DHEC UST Facts (11/21/08)
“DHEC has been criticized by federal authorities for being slow to clean up contaminants from leaky underground fuel storage tanks.”
DHEC has not been criticized by federal authorities for being slow to cleanup UST leaks. In fact, in FY 2007 DHEC surpassed the EPA goal of 250 for South Carolina by completing 287 cleanups. An additional 262 cleanups were completed in FY 2008 bringing the total number of completed site cleanups as of October 31, 2008 to 6,117 (67 percent) of the 9,177 confirmed UST releases in South Carolina. The discovery of leaking underground storage tanks continues to add to the number of sites requiring assessment and cleanup. For example, although 262 cleanups were completed last year, an additional 152 releases were confirmed during the same time period by DHEC lessening the perceived progress.
The EPA has expressed concerns about the solvency of the SUPERB Account and its ability to fund the assessment and cleanup of all known releases, but the yearly closure rate has not been criticized.
“The EPA, meanwhile, has launched a study to determine why South Carolina’s cleanup pace is so slow. The study also is looking at 16 other states.”
DHEC volunteered to assist EPA with the national study to better understand the severity of the open cases (cases where the UST leak has not yet been cleaned up). DHEC is currently working with EPA officials and their contractors conducting the study to provide requested information in hopes that this effort will identify areas where cleanup progress could be improved in South Carolina as well as the entire nation.
“Only eight other states have a worse record of cleaning up sites polluted by tanks, which have caused 80 percent of the state’s groundwater contamination.”
Many leaking underground storage tank sites in South Carolina were reported during the SUPERB Account amnesty period, a time when DHEC encouraged reporting of leaking tanks and waived the deductible required to be paid by the tank owner. Although the amnesty period created a significant workload, it also allowed DHEC to learn of many sites we would have otherwise not have known.
There were 4,758 sites reported during the amnesty period between Jan. 1, 1988 and June 30, 1993, which created a substantial inventory. Of these, 346 releases were reported on the last day of amnesty June 30, 1993. This effort, which DHEC realized would increase our workload, actually places South Carolina in a better situation than other states that may have many unknown sites.
DHEC and underground storage tank owners are making steady, measurable progress toward addressing the UST release inventory. DHEC prioritized the caseload and work is done as funding allows. The process DHEC uses to prioritize sites is geared toward protecting the public’s health as well as the environment and ensures that the highest priority sites receive necessary funding for cleanup.
"In a 2007 letter, DHEC told federal regulators it would ask state lawmakers for $8 million annually for the next five years to speed cleanups. DHEC actually asked for $278,000 on its budget priority list.”
DHEC’s budget request had to be submitted to the Governor’s Office and legislature before the October 2007 letters. At the time, DHEC did not know how much money the EPA would consider a sufficient amount to address their concerns. We did, however, include an explanation of the situation in our budget request, noting that at the time of submission, the exact amount needed was not known. Once the amount was determined, that amount was included and referenced in our discussions and testimony before legislative committees during the session.
DHEC requested the $278,908 to pay salary and operating expenses for five new positions proposed to be added to the UST program to reduce the caseload per staff project manager and increase UST site rehabilitation progress. Meanwhile, DHEC worked with the petroleum industry on the amended House Bill 3292 that, if passed, would have addressed the long-term SUPERB fund solvency concerns. DHEC staffs are prepared to provide assistance to UST owners and operators and their associations as they pursue additional funding to insure the solvency of the state fund (SUPERB),which serves as their financial responsibility mechanism.
Photograph on Page A9 with caption “James Randolph, left and his brother-in-law the Rev. Thomas Sumter are two of dozens of people in the Hopkins area with wells polluted by underground storage tanks. Here, Sumter pumps an old contaminated well.”
The November 21, 2008 State Newspaper article includes an interview with Mr. James Randolph and Reverend Thomas Sumter (page A8) and a photograph of Mr. Randolph and Rev. Sumter standing in front of a house. Mr. Randolph states that he experienced a bad taste and odor in his well for over 15 years. It is unclear to which address he is referring.
