CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Fewer aboveground storage tanks in West Virginia will have to comply with state regulations with a bill Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed into law on Friday.
SB 423 amends the Aboveground Storage Tank Act that was passed in the wake of the Jan. 2014 Freedom Industries chemical spill on the Elk River that contaminated tap water for 300,000 people in parts of nine W.Va. counties.
Angie Rosser, executive director of the West Virginia Rivers Coalition, called the signing decision “a disappointment.”
“It’s disheartening that, a year ago, we saw a strong bill pass unanimously in both Houses and what a difference a year makes,” Rosser said on Friday’s MetroNews “Talkline.”
The legislation will regulate tanks in two zones: “zones of critical concern,” those within five hours water travel time from public water intakes, and the newly-created “zones of peripheral concern,” those within ten hours water travel time from public water intakes.
Additionally, all tanks outside of those zones that store more than 50,000 gallons of liquids or those containing hazardous chemicals would also be subjected to regulations from the state Department of Environmental Protection.
According to estimates from the DEP, the changes will reduce the total number of aboveground storage tanks being regulated because of potential threats to drinking water sources from about 48,000 tanks to roughly 12,000 tanks statewide.
“The changes in this bill represent reasonable steps to ensure protection for our drinking water resources by focusing on the tanks that pose the most risk. Inspections will focus on the tanks closest to water supplies and those containing the most hazardous chemicals,” Tomblin said in a statement following the signing.
He continued, “During the past year we have gathered valuable information, registering tanks across the state and identifying the contents. I appreciate the hard work of all involved as we work to protect our drinking water resources.”
Rosser said she is most concerned about a provision in the law, one she called a “potential loophole,” that would give the DEP secretary discretion to sign off on plan modifications from companies with tanks within the zones of critical or peripheral concern.
“I have confidence in what this secretary (DEP Secretary Randy Huffman) says. We’re just concerned about future administrations or future secretaries as businesses (should be too). It could go either way when you give a secretary a lot of leeway as this law does,” Rosser said.
“The scenario played out of having this alternative means of compliance available instead of following the standards of the Act would be available to a Freedom Industries, because they had this groundwater protection plan and it’s not specified in the law what kind of stringency or what kind of standards that those modifications would require.”
The revisions came out of the 2015 Regular Legislative Session that wrapped up earlier this month.