Oil Tanks

The 5 million tonne storage facility will be built in the Yangpu economic zone and should be operational by 2012.

Sinopec Group and Cnooc Group are also building commercial oil reserves in Yangpu. The Hainan government is talking to international companies about building a 10 million tonne a year jpint venture petrochemical complex in Yangpu.

In 2009 the province had applied to the central government to host part of the third phase of the strategic petroleum reserve programme, but had been granted approval.

Full Story: Hainan strategic oil tanks get green light - Tank Storage magazine

A slow leak in a heating oil tank outside Tyne Valley Presbyterian Church spilled approximately 400 litres of oil on the church's property. Since the leak was discovered on Feb. 4, a dozen truckloads of contaminated soil have been removed from the land at a cost of $20,000.

Last week, the church was forced to put the work on hold while it raised money to fund the rest of the cleanup. Over the weekend, private donors came forward and two other churches passed the collection plate on Tyne Valley's behalf.

Dave Sudsbury, the chair of the board of managers for the church, said the tank was nine years old.

Full Story: Oil spill cleanup resumes at Tyne Valley church - CBC.ca

Full Story: Jinan Steel becomes key supplier of oil tank steel sheets in China - Alibaba News Channel

A corresponding law, also effective July 1, will make coverage for heating oil spills a mandatory addition to homeowner insurance offered in the state.

Buried oil storage tanks and piping are prone to leakages because of the corrosive affects that water and either soil or cement have on unprotected metal. Perforation from material weakening and cracks from changes in the ground environment (like soil settling or foundation shifting) make underground tanks vulnerable to leaks that can develop for years without detection.

Due to the risk of air leaking into a pipe or tank and causing combustible fuel to ignite, state fire codes made protective sleeves mandatory for newly installed underground oil storage systems in 1990. Protective sleeves are non-metallic encasements meant to shield the metal from corrosive chemical agents and contain a leak, should one occur. As with this years law, the sleeve was required to be applied to either the oil tank valve or the line that connects the tank to the furnace. Therefore, heating oil equipment for buildings constructed after January 1, 1990 likely already meet the new laws technical requirements. Homes with tanks and lines above ground, regardless of their construction date, are exempt from the law.

Full Story: New Mass. Law Requires Heating Oil System Upgrade - HeatingOil.com (blog)

Around 11:30 this morning, Atlantic City fire officials were called to Texas and Atlantic Avenues for reports of an oil leak. Only problem was with the steady rain, they didn't know where it was coming from. "You could smell it...going in all different directions, storm drains were all backed up and it was rerouting stuff around the corner and it was spreading out." Fire crews immediately got to work...closing down oil-slicked roadways and using all available resources to contain the spill before calling in an outside contractor to help. "It's a major operation&we depleted all our resources, we used up all our sand and all our absorbent materials." It took officials several hours to pinpoint the location to an underground oil tank in the parking lot of MAB Paints.

The State Department of Environmental Protection says a snowplow knocked the cap off of the tank left over from when housing units once occupied the paint shops parking lot. Brooks said, "We're estimating a couple hundred gallons of fuel leaked out, probably because of water drainage, snow melting and water going into tank caused an overflow." Despite their efforts, the oil made its way down to the bay, where the DEP says the fire department helped the Coast Guard set up what's known as a containment boom, to stop the oil from spreading further out in the water.

Although crews were able to quickly gain control of the situation, fire officials wish Mother Nature had worked with them instead of against them. "The weather compounded this&if we had gotten out here yesterday it might have been different scenario." The DEP will continue to monitor the situation. Officials say this is a prime example of why gas tanks are no longer put underground because if it were above ground, it would have been easy to spot the leak and could have prevented a major cleanup like this from happening.

Full Story: SEVERAL AGENCIES JOIN FORCES TO CLEANUP AC OIL SPILL - WMGM