Shipley Grouped Fined for Poor SPCC Adherence

RedOrbit - Dallas,TX,USA

Posted on: Friday, 21 March 2008, 06:00 CDT

By Brent Burkey, York Daily Record, Pa.

Mar. 21–State officials and the Shipley Group have reached an agreement on fines and monitoring after a 1,500-gallon heating oil spill in York County and violations at six other facilities, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection said.

The spill, according to a DEP news release, happened Jan. 18 at McCullough Oil Service in Springfield Township.

Shipley officials are looking at the site for “any environmental problems,” the statement said. About 1,500 gallons of fuel spilled, DEP said.

Sandy Roderick, spokeswoman for DEP, said a required containment basin was on site, but it was not working well enough to contain the spill. The state requires a basin be present at a fuel facility and be in good working order.

Between 900 and 1,000 gallons of fuel were recovered following the spill; the rest remains on the property, she said.

Roderick said most of the other violations were for Shipley not inspecting tanks and pipes or not inspecting tanks and pipes often enough.

According to the terms of the deal, Shipley will pay a $76,000 civil penalty and agree to strict monitoring of its fuel facilities.

In DEP’s release, the head of the agency’s southcentral office said she hopes the penalties will help bring Shipley in line with regulations.

Shipley operates 41 underground fuel sites and bulk fuel facilities in southcentral Pennsylvania. Violations occurred between October 2006 and January.

Roderick said DEP began investigating when Shipley’s

required paperwork did not show up in state records.

The state requires companies to get equipment inspected and to send results to DEP every year to every three years, depending on the inspection, Roderick said.

A representative from the Shipley Group did not return a phone call for comment Thursday afternoon. bburkey@ydr.com; 771-2035