CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A Jefferson County farmer is the latest to raise questions about the details of the Aboveground Storage Tank Act, the law written in response to the Jan. 9 Freedom Industries chemical spill.
The goal of that legislation, which is in the process of being implemented, is to better protect West Virginia’s public water supplies.
But Cam Tabb said there are some requirements in the law that he and other farmers cannot meet. “My intent is not to delay it because it is truly a safety factor for the residents of this state,” he said of the law. “But the part of it that’s wrong just makes it absolutely ludicrous.”
Tabb said he and many other farmers have only recently realized many tanks on their properties which contain non-hazardous materials may have to be registered with the state Department of Environmental Protection before Oct. 1.
“At some point in the House (of Delegates), all of the exclusions — like milk tanks and my watering troughs and empty tanks, my water storage tanks for the fire truck — all of those things now, supposedly, have to be registered,” Tabb said.
The website includes a questionnaire to determine if a tank has to be registered. Some of the questions are (1) Does the structure have a storage capacity of more than 1,320 gallons? (2) Can the structure hold a material that is liquid at standard temperature and pressure? (3) Is the structure more than 90 percent above the ground?
By law, tanks owners could face penalties if qualifying tanks are not registered by the Oct. 1 deadline.
“It’s not a problem from DEP. DEP has to deal with what the law is. The law’s wrong. This one’s the most wrong of anything I’ve ever seen in government,” Tabb said of the far-reaching nature of the legislation.
Last week, the DEP issued an interpretive rule that created three different classifications for aboveground storage tanks with varying initial inspection requirements at each level based on a “risk assessment approach.”
Level I tanks are considered the greatest threats to public health and, because of that, would require inspections from certified engineers before the Jan. 1 deadline. As the rule is written, tanks containing potable water or food-grade materials would be classified as Level III tanks, deemed “low” risk, and not subjected to such stringent monitoring.
A public hearing on the DEP’s proposed interpretive rule is scheduled for Oct. 9 at the DEP headquarters in Charleston.