which petroleum product can be used to accumulate pollutants up to certain extent
Answers
Answer:
Do your store liquid petroleum products closer than 100 feet from your water well?
Are you planning to build a new petroleum storage tank on your property?
Do you store petroleum products below ground on your property?
Does your storage system lack proper spill and overfill protection?
Do you store petroleum products in an above-ground tank?
Is your tank more than 20 years old?
Do you need to become more aware of proper petroleum tank monitoring procedures?
Do you have any storage tanks that are no longer in use?
If these questions create doubt about the safety of your management practices, this publication will provide helpful information.
Petroleum Products Overview
Storing liquid petroleum products, such as motor fuel and heating fuel, above ground or underground presents a potential threat to public health and the environment. Nearly one out of every four underground storage tanks in the United States may now be leaking, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. If an underground petroleum tank is more than 20 years old, and especially if it is not protected against corrosion, the potential for leaking increases dramatically. Newer tanks and piping can leak, too, especially if they were not installed properly.
Even a small gasoline leak of one drop per second can result in the release of about 400 gallons of gasoline per year. A few quarts of gasoline in the ground water may be enough to severely pollute drinking water. At low levels of contamination, fuel contaminants in water cannot be detected by smell or taste, yet seemingly pure water may be contaminated to the point of affecting human health.
Preventing tank spills and leaks is especially important because gasoline, diesel and fuel oil can move rapidly through surface layers and into ground water. Also, vapors from an underground leak that collect in basements, sumps or other underground structures have the potential to explode.
Petroleum fuels contain a number of potentially toxic compounds, including common solvents such as benzene, toluene and xylene, as well as additives such as ethylene dibromide (EDB) and organic lead compounds. EDB is a carcinogen, a cancer-causing agent, in laboratory animals, and benzene is considered a human carcinogen.
This publication focuses on safe storage of gasoline, diesel, kerosene and liquid heating fuels. It does not apply to liquid propane (LP) gas, since such leaks vaporize quickly and do not threaten ground water. A glossary at the back of this publication explains the terminology used. The following areas are covered:
Storage tank location
Tank design and installation
Monitoring tanks
Tank closure
Evaluation table
Storage Tank Location
From a water quality standpoint, one of the most important aspects of your liquid petroleum storage tank location is how close it is to your water well. State well regulations require that petroleum storage tanks be at least 100 feet from a water well. Minimum separation distances regulate only new well installation. Existing wells are required by law only to meet separation requirements in effect at the time of well construction. However, making every effort to meet current regulations whenever possible will further reduce the risk of contamination.
Every site has unique geologic and hydrologic conditions that affect ground water movement. The time it takes petroleum products to reach ground water also will depend upon local soils. The more porous the soil (sands and gravels, for example), the faster the rate of downward movement to ground water. You may choose to locate a new tank more than 100 feet away from a well to provide reasonable assurance that subsurface flow or seepage of contaminated ground water will not reach the well. If possible, the tank should be located down-slope from the well. Figure 1 illustrates petroleum product seepage into soils.
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