One of the most important aspects of any company with large logistic operations is keeping up with the impact energy has on the environment. It is up to you to set a personal goal to be environmentally compliant in all aspects, as it benefits the earth, those around you, and your company as a whole. As with every part of a responsible company, you should pick something environmentally compliant when it comes to choosing an alarm management system for your underground storage tanks.
As part of being a responsible owner of a UST (Underground Storage Tank), it is vital to ensure that you are remaining environmentally compliant with your alarm management system. A UST monitoring system is a detection system that keeps tabs on fuel levels. If your UST were to begin leaking, the UST monitoring system would activate an alarm and notify you. UST monitoring is a huge part of operations for both commercial fueling and retail fuel operations. These systems can help prevent the negative environmental impact of fuel leaking into the ground and can save you thousands in fees. If you were to practice bad alarm management, you could ruin your reputation and rack up a variety of penalties for lack of compliance. Keep reading in order to see the different types of alarms and how these alarms promote environmental compliance.
Fuel releases could impact the surrounding soil and drinking water. But if simply being a good citizen is not incentive enough, cleaning up after a release could cost millions according to the EPA. Automatic tank gauges help guard against these costs with a myriad of alams designed to alert you of potential problems.
Samples of Alarms
- A Sensor Fuel Alarm will alert you when a fuel tank or line sensor senses a liquid, such as gas or water. 40% of the time, these alarms can be managed remotely, as the technician can identify whether or not it is raining in the area, which is a very common trigger for this sort of alarm.
- The UST Tank Overfill Alarm will alert you when the gas or diesel levels in a tank have exceeded the capacity of the tank. Most of the time, this alarm can be resolved by stopping any deliveries in process, which will stop the tank from overfilling.
- A PLLD (Pressurized Line Leak Detection) Gross Test Fail Alarm will alert you when it detects a line leak in excess of 3 gallons per hour. This alarm is also capable of creating a shutdown alarm if the system is already programmed to do so. This sort of alarm needs to be resolved immediately, as it is critical to the environment around it.
- The Sensor High Liquid Alarm will warn you when the reservoir or containment area has exceeded a preset capacity. If you avoid this alarm, you will not be in compliance with environmental regulations.
- A Tank Sudden Loss Alarm will sound when there is a decrease in fuel level during an idle period. This alarm can help determine if there is a leak, or if there is any fuel theft. The cause of fuel loss should always be investigated.
While being aware of active alarms is important, you need to make sure that you actually resolve the alarms. To comply with any environmental regulations, alarm resolution is needed. You have to have documentation that you solved the alarm.
Another part of remaining compliant is cooperating with monthly walk-through inspections. These inspections need to be recorded and stored. Along with monthly inspections, your alarm system must also be checked annually for issues such as residue buildup, sensor communication, and more. Please make sure you are maintaining three years of records for this. When you maintain written records, it will be way less stressful when the state inspector comes around to visit.
Alarm Management with Diversified
Excitingly, Diversified has signed a deal with Leighton O’Brien for alarm management software. We will be using Leighton O’Brien’s ATG compliance and Alarm Management software due to its automated environmental compliance and alarm response. This is part of our solution to ensure that customers can keep track of any leaks and meet EPA regulations.
