The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced a settlement with Aloha Petroleum LLC over Clean Water Act violations at its oil storage and distribution facility in Kahului, Maui. Under the settlement, Aloha Petroleum will pay a $103,377 penalty.
“Aloha Petroleum must improve oil tank safeguards to prevent harmful spills into Hobron Point,” said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. “Today’s action will safeguard public health and protect Maui’s precious water resources against the risk of oil releases.”
In February 2023, the EPA inspected the facility to evaluate compliance with the requirements of Clean Water Act Section 311. Based on that inspection, EPA identified several violations:
- The secondary containment system was not capable of preventing oil from escaping the system before a potential cleanup could occur. The liner was ripped in multiple locations at the tank farm’s secondary containment area.
- The facility failed to provide sufficient secondary containment capacity that would contain the largest bulk storage container and precipitation.
- The facility failed to comply with applicable industry standards for integrity testing of additive bulk storage containers and requirements for qualifications of workers performing tests and inspections.
Following EPA’s inspection, Aloha Petroleum began work on several tasks to address these violations and completed them earlier this year.
Aloha Petroleum applied patch kits to affected areas, implemented barriers to minimize release risks in case of tank failure, and installed a monitoring camera system with remote capability in the tank farm. In November 2023, they built a new containment wall, restored the liner, and inspected their small wastewater treatment system. Additionally, Aloha Petroleum has been conducting and documenting monthly inspections of aboveground storage tanks for oil.
This settlement is available for public comment until October 11, 2024: https://www.epa.gov/publicnotices/aloha-petroleum-kahului-maui-hi.
Background
Under the Clean Water Act, EPA established the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule to prevent oil discharge from non-transportation related onshore facilities into U.S. waters or adjoining shorelines. Preventing uncontrolled releases at oil storage and distribution facilities reduces safety risks to workers, communities, and the environment.
For more information regarding spill prevention and preparedness visit: https://www.epa.gov/oil-spills-prevention-and-preparedness-regulations.
For more information on reporting possible violations of environmental laws and regulations visit: EPA's enforcement reporting website.
