The Bulletin Magazine - March 2010

The Bulletin

Journal of the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration

March 2010

Chairman’s Report

4

Editor’s Report

7

Letters to the Editor

7

Brian Baker Editor 52 Milton Grove Bletchley Milton Keynes

Business Manager’s Report New APEA Members News

8

MK3 5BH tel:

+44 (0) 1908 252332

fax:

+44 (0) 1908 252319

mob:

+44 (0) 7932 785166

11 15

email: Bakerb4@sky.com

Press Releases

30

APEA 2010 Conference, Exhibition and Awards Dinner information

37

Jamie Thompson Publishing Chairman 70 Wangford Road

Articles

A Transparent Maintenance Solution

46

Southwold Suffolk IP18 6NX

2011 Yearbook Registration instructions

49

Interview with Neil Jennings

50

Tel/fax: +44 (0) 1502 722999 Mobile: +44 (0) 7770 625851 email:

Florida’s Experience with Shop Fabricated Aboveground Storage Tanks

53

Jamiethompson@ukonline.co.uk

History of Petrol Stations Part 13 The Electric Petrol Dispenser

57

Jane Mardell

Ask the Experts

59

Business Manager PO Box 106 Saffron Walden Essex CB11 3XT

Branches Branch reports

United Kingdom

60 Tel/fax: +44 (0) 845 603 5507 Mobile: +44 (0) 7815 055514

Training 2010 course dates and booking details

62

email: admin@apea.org.uk

Front Cover - Site near Antrim, Northern Ireland Published by the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration A company Limited by Guarantee registered in England No. 2261600Opinions expressed in this Journal are not necessarily the views of the Association.

3

CONTENTS AND EDITORIAL

Reydon

Biofilm build-up in diesel tank and pipe line systems storing biodiesel fuels 42

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Welcome, to the first Bulletin of

There has been lots happening at

2010. As I type this report from my

the APEA since my last report; we

warm and cosy home based office

are delighted after an open tender

at the end of the first week of

process to have appointed F2F

January, it’s hard to believe that the

Events as the organisers of APEA

UK is in the depths of one of the most

2010, which will again be held at the

prolonged and cold winter spells for

Ricoh Arena. My thanks go again to

some forty years. The “mercury”

Bob Conlin and all the events

outside is somewhere about minus

committee for numerous meetings in

15 degrees C with other areas of the

November/December 2009 as we

country

20

short listed companies and carried

practice but certain subjects in

degrees C or feet deep in snow.

out interviews. My thanks also go to

particular those of bio fuels, above

Nowhere has escaped and the

all companies who bid for the work

ground storage, unattended self

local authorities and their service

and we were impressed by the

service and vapour collection may

providers have been tested to the

quality of the applicants but there

need that little bit more work.

limit.

can only be one winner and we look

My thanks go to all the APEA

I’m more than sure that many of

forward to working with F2F in

members who responded for calls to

our members will also have been

keeping the APEA Conference,

playing their part in keeping Britain

Exhibition and Dinner the industry’s

moving as all the snow ploughs and

preferred event. There is more detail

gritters, not to mention the operators

in this issue about APEA 2010 and do

of these essential vehicles, need to

keep checking our website for

fill their own cars up with fuel

further

somewhere.

bookings in early as the best spaces

well

below

minus

With ever decreasing numbers of filling stations, the reliance on the

details

and

get

those

and tables go fast.

Regarding

technical

matters,

service they provide in times like this

under the joint Chairmanship of

is critical. If a filling station fails to

myself representing the APEA, and

provide a service for whatever

Phil Lambeth for the Energy Institute,

reason

be

it has been agreed that the current

considerable, particularly in the

second edition of the “Blue Book” is

more remote and rural areas. Thanks

generally in need of bringing up to

must go to all the service companies

date with regard other updated

the

impact

can

assist with this work. We also hope, although the appropriate security measures for the publication are still to be put in place, that this third edition will also be available as a “soft copy” that can be purchased and downloaded as well of course as keeping a traditional bound book.

