Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, July 18, 1993 TAG: 9307160071
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE
DATELINE: BEDFORD LENGTH: Medium
Drawing on the pollen-coated hood of a truck, Coe traced the design for an underground fuel storage system that relied on the simple force of gravity.
Today, Coe and Thompson are poised to launch a lucrative business that could help save money for hundreds of small businesses as well as benefit the environment.
After forming Control on Environment Systems Inc., they received a patent on their design last November. In June, they installed their first tank system, at Golden West Foods Inc. in Bedford. The frozen food maker keeps fuel for its boilers in the 12,000-gallon tank.
Thompson says the system is much simpler to operate, maintain and repair than conventional fuel-storage systems. And it's cheaper.
An average service station needs three tanks, one for each octane level of gas. When Gary Coe took bids to install new tanks at his Bedford gas station a few years ago, the lowest he got was $68,000 for three 4,000-gallon tanks - double-lined fiberglass.
The cost to install one of Coe's new systems will run about $37,500, he says. Neither cost includes digging out and disposing the old tanks, which can cost roughly $15,000 per tank, Thompson says.
The C.O.E. system consists of a steel tank inside a cement vault that's 12 inches thick and coated with fiberglass and a sealant. All the fuel lines are encased in fiberglass piping. That means any leaks would be contained, drain to a central point and then flow into the system.
Monitoring and repair is also a snap, Thompson says. "If you have eyes and a nose, you can check this thing."
The system meets or exceeds all federal Environmental Protection Agency requirements, and has the approval of environmental agencies in half a dozen states, including Virginia, Thompson says.
C.O.E. Inc. recently landed a contract for the Chase City Airport in Virginia, Thompson said, and has two contracts to install systems in California.
In addition, the new company has bids in to install its tanks at the Jamestown/Williamsburg Airport, and two airports in North Carolina, and are talking with Norfolk Southern Corp., BellSouth Corp. and Georgia-Pacific Corp.
"We started hitting a number of companies with a big time concern in the environment," Thompson says.
Besides protecting ground water resources, he believes the C.O.E. system may also help save small businesses, especially mom-and-pop service stations.
Faced with federal and state rules, gas station owners must pay $25,000 to $80,000 for a three-tank underground system to handle the three grades of octane.
Or they can go out of business. Last year in Bedford County alone, Thompson says, 22 gas stations - or 40 percent - closed shop.
Thompson says banks seem more willing to lend money to companies who buy a C.O.E. tank, and insurance companies will cut their rates, making it easier for folks to stay in business. The insurance companies like the simplicity of the system and its backup feature, he says.
The two turkey-hunting partners are unabashedly confident of their invention, but they needed to install a prototype before they could go full bore in marketing the system.
That's where Golden West Foods came in. Bob Manzer, operations manager at the frozen snack food manufacturer, is impressed with the simplicity of it, not to mention the cost.
Now, Thompson says, the marketing potential is almost unlimited, with a 1998 deadline to meet federal guidelines for all fuel storage tanks to have either double-liners or to be above ground.
"And it happened here in little ol' Bedford, Virginia."
by CNB