To date, DHEC has been granted permission to sample more than 100 private water supply wells in the Hopkins area. Sampling has been completed at no cost to the homeowner and in cases where petroleum contamination has been identified, DHEC has promptly installed carbon filters and/or replaced the residential water supply wells at no cost to the homeowner.
In some cases, individuals are eager to have their water tested; however, some individuals are still, to this day, refusing access to have their well water sampled. Permission to sample wells has been sought by multiple means including correspondence to individual homeowners, door to door contacts, leaving requests on people’s doors, public meetings, and through additional assistance provided by Richland County councilwoman Bernice Scott and the local churches.
DHEC was given permission to sample Rev. Sumter’s well in May 2002 and the results indicated the presence of gasoline chemicals in the well. DHEC promptly directed the installation of a carbon filter on Rev. Sumter’s well in May 2002 as an interim measure and a new, deeper, multiple-cased well was installed in September 2002, again at no cost to the homeowner. The replacement well has remained clean since that time.
The replacement water supply well that was installed for Rev. Sumter is actually depicted in the photograph included in the state newspaper. The well house is the white building located to the right and behind Rev. Sumter.
“DHEC’s handling of the backlog has irked some lawmakers who say DHEC asked them at the 11th hour last year to bail out the program before the EPA cracked down on South Carolina.”
Since 1995, the SUPERB Advisory Committee, an independent committee that by statute provides DHEC with advice on underground storage tank corrective action program administration, has submitted an annual report to the SCDHEC and to the State General Assembly in accordance with requirements of the SUPERB Act. This report addresses the financial status and viability of the SUPERB Account and the SUPERB Financial Responsibility Fund, the number of sites successfully remediated pursuant to the SUPERB program, the number of sites remaining to be remediated, and any statutory or regulatory changes that the committee recommends. Over the years, this report has repeatedly mentioned funding shortfalls in the SUPERB Account as a critical issue.
“Columbia real estate developer Travis Butler said pollution from leaky tanks wasn’t the only reason he decided last year against building a retail complex at Harden and Gervais streets. But it was a factor, he said. The contamination, discovered in 1991, has spread from the corner’s Exxon station to several other properties. “I can’t get a construction loan to build unless I’ve got a clean bill of health from DHEC,” he said.”
DHEC is aware of numerous sites where petroleum contaminated properties have been redeveloped. One of the two sites with UST related petroleum contamination at the corner of Harden and Gervais has been developed and a new building was erected on the contaminated property in recent years. That building houses a State Farm Insurance office and Lab Corps. DHEC staff have met with several interested parties to discuss further redevelopment of the surrounding properties and has offered assistance with logistical elements of developing the property while still enabling cleanup efforts to remove free phase petroleum product. Additional methods and modifications to the current remediation system are being examined in order to expedite the cleanup. There are no laws or regulations that prohibit the redevelopment of properties impacted by petroleum.
“Contractor Woes”
“In Cherokee County, DHEC paid a contractor $52,000 to clean a state Department of Transportation maintenance yard, then allowed the company to quit in 2005 before the cleanup was completed. The contractor said DHEC didn’t explain the extent of the pollution. Various contractors worked there 14 years, earning about $400,000, before DHEC decided the remaining pollution would clean up on its own.”
The site mentioned is in a complicated geologic stetting in the upstate. The cleanup contractor was paid $78,841.51 (not $52,000 as reported by the State newspaper) and released from a $105,122 contract. The amount paid reflected the percentage of cleanup that the contractor accomplished. DHEC determined it was better to release the contractor considering the remaining necessary cleanup costs would be less than the amount remaining on the contract, thus saving the SUPERB account money. The release has been closed, and a financial savings of over $2,000 will be realized once all costs have been paid after the groundwater monitoring well network is appropriately abandoned in the near future.