One of my targets when I took office as chairman in 2008 was to ensure

the

APEA

grows

its

international presence and we have been

getting

technical places

enquiries

questions

around

the

from world

and many and

and their service engineers who no

standard documents, but there are

matter what the weather will keep

no major areas of concern or

battling away to keep the stations

omissions

operating. I can imagine in weather

addressed. We have set up some

such as this being a lone worker on a

nine specialist working groups and

from the UK as you can get, as some

filling station can be a challenge.

with a good response from all

work will take me to Sao Paulo in

Going into my local site near Loch

industry stakeholders and industry

Brazil then Buenos Aires, Argentina

Lomond this morning at 6am, this

experts, these groups will review and

before I then get to fly as far South

being a BP dealer operated site, the

update their own area of expertise

as one can commercially to Rio

owner was unbelievably out on his

to ensure that the third edition will

Grande in Tierra Del Fuego where I

forecourt picking litter up keeping

be more than suitable for our

will get to spend one whole week

his forecourt tidy and neat. Although

industry for the coming five years or

fishing the worlds greatest sea trout

his car wash may be frozen for at

so. We have set ourselves a very

river and can forget about work

least another week yet, the normal

tight deadline of final publication

altogether. Of course I will always be

site activities go on and there will be

beginning of Q4 2010. It was

on the look out for the filling stations

lots more operators like this across

surprising in some ways how much of

in that part of the world to see what

the UK.

the guidance is still very much best

differences they have with our own!!

4

that

need

to

be

requests for our training services.

As you read this report in late February, I will be about as far away

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

oil companies or supermarket operators? Are operatives using the correct equipment and following safety procedures? Are the safety procedures laid down adequate enough? Have all risks been assessed? This really does put routine maintenance and such repair work under the microscope.

This is one of the reasons why the Association has completely reviewed its one day training course on the UK’s Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002, with the benefit of hindsight and more than 7 years of experience since these regulations have come into effect in the UK. Therefore see the short article about revisions to the course which is worth attending to not only refresh on the regulations themselves, but on the practical application of the supporting HSE guidance and the sequence of risk assessment and enforcement. An area I assure you that deserves closer scrutiny.

Before leaving the subject of APEA training, work is concluding for the new one day course on vapour recovery which is in demand and overdue I suspect, so watch out on our website and in the next issue for release dates (excuse the pun!)

We enter 2010 on the back of a buoyant conference last year at the Ricoh Arena as we now launch APEA 2010 and we hope to match if not exceed expectation for this year. A daunting task but one thing this Association can be proud of is its ability to deliver, a feat that has been successfully achieved for 52 years now, so please look at the advert for this year’s event and

Dear Mr Bourhill

Donations like yours allow Erskine to provide the kind of care that genuinely makes life better for our Veterans whatever their age; care that includes physiotherapy, speech & language therapy, podiatry and recreational outings and activities.

Donations also pay for specialist medical equipment, such as pressure-relieving mattresses.

It is only through the thoughtful generosity of people like you and the members of APEA that Erskine is able to make life so much better for the brave men and women for

Thank you!

On behalf of everyone at Erskine, I would like to thank the members of the APEA for their very generous donation of £2361.77 (including gift aid), raised at your annual conference dinner in Coventry. We are absolutely delighted that your Association has decided to show its support for the former members of our country’s Armed Forces in such a kind way.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

commit to what is a great networking opportunity within a professional and friendly atmosphere.

I hope that readers like the idea of the new “Ask the Experts” section and encourage anyone to write in with a technical query that can be shared with the whole of the industry whether private or public sector.

Certainly there seems to be a need for this as I do receive regular enquiries on all sorts of subjects so I am looking to seeing this as a regular feature.

I look forward to reading this issue and keep those articles and news items coming – I will print them!

I am off to clear my driveway of thick snow which means I am writing this report in January. Thank goodness it is only a few weeks away before I can start sowing seeds again in my modest greenhouse, which contains no gases whatsoever!

Best Wishes Brian

whom we care. Every pound we receive plays a part in helping us to achieve this – and the contribution you have made will make a real difference to all those who depend on Erskine.

Thank you once again for helping us to give this country’s ex-Service men and women the very special care they need and deserve.

Yours sincerely Lesley Miller Head of Fundraising Erskine 7

EDITOR’S REPORT/LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Welcome to the new decade of 2010 and a very happy and prosperous new year to our members. Although beginning the year cautiously there are definite signs that there is now the start of an economic recovery and that the decline has slowed sufficiently to see us through a tough time.

Towards the end of December 2009 saw my attention drawn to another incident that injured two workers following a blast whilst they were working on an underground tank.

This incident occurred on a gas (service) station in Moore County, North Carolina. Two men from Charlotte based Law Petroleum Tanks Lifts and Piping, were using a power grinder on an underground tank at the Exxon Short Stop at 4936 U.S Highway 1 in the Lakeview community shortly before 7pm on 15 December 2009, when petrol (gasoline) vapour ignited and exploded, authorities said.

Slabs of concrete buckled and caved into a crater near gas pumps and rocks and other debris rained down on a state highway patrol cruiser, which was parked outside the station’s convenience store.

