An Introduction to
EPA New England's
Oil Program
wEPA
United States
Environmental Protection
Agency New England
April 2006
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EPA New England's Oil Program regulates facilities that store large quantities of oil and monitors and responds to, as necessary,
oil spills to navigable waters or spills that present a significant threat to human health or the environment. The overall mission
of the Oil Program is to minimize the number, size and impact of oil spills on the inland waterways and environmentally sensitive
areas in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont.
To meet this objective, the Oil Program works cooperatively with federal, state and local government agencies and the regulated
industry to prevent spills and ensure that when spills do occur, that response activities are conducted in compliance with federal
regulations.
To address the potential environmental threat posed by oil spills, EPA New England's Oil Program focuses on the following areas:
° Preventing oil spills before they occur by regulating oil storage facilities
through enforcement and compliance assistance activities;
° Preparing in advance for an effective and immediate response to an oil
spill by participating and assisting in the organization of both large scale
and facility-specific spill and disaster exercises;
° Monitoring and supporting the response to an oil spill emergency by
dispatching On-Scene Coordinators, providing facility information, and
assisting federal, state and local authorities with technical support;
and, participating in a Unified Command or assuming direction of the
response; and
° Enforcing environmental laws and regulation.
The Oil Program is committed to reaching out to the regulated community
to inform them of spill prevention and response requirements; and to
improving communication and coordination between federal, state, local and tribal agencies.
This brochure offers an introduction to EPA New England's Oil Program.
On-Scene Coordinators are the federal officials
designated to coordinate and direct responses to all
actual or threatened releases of oil or hazardous substances
that present an imminent and substantial danger to public
health and welfare or the environment.
OSCs monitor oil spills in the region and respond to
spills which require federal assistance or oversight. OSCs
coordinate all federal efforts with, and provide support and
information to, local, state and regional responders.
EPA's On-Scene Coordinators have primary responsibility
for spills and releases to inland areas and waters, while the
U.S. Coast Guard has responsibility for coastal waters.
A phone duty On-Scene Coordinator is available 24-hours
a day to take reports of incidents and deploy an OSC to the
scene of an oil spill as necessary. Two On-Scene Coordinators
are on-call and prepared to respond to incidents that occur
after working hours.
Reports of oil spills and hazardous substance releases
should be called into the National Response Center at:
800-424-8802.
By calling the NRC, a Federal On-Scene Coordinator can
be reached.
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Oil Spill Prevention
Oil Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure
For more than three decades, EPA's Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure, or SPCC program, has worked at several
hundred thousand oil storage facilities throughout the country to prevent the discharge of all kinds of oil into the waters of
the United States.
EPA's approach to preventing oil spills combines planning and enforcement measures. To prevent oil spills, EPA requires owners
or operators of certain facilities storing oil to prepare and implement SPCC Plans that detail the facility's spill prevention
and control measures. While SPCC plans do not need to be filed with or approved by EPA, the plans must be updated every
five years and EPA's Oil Program inspects facilities for SPCC compliance.
Facilities required to have an SPCC plan in place:
• have an aggregate above-ground storage capacity of more than 1,320 gallons of oil; or
• have a completely buried storage capacity greater than 42,000 gallons of oil (not already included in regulatory requirements
under federal underground storage tank regulations); and
• could possibly release oil into navigable waters or adjoining shorelines.
Each facility's plan should detail the prevention measures and procedures that are in place to prevent and / or address a
potential oil spill. SPCC Plans must include:
• detailed operating procedures for the facility to prevent oil spills and a description of control measures installed to prevent
oil from entering navigable waters;
• descriptions of cotintermeasures to contain,
cleanup, and mitigate the effects of an oil spill that
could effect navigable waters or adjoining
shorelines;
• appropriate secondary containment or diversionary
structures; and
• descriptions of loading and unloading requirements for
tank trucks.
Since 2004, EPA New England has conducted Spill
Prevention Control and Countermeasure inspections at more
than 75 New England facilities per year.
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Oil Spill Prevention
Facility Response Plans
As part of the Clean Water Act, EPA requires certain facilities that store and use oil, to prepare and submit to EPA a Facility
Response Plan that documents their capabilities and strategies for responding quickly and effectively to contain an oil spill.
Each facility must be able to document that they can adequately respond to a spill that qualifies as the small, medium, and worst
case spill scenarios for that facility. Worst case scenarios are different for each facility but typically involve the catastrophic
failure of the largest single tank at a facility.