“Contractor Woes”
“In Newberry County, a contractor complained his company could not clean up a Department of Transportation site because it found more groundwater pollutants, including solvents, than it bargained for. The contractor billed DHEC $148,000, DOT records show. A second contractor said the first had improperly installed equipment. The pollution was discovered in 1987; the cleanup is not complete.”
The contractor was actually paid $131,250 under the conditions of a binding contract for reaching 75% of the cleanup goal (paid for the work they accomplished) prior to being released from the contract. DHEC subsequently directed the investigation of the solvents that were identified and that issue was later closed. Cleanup efforts for the remaining portion of the UST release are now underway.
“DHEC also has declared some sites clean, only to learn that pollution remained. The agency said in 1997 that an old store in Hopkins no longer needed cleanup; three years later, regulators found unsafe levels of pollution, records show.”
DHEC may reopen closed cases when necessary to address new information indicating the presence of additional contamination. In the case of the Hopkins area, it should be noted that during the assessment and cleanup efforts there were confirmed releases identified from three separate underground storage tank sites between 1990 and 2001. None of the Hopkins releases were closed by DHEC in 1997.
Three underground storage tank releases have been reported in Hopkins along Cabin Creek Road, the former Swap Shop, Brazzels Grocery, and from Joseph Brooks Grocery.
A release was confirmed October 29, 1990 from the former Swap Shop after gasoline chemicals were detected in a private well located at the intersection of Cabin Creek Road and Masonry Circle. The former Swap Shop is located near that same intersection.
The release at Brazzels Grocery was reported June 24, 1993 by the owner of the underground storage tanks. This facility is located at the intersection of Cabin Creek Road and Martin Luther King Boulevard. This release has not impacted any private water wells.
DHEC confirmed a release August 9, 2001 at a third site, the former Joseph Brooks Grocery located at the intersection of Cabin Creek and Minervaville Roads. This release is responsible for impacting a majority of the private water wells in the area.
In 2003, cleanup began at the former Brooks Grocery and Brazzel’s Grocery, a third release identified in the area but not thought to be a significant contributor of contamination to the private wells. Progress is being made, though it may take several more years to complete cleanup. Meanwhile, water supply wells in the affected area are periodically sampled and granular activated carbon treatment units are being maintained on contaminated wells to ensure clean water to those homes. Plans are being developed by Richland County to construct a community water system to provide a long-term solution for those residences. DHEC is contributing $600,000 for this effort.
Redevelopment of Leaking Underground Storage Tank Sites
There is a perceived notion that a petroleum release from an underground storage tank causes irreparable harm to the environment and results in property condemned as a worthless wasteland.
There are numerous success stories throughout the state of redevelopment of properties once affected by releases from underground storage tanks.
These are among the examples of the redevelopment of former leaking underground storage tank sites.
Richland County Public Library, Assembly & Hampton Sts., Columbia, SC
Palmetto Baptist Medical Center, 1600 Sumter St., Columbia, SC
Longhorn Steakhouse, 2800 Decker Blvd., Columbia, SC
Bi-Lo Shopping Center, 3816 N Main St., Columbia, SC
City Park, 317 Main St., Jackson, SC
Upstate Homeless Coalition, 6 N Calhoun St., Greenville, SC
- Sonic Restaurant, 6506 Garners Ferry Blvd., Columbia, SC
- Five Guys Burgers & Fries, 4751 Forest Dr., Columbia, SC
- Sarge Frye Field-USC Baseball Stadium, 401 Williams St., Columbia, SC
- Eckerd’s Pharmacy, 100 N Main St., Mauldin, SC
- Taco Bell Restaurant, 110 Goose Creek Blvd., Goose Creek, SC
- City of Spartanburg Park, St John & N Converse Sts., Spartanburg, SC
- CVS Pharmacy, Mill & Longstreet Sts., Kingstree, SC
- McDonalds Restaurant, 428 Gervais St., Columbia, SC
- Florence County National Bank, 1606 W Palmetto St., Florence, SC
For additional information, contact: (803) 898-3432