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Tank registration numbers soar before deadline

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Owners of above ground storage tanks in West Virginia continued to register with the state Department of Environmental Protection Wednesday just hours ahead of the midnight deadline.

DEP officials said as of Sept. 29, there were 46,409 tanks registered. Several more thousand were in the process of registering. Early in the process it was anticipated as many as 70,000 to 80,000 tanks would need to be registered with the state and originally all of them needed to be inspected by a certified professional.

An adjustment by the Tomblin administration eased the inspection requirement and divided the tanks into three different categories depending on whether they were in a zone considered critical and a potential threat to a drinking water source.

“The main purpose was to insure our drinking water in West Virginia was safe and to look at those critical zones of concern,” Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin said. “What could happen upstream of a water intake for a public system.”

The legislation was hastily crafted and introduced in the wake of the January spill at Freedom Industries in Charleston. The leak of two chemicals, MCHM and PPH, into the Elk River wound up contaminating the drinking water of 300,000 West Virginia residents in a nine-county area. The spill happened only a mile upstream from the West Virginia American Water Kanawha Valley plant.

“What we’re trying to do with the registration is basically know where the tanks are and what they contain,” Tomblin said. “Currently we do not know.”

The tanks are broken down into three separate categories with those being in close proximity to a water intake and storing the most dangerous materials at the top of the list.

“They will look at those in the zones of critical interest first,” Tomblin said. “That’s the top priority because another spill could happen at any time.”

Although the deadline is midnight Wednesday, the state DEP has indicted it will be lenient on those working to comply with the brand new regulation.

“While our preference is to have everyone registered by the deadline, we realize that’s not attainable. We’re not out to “get” anyone – meaning we’re not going to be out issuing violations and fines on Oct. 2.” said DEP spokesperson Kelley Gillenwater in an email to MetroNews. “We understand there will be some tank owners who may not have information readily available. As long as those tank owners are making a good faith effort, are being cooperative and aren’t willfully violating the law, we are willing to work with them and guide them through the process.”





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