Underground Storage Tanks

This page provides information on draft and final UST system performance evaluation studies from sources other than OUST. The following information is provided for informational purposes only. Please be aware that inclusion on the list does not mean that EPA vouches for or otherwise endorses these projects/studies.

Title: Potential Sources for Gasoline Constituent Releases from Service Stations, November 2003
Organization: Shell Oil Products US
Purpose/Brief Summary: This report identifies potential sources of gasoline constituent releases to the environment, ranks potential sources according to the likelihood a release, and suggests possible solutions. The study discusses spill buckets, dispenser sumps, turbine sumps, surface spills, delivery choices, and delivery connections.
Contact: Brett Hovland, Staff Engineer, Shell Oil Products US, email: brett.hovland@shell.com, phone: 281/874-7047

Title:Dispenser And Submersible Pump Study, October 2003 (PDF) (About PDF)
Organization: Maine Department Of Environmental Protection
Purpose/Brief Summary: This study assesses the environmental threat posed by petroleum dispensing and pumping equipment by quantifying the frequency and severity of releases from this equipment.

Title: Operational Tank Assessment Project, February, 2003
Organization: Maryland Department Of The Environment
Purpose/Brief Summary: This study summarizes information from 100 facility inspections across Maryland. It looks at operational compliance, evaluates spill buckets by hydrostatic testing, and evaluates water sampling from field monitoring pipes.
Contact: Greg Sonberg, Maryland DEP, email: gsonberg@mde.state.md.us, phone: 410/537-3412

Title:Field Evaluation Of Underground Storage Tank System Leak Detection Sensors, August, 2002
Organization: California State Water Resources Control Board
Purpose/Brief Summary: California conducted an extensive field evaluation of liquid sensors used in leak detection. The evaluation included nearly 800 sensors, representing a variety of manufacturers, operating mechanisms, and UST facility types.

Title:Underground Storage Tank System Field-Based Research Project Report, May 2002
Organization: California State Water Resources Control Board
Purpose/Brief Summary: State law required the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) "initiate a field-based research program to quantify the probability and environmental significance of releases from underground storage tank systems meeting the 1998 upgrade requirements." Under contract with the University of California, Davis, Tracer Research Corporation performed testing of UST systems in California. The project results are discussed in the "Underground Storage Tank System Field-Based Research Project Report.

Title:Study Of Maine Cathodically Protected Underground Storage Tanks, January 2001
Organization: Maine Department Of Environmental Protection
Purpose/Brief Summary: This study evaluates cathodic protections at 73 UST facilities in Maine.

Title:An Evaluation of MTBE Occurrence at Fuel Leak Sites with Operating USTs, May 2000 (PDF) (76 pp, 543K, About PDF)
Organization: Santa Clara Valley Water District
Purpose/Brief Summary: This report summarizes key UST and MTBE occurrence studies and discusses findings of a detailed case study of 16 leaking underground storage tank (LUST) sites with operating USTs and high concentrations of MTBE in groundwater. The objective of the detailed case studies was to evaluate potential causes of significant MTBE contamination at operating UST facilities. This study also included an evaluation of whether undetected releases are occurring and identification of actual and potential weaknesses in fuel storage, management and delivery operations.

Title:Advisory Panel on the Leak History of New and Upgraded UST Systems: Leak Source and Leak Detection Data Collection and Analysis (UST Team 3 Report), March 1999 (PDF) (27 pp, 90K, About PDF)
Organization: California State Water Resources Control Board
Purpose/Brief Summary: The central question examined was whether the standards for new and upgraded UST systems are adequate to protect water resources from MTBE contamination. Team 3 contributed to this effort by gathering data intended to help answer the following more specific questions:

1. Are releases primarily from new, upgraded or non-compliant UST systems?
2. Which portion(s) of the UST system are most likely to fail?
3. How do releases get discovered?
4. How big is the problem before it is discovered?

Title:Report Of The State Water Resources Control Board's Advisory Panel On The Leak History Of New And Upgraded UST Systems, January 1999 (PDF) (8 pp, 20K, About PDF)
Organization: California State Water Resources Control Board
Purpose/Brief Summary: This report presents the findings of a panel convened in response to increasing reports of MTBE releases from USTs. The panel was asked to review existing databases of UST contamination sites to determine if there is a leak history associated with UST systems meeting the 1998 federal and state standards, and if so, identify appropriate measures that would assure the prevention and detection of oxygenate releases from retail marketing facilities.

Title:Leaking Underground Storage Tanks (USTs) as Point Sources of MTBE to Groundwater and Related MTBE-UST Compatibility Issues, November 1998
Organization: University of California - Davis
Purpose/Brief Summary: As part of a larger effort investigating the occurrence and impact of MTBE in California water supplies, this report addresses the probability of product releases from UST systems and also the compatibility of materials used in UST systems construction with MTBE. Included a review of the existing literature, which identified more than 15 studies in which UST leakage incidence and/or the compatibility of MTBE with UST systems was investigated.

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