West Virginia reduces number of tanks subject to oversight

West Virginia. West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin (D) signed legislation March 27 that amended the state’s 2014 Aboveground Storage Tank Act by cutting the number of storage tanks subject to oversight by 75 percent. Under the new law, only tanks within 1,000 feet of a public surface water supply or containing more than 50,000 gallons will be subject to the inspection requirements. Under the revised rule roughly 12,000 tanks will continue to be held to inspection and integrity standards put in place in 2014, while 36,000 other tanks registered with the state will not. The law, which takes effect June 12, requires that regulated aboveground storage tanks be inspected every three years. The 2014 measure was triggered by an aboveground tank release of about 10,000 gallons of 4-methylcyclohexane methanol into the Elk River upstream from a public water intake portal, prompting a “do not use tap water” order for nine West Virginia counties.

Courtesy PEI’s Tulsa Letter 4/15/15