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When Tropical Storm Isabel washed away hundreds of home heating oil tanks, a committee that includes fuel industry leaders, environmental consultants, and government regulators took a hard look at ways to prevent a repeat. When regulators deemed a Harford County service station a source of groundwater contamination, that same committee reviewed technology that could detect gasoline vapor releases through tiny holes in underground storage systems.
The Ad Hoc Committee on Oil meets regularly at the Maryland Department of the Environment offices to discuss and debate the latest in the safe and proper handling of fuel – and MDE taps industry expertise for the benefit of the environment.
“It’s a forum for discussing what’s in the best interest of the regulator and the regulated,” says Eric C. Dana, a committee member who is a principal in the DANA Insurance & Risk Management firm.
Herbert M. Meade, Manager of MDE’s Oil Control Program, says: “It gives us a feel for what’s happening out there, and it gives them the ear of the Department, and it’s free.”
The committee’s roots can be traced to 1970, when 60,000 gallons of oil spilled from an overfilled barge into the Northwest Branch of the Patapsco River. Maryland quickly took steps to launch an oil spill control program. A group of petroleum industry and state government representatives began meeting on the issue. The group expanded and took as its name the Ad Hoc Committee on Oil Spills.
“There was a demand to put in regulations and try to control the handling of oil,” recalls Ed Weber, a founding member of the committee who, though retired after more than four decades with state environmental agencies, remains active on the panel. “It started with maybe four or five people and has developed into what we have now.”
The committee’s focus quickly moved beyond surface spills and containment and cleanup. By the early 1980s it was looking at regulations to control and prevent leaks from underground storage tanks. The expansion of issues was reflected in the change that dropped “Spill” from the committee’s name.
In the late 1990s, MDE identified an Exxon station as at least partly responsible for the presence of the gasoline additive methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) in drinking water wells in the Upper Crossroads area of Harford County. Dana recalls that the committee’s discussion of MTBE included information on how underground tanks could show no signs that liquid was leaking but could lose vapor through pinholes. Consultants and industry leaders were able to share information on technology to detect such leaks.
Dana – a former committee chair and a member for 15 years – pointed to Tropical Storm Isabel in 2003 as another event that highlighted the committee’s expertise. The committee suggested refinements to proposed regulations requiring heating tanks to be anchored to prevent them from being washed away by floodwaters. More recently, the committee hosted a presentation on spill buckets used when gasoline is pumped into service station tanks.
Through the years the committee has advised the state on such issues as planning for a spill response on the Chesapeake Bay, the proper handling of oil-contaminated soil, motor fuel tax issues, and federal legislation affecting state oil spill responses. The committee also is, along with MDE and the Maryland Petroleum Council, presenter of the annual Tawes Award for a Clean Environment, which is open to any individual, civic, community, or non-profit entity that has demonstrated outstanding efforts to enhance Maryland’s environment.
Dana says his company insures fuel storage tanks throughout the mid-Atlantic area, and he knows of no similar committee in other states.
Because the panel is an ad hoc committee, anyone is free to join. The membership roster has grown to 17 pages and includes representatives of fuel companies and industry groups, federal, state and local government agencies environmental consulting firms, and with individuals.
The committee meets about eight times a year, and meetings are normally attended by 60 to 80 people. For more information, call 410-537-3443.
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