Preventing Hazardous Tank Spills
The Hazardous Materials Storage Tank Compliance Verification Program is designed to limit the number of hazardous material discharges and to ensure that any discharges are abated and remediated when they do occur. There are more than five million gallons of different pollutants stored in over 700 regulated tanks in Collier County. These hazardous materials are fuel and lubrication for our vehicles, diesel-fueled emergency power for our buildings, pesticides for our agricultural fields and mineral acids for water treatment and fertilizer production. However, most of these necessary chemicals are also carcinogenic to humans and harmful to all living organisms.
Collier County depends on groundwater for all of its drinking water. If consumed, petroleum fuels are so carcinogenic that one gallon of fuel would contaminate one million gallons of groundwater. The average cost of a petroleum cleanup discharge from a tank system is $400,000 and takes three to five years of continuous remediation and monitoring. Petroleum discharges may exceed $1 million in costs and require 15 years of remediation and monitoring.
We Inspect
In Florida, above ground storage tanks larger than 550 gallons or underground tanks larger than 110 gallons are required to be registered. The Storage Tank Compliance Verification Program of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) strives to provide private and public tank owners with detailed information concerning the equipment, environmental status and regulatory compliance of their state-registered tanks and fuel systems. Solid Waste staff conducts hundreds of tank inspections every year on behalf of the FDEP and provides follow-ups of inquiries, experienced feedback, compliance assistance and training services to all registered tank owners in the county.
We Monitor Our Own
Solid Waste works closely with Collier County's Risk Management and other county government departments that manage storage tanks, to ensure that all county-owned storage tanks are properly managed, registered as required and are adequately insured. Currently there are more than 400 county-owned tanks. The team also works closely with county representatives in the preparation and implementation of Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure (SPCC) plans, to comply with Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules, as well as providing the required annual training to the operators of county facilities. Spill response plans and instructions have also been individually created for each county-owned facility with storage tanks and these plans are designed to enhance the county's capability to respond to, and efficiently clean up, any pollutant spills in a quick and effective manner.
Benefits
The proactive approach applied to the Hazardous Materials Storage Tank Compliance Verification Program minimizes hazardous materials discharges from storage tanks in Collier County which could be dangerous to our health, groundwater resources and our environment.