Facilities that are required to have a Facility Response Plan include:
• non-transportation related facilities that have a storage capacity greater than or equal to
42,000 gallons, where operations include over water transfer of oil;
• facilities with a storage capacity greater than or equal to one million gallons that lack
adequate secondary containment;
• facilities with a storage capacity greater than or equal to one million gallons and located
at a distance such that a discharge could cause injury to fish and wildlife and sensitive
environments;
• facilities with a storage capacity greater than or equal to one million gallons located at a
distance such that a discharge from the facility would shut down a public drinking water
intake; or
• facilities with a storage capacity greater than or equal to one million gallons that have
experienced a reportable oil spill greater than or equal to 10,000 gallons
within the past five years.
Facilities that meet these criteria are required to create Facility Response Plans
and file them with EPA. There are approximately 130 facilities in the New England
region which, due to the amount of oil on site and their location, are required to
obtain approval of a Facility Response Plan from EPA. The majority of these facilities
are located in Connecticut and Massachusetts. Since 1995, EPA has reviewed each
facility response plan on a five year schedule.
Since 2004, EPA has conducted reviews of facility response plans at close to 30 New
England facilities per year.
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Oil Spill Preparation
Unannounced Facility Exercises
EPA New England's Oil Program conducts unannounced exercises at selected facilities each year. These exercises, which test
the ability of a facility to respond to a spill and implement its emergency response procedures, are conducted in accordance with
the national Preparedness and Response Exercise Program (PREP) guidelines and 40 C.F.R. Part 112, Appendix E.
During each exercise, a facility is required to respond to a simulated spill. EPA representatives are on site to evaluate how
quickly and effectively the facility is able to contain the spill and to confirm that the emergency response procedures are followed,
including equipment deployment and notification protocols. EPA begins timing the response activities immediately after the
scenario has been presented to the facility and the oil recovery efforts must be underway within two hours. After the exercise
is complete, a review of the facility's written plan is conducted and deficiencies are documented.
Facilities that satisfy the objectives of the exercise are not subject to another unannounced exercise for at least 36 months.
Facilities that do not satisfy the objectives of the exercise may be subject to another exercise at any time. These facilities are
also required to take corrective actions to address any deficiencies identified during the exercise.
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Oil Spill Response
Residences Impacted by the Spill from the Murphy Oil Refinery
Heaviest
Moderate
Light
Oil Line on Structures
Approx. Perimeter of Oil Plume, 10/17/05
Approx. Perimeter of Oil Plume, 11/4/05
Approx. Perimeter of Oil Plume, 12/2/05
ERA and the USCG
coordinated resources
and personnel to
address the Murphy Oil
Refinery spill in Saint
Bernard Parish, Louisiana.
Hurricane Katrina
EPA New England responds to numerous oil spills each year. While most of these spills are small
to medium in size, the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina required a national response to the
cleanup activities in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi with EPA staff from across the country
participating in the cleanup effort. In particular, EPA New England contributed resources to the
cleanup of the Murphy Oil Refinery in Saint Bernard Parish, Louisiana.
The environmental aftermath of Hurricane Katrina's landfall in Louisiana included numerous major
oil spills. E PA and the US Coast Guard (USCG) have been working together to respond to one of the
largest spills, a release of more than one million gallons of crude oil from the Murphy Oil Refinery
in Saint Bernard Parish, which not only affected the environment, but many nearby homes.
Extensive investigation following the release revealed that approximately 1,800 homes and a yet
undetermined number of other properties within an approximate one square mile area of the refinery
were impacted. Several nearby canals were also impacted by the crude oil release.
To best coordinate jurisdictions, resources and personnel, the USCG focused on the removal of free oil in nearby impacted canals,
the tank farm containment area and neighborhood storm drains. Meanwhile, EPA focused on the removal of oil from residential
areas, parks, schools, and sidewalks, as well as other areas which are publicly accessible, including commercial facilities, roads,
and highway medians. EPA New England personnel are expected to continue supporting Hurricane Katrina clean up efforts for the
foreseeable future.
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Oil Spill Response
Oil Spill Response
Raynham Gasoline Spill, Raynham MA
On a Monday afternoon in late September 2005, an OSC was dispatched to the scene of a gasoline spill in Raynham,
Massachusetts to provide support to the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) following the
release of an estimated 2,000 gallons of fuel from an ExxonMobil tractor trailer which had been involved in an accident on
Route 24, a major artery between Boston and southeastern Massachusetts. The fuel had been released onto the pavement
and embankment of Route 24 and onto the ground adjacent to a wetland and nearby tributary to the Taunton River.
