Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 22, 1995 TAG: 9502220104
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: STATE
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Within three months of Schmidt's June appointment, the agency had resolved nearly 2,000 cases by ruling that the sites posed no threat to the environment or public health. State environmental officials say that is their new criterion for clearing cases - even when soil and underground water remain contaminated.
``We can't afford as a society to put everything back to the way it was when Columbus discovered America,'' said Jim McDaniel, who heads the agency's tank program.
When a tank leaks, the agency requires that the leak be stopped, that fuel lying free in the ground be removed and that fuel-saturated soils be taken away. In the past, the agency often required or sanctioned more extensive cleanups. But officials now say such cleanups were costly and not always necessary.
However, some observers fear the agency is walking away from pollution that could taint wells, hurt waterways or lower property values.
``We are leaving this contamination in the ground, and it is just a matter of time before people start complaining,'' said Patricia A. Jackson, executive director of the James River Association, an environmental group.
Bruce Clendenin, a Leesburg environmental consultant, was wary of the speed with which cases were cleared.
``They quickly went out and closed sites without studying them enough to know the extent of the problem,'' he said. ``They must be closing some cases that shouldn't be closed.''
The federal Environmental Protection Agency, which monitors state cleanup programs, is checking records on Virginia's most recently resolved cases. The EPA has examined about 50 so far.
``Many of these sites still have extensive ground-water contamination,'' said EPA spokeswoman Ruth Podems. The contamination found so far ``is just sitting there'' and not polluting wells, Podems said. The EPA will look into hundreds more cases in the next few months, she said.
There are about 72,000 underground fuel tanks in Virginia, not counting small ones for home heating oil. These tanks serve everything from mom-and-pop gas stations to large industrial plants. About 8,000 have been reported to be leaking, with about 100 new leaks reported each month as tanks rust.
The number of leaks is expected to climb. That's because tank owners are required by law to upgrade or replace old tanks by 1998. Once they start digging, many owners probably will find leaks they didn't expect.
``We don't know how many others are leaking or will begin leaking as we talk,'' said David P. Chance, a DEQ program manager. ``It's kind of scary.''
Two key factors spurred the change in the tank program: The backlog of leak cases, and a tax-supported cleanup fund that seemed headed toward bankruptcy.
Under new federal rules, Virginia began regulating large underground tanks in the late 1980s. Tank owners had to get insurance, or show they had the money, to pay for cleanups if their tanks leaked.
That insurance became too expensive and in some cases unavailable. In 1991, the General Assembly created a fund to reimburse owners for cleanups. The owners pay deductibles based on the size of their businesses. The fund is financed by a tax of 0.2 cent per gallon of oil or gasoline sold.
Meanwhile, reports of leaking tanks piled up faster than the sites could be studied and the cases closed. Also, tank owners complained that the state - short on staff and detailed in its reviews - was slow to reimburse for cleanup costs.
Schmidt said that if the agency's practice of requiring expensive studies or cleanups had continued, the cleanup costs would have approached $750 million. The tank fund stood at about $25 million.
Agency officials say if closed sites do pose problems in the future, the agency will reopen those cases and require more cleanup.
In addition to closing the books on leaks, the agency has also streamlined the reimbursement of cleanup claims.
With the help of a consultant, the agency in three months last summer reimbursed about 300 tank owners $7.5 million. Before then, the agency had reimbursed 200 claims totaling about $5 million.
by CNB