State Senate Finance Committee
Chairman Mike Hall says he’s seeking a “sweet spot” compromise for adjusting
the state’s Aboveground Storage Tank Act passed last year following the
water-contamination crisis.
A pending bill would reduce the
number of tanks that must be registered and inspected annually. During the
first year of the program, the state’s Department of Environmental Protection
registered some 50,000 tanks. Hall (R-Putnam) said inspectors cannot keep up
with that number.
“It would stretch their capacity to
do a good job on the tanks that need to be watched,” Hall said. “You’re
stretching the DEP too far if you keep (the number of tanks) at 48,000 or
more,” he said.
The senator has his staff reviewing
the information in hopes of identifying tanks that could be vulnerable. DEP officials
said the legislation needs to make sure high-risk tanks are monitored.
“We need to get it in that sweet
spot,” Hall said. “I can’t tell you what that number is, but as we go through
the process I hope we will find it.”
Some are criticizing an attempt to
change the act, when the state is only a year removed from the
water-contamination crisis that occurred after a chemical leak on the Elk River
in Charleston
“We want to try to get to those
number of tanks that appear to be an actual critical problem for a potential
intake water supply anywhere in the state,” Hall said.
He added registration and inspection have been costly for some
tank owners who are not close to water sources.
