
appropriations bill, which authorized CFATS, chemical facilities
must conduct background checks on
personnel by examining and verifying their criminal history, identity,
and work status and by running
them through federal terrorist databases.

Michael Kennedy, ARA's public
policy counsel, was interviewed
recently by BNA, and explained
that the personnel surety program
as drafted would apply one standard across the board, which
would be overly burdensome for
small facilities. Kennedy said Tier
3 and Tier 4 facilities, considered
lower risk on the CFATS tiering
scale of 1 through 4, should have
an exemption from the more strin-

Although industry groups commended DHS for working with industry in crafting the proposal and
called it “well-drafted,” they maintained the proposal still calls for
overly burdensome and duplicative
actions from facilities.

Governor's Tribal Community Outreach:
Visit: http://azgovernor.gov/eop/TribalOutreach.asp for agency contact information.
Tribal Program Link:
http://www.epa.gov/region09/indian

Tribal news:
http://www.navajohopiobserver.com/

Tribal Program Newsletter:
http://www.epa.gov/region09/indian/newslet.html

LET’S HEAR FROM YOU!
Send us your inputs and feedback on the newsletter; including, exercises and other LEPC related activities in which
you've been involved. Let us know what you’d like to see in future editions. Talk to us! We appreciate your input
and look forward to hearing from you!
Sincerely,
Mark Howard
Executive Director
Commercial products and services are mentioned for informational purposes only and should not be construed as
AZSERC endorsements.

COMMISSIONERS:

ARIZONA EMERGENCY RESPONSE COMMISSION
5636 E. MCDOWELL ROAD
PHOENIX, AZ 85008-3495
PHONE: (602) 464-6346
FAX:
(602) 464-6519

Visit us on the web:www.azserc.org
AZSERC STAFF
Mark Howard

Executive Director

Roger Soden

HAZMAT Program
Coordinator

Paul Culberson

Sylvia Castillo

Will Humble

ADHS Acting Director

Henry Darwin

ADEQ Director

John Halikowski

ADOT Director

Robert Halliday

ADPS Director

DESIGNEES:
Mark Howard

ADEM

Don Herrington

ADHS

Veronica Garcia

ADEQ

David Denlinger

ADPS

Sonya Herrera

ADOT

ADVISORY COMMITTEE:
Corporation Commission

- Tom Whitmer

Industrial Commission

- Darin Perkins

Admin Asst III

State Mine Inspector

- Joe Hart

State Fire Marshal

- Bob Barger

Radiation Regulatory Agency

- Aubrey Godwin

Department of Agriculture

- Jack Peterson

our Organization

The AZSERC was established by
Arizona Law (Arizona Revised Statutes-Title 26, Chapter 2, Article 3)
and is tasked with the implementation of the Emergency Planning and
Community Right to Know Act
(EPRCA) in Arizona.
This Commission oversees 15
Local Emergency Planning Committees and supports community, industry and government and academia
in: planning, release and incident
reporting, data management guidance for inventory reporting, public
disclosure of information about hazardous chemicals in Arizona as well
as development of training and outreach programs.
The Commission supports individual agency goals and objectives.

ADEM Director (Chair)

Web Portal/
Technology
Coordinator

Chrissy McCullough Admin Asst III

About

Lou Trammell

This is accomplished through the
receipt and coordination of emergency notifications of chemical releases, collection and provision of
chemical inventory information to
interested parties, training and grants
programs.
Additionally, the AZSERC provides consultative services, conducts
and participates in workshops and
coordinates development and review
of plans and programs for 15 Local
Emergency Planning Committees.
Further, the AZSERC serves as a
state clearinghouse for hazardous
chemical emergency preparedness
and planning activities and information through coordination with federal, tribal, state, local governments,
industry and community interest

Arizona Fire Chiefs Association
-Mesa FD

- Brady Leffler

-Yuma FD

- Jack McArthur

Asst. State Attorney General

- Jeffrey Cantrell

SRP

- Daniel Casiraro

Intel Corporation

- Randy Holmes

APS

- Monica Ray

Private Sector

- David
McWilliams

GATEKEEPER NEWSLETTER:
MARK HOWARD – EDITOR IN CHIEF
CHRISSY MCCULLOUGH - EDITOR