After closing both the northbound and southbound traffic on Route 24, EPA and MassDEP oversaw the excavation of gasoline-
contaminated soil from the site and construction of a large trench to collect product flowing down over the embankment.
Following a night of heavy rain, EPA returned to the site of the incident to evaluate the effectiveness of the cleanup efforts.
After surveying the affected area, it was determined that although the heavy rain had caused the gasoline to flow further
down the steep embankment and to migrate closer to the stream, it had not yet impacted the surface water.
EPA and MassDEP updated local officials and assessed whether there were any private wells in the vicinity of the spill which
might have been impacted. Finding none, EPA returned to the site for a final reconnaissance of the area to confirm that there
were no impacts to fish, wildlife or the shoreline from the spill and that appropriate
actions were being taken by the licensed contractors hired by ExxonMobil.
Derby Oil, Derby CT
Over 160,000 gallons of oil have been recovered from the Derby Oil site in Derby,
Connecticut since 1994. The site, located alongside the Housatonic River, is the
location of the former Hull Dye facility.
EPA's initial response, in coordination with Connecticut Department of Environmental
Protection (CT DEP), was to excavate 1500 cubic yards of oil saturated soil and river
sediment, install an interceptor trench and an oil recovery well. This well system
continues to operate; collecting oil and transferring it into a nearby storage tank for
periodic disposal.
When new oil sheens were spotted on the Housatonic River in 1999, EPA and CT DEP
investigated and found that it was emanating from the tailrace of the former facility.
Further investigation confirmed that the source originated from an historic leak in a
line linking a 20,000 gallon underground tank and the facility pumphouse. A second
oil recovery system, comprised of five recovery wells, was designed and constructed
in 2000 and has been operating since.
EPA and CT DEP continue regular inspections of the oil recovery systems, treating
groundwater, and periodically transporting and disposing of the collected oil. In
addition, EPA has tapped the national Environmental Response Team to conduct a sub-surface investigation of the site to
determine if any other pathways exist that are contributing to the continued flow of oil from the tailrace.
The subsurface pathway of the oil changed over time which led to the oil outbreaks into the Housatonic River in 1999. In
order to minimize the oil migrating to the River and make it easier and more efficient to collect the oil, EPA plans to install
an underflow dam at the end of the tailrace. The dam will increase the water pressure in the tailrace and force the oil in the
direction of the interceptor trench.
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EPA's Oil Program also plays an important role in enforcing environmental laws and regulations concerning oil pollution
prevention.
When EPA New England settles legal actions with facilities that are found to be out of compliance or to have violated the
Clean Water Act, resulting financial penalties are paid into the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund. EPA's settlements also call for
work to correct violations at affected facilities and can allow facilities to undertake supplemental environmental projects in
an affected community. Funds from the trust are used to respond to oil spills at abandoned facilities or in situations where
the responsible party is unwilling or unable to respond.
In addition to enforcing the law, EPA works with business and industry to ensure that regulated parties understand and
meet their legal obligations. The program also seeks to help the regulated community find cost-effective ways to go beyond
compliance with the law and reduce its regulatory burden through the use of pollution prevention measures, environmental
management systems and effective environmental technologies.
EPA New England's Oil Program is committed to working in a coordinated way with federal, state, local and tribal partners.
In recent years the program has begun a significant effort to reach out to the regulated community including conducting
a series of workshops in several New England states
each year to provide guidance to and share updated
requirements with representatives of facilities that are
required to prepare Facility Response Plans or Spill
Prevention, Control and Countermeasure Plans. EPA has
also presented workshops for facility representatives on
the requirements of Government-Initiated Unannounced
Exercises which are conducted under the National
Preparedness for Response Exercise Program. EPA is
also reaching out to elementary, middle and high schools
throughout New England to advise them of oil storage
requirements that may be applicable to schools.
@ printed on 100% recycled paper, with a minimum of
50% post consumer waste, using vegetable based inks
United States
Environmental Protection
iAgency New England
Program Section Chief
Steve Novick
617-918-1271
Oil Program Coordinator
Cosmo CateHno
617-918-1264
Oil Program Enforcement Coordinator
Don Grant
617-918-1768
Visit www.epa.gov/ne/superfund/er or www.
osc.net for additional information about
how EPA is planning for and responding to
emergencies and oil spills throughout New
England.
EPA901-F-06-003
April 2006
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