The explosion fireball went at least 6 metres (20 feet) into the air, the two workers receiving minor burns whilst there were 10 other people inside the shop, who were unhurt though shocked.

It does not matter what part of the world we are in, these type of incidents are occurring with an uncomfortable regularity. Is there too much pressure being applied to get remedial works done quickly by

I read with interest the history of pumps in the last issue of the Bulletin.

I thought you might be interested in the attached photograph of an old pump which I inspected at Chapman’s Garage, Yoxford in Suffolk.

The pump is a Theo Multiple. It drew off two triple 250 gallon tanks either side of it.

Some of the manholes can be seen in front of my feet and under the window.

It worked by selecting which tank to draw

from via a lever to the side of the pump. Then you had to select how much fuel was required on a dial on the front. This could be 1/2 gallon or 1-6 gallon quantities. Next you removed a wooden panel in the window behind and put the electrics on by pushing a big red button on the inside wall of the garage.

The glass globe at the top would fill up to more than the desired quantity and then it had to be left to drain back to the mark automatically. Dispensing was then by gravity. This photo was probably taken in the mid to late 1970's during its routine weights & measures test.

The pump still had its original 1929 stamps on it and was found still to be perfectly accurate. Mr Chapman

I hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year. It is that time of year again, for membership payments and start of the next Yearbook for 2011.

• Any advertiser taking out a full page advert in the 2011 Yearbook is entitled to a website banner free of charge for one year, on the APEA website, from April 2010

2011 Yearbook

If you wish to advertise please contact me for a booking form or you can download one from the Publications page of the APEA website.

Dear Editor

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR/BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT

On page 49 of this issue of the Bulletin, you will find instructions on how to register for the 2011 Yearbook.

If you wish to be included in the 2011 Yearbook, please ensure you register by 1st April or your details will not be included.

You receive one free ‘Classified’ entry which is your contact details and one free entry on the ‘Trade Directories’ page. You can select additional ‘Trade Directories’ - these are charged at £26.00 plus VAT each.

Even if you do not wish to advertise in the Yearbook you need to register to be included in the Yearbook. I will record the details of everyone that has registered.

Full registration instructions are detailed on page 49 of this issue.

If you wish to advertise too, you can benefit from the following: • All existing ‘Bulletin’ advertisers receive a 50% discount off the 2011 Yearbook rates 8

told us that he had attended the Motor Show in 1928 and had seen this pump advertised there. He had bought it and was able to show us the original receipt and brochure.

The idea for different types of fuel from one pump is clearly quite old.

When originally installed it was used to sell 6 different makes of fuel.

The idea of one site selling BP, Shell, Esso et al would not happen now let alone all of this from one pump!

The pump served the community for many years and I am told that it now resides at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu.

Yours sincerely Patrick Smith

2010 Membership Thanks to all of you that renewed your membership by 1st January. If you have not already done this I would be grateful if you can make your payment for 2010 as soon as possible. This will help reduce the number of reminders that I send out each year.

This can be made via the APEA website on the ‘Membership’ page, by cheque or by credit card.

Bulletin Thank you to all of you that have contributed to this issue of The Bulletin.

Please send me any news items, press releases or articles for the June 2010 issue and I will pass them onto our Editor for approval.

We are always pleased to receive contributions from our members and it ensures that the Bulletin remains an interesting and informative read.

Bulletin Advertising Thanks to all of you that renewed your advertising for the 2010 issues of the Bulletin and thanks to new advertisers too, especially in these difficult economic times.

Remember that if you book in all four issues you receive a 25% discount and we are able to offer discounts for those of you that wish to book for more than one issue but less than four issues too.

The advertising rates remain unchanged for 2010 and are listed on our website on the ‘Publications’ page at www.apea.org.uk If you would like to book advertising in the Bulletin for 2010, please call me on 0845 603 5507 or email me at admin@apea.org.uk for a booking form.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

If you are interested in hosting a

Website

The Blue Book is available at the discounted rate of £40 to APEA members.

If you wish to purchase a copy please contact me on 0845 603 5507 and I will be able to provide you with details on obtaining a copy.

We also publish the Code of Practice for Ground floor, multi storey and underground car parks.

This can now be downloaded directly from the APEA website.

bespoke course for your company

Training

interested in and the course details

Thanks to all of you that have booked on the APEA training courses.

The 2010 dates are detailed on page 62 of this issue of the Bulletin and are also on the APEA website at www.apea.org.uk where you can book online or download a booking form.

I can also arrange bespoke courses for companies, which enables members to receive training at a discounted rate and at a time and location suitable to them.

and form are displayed or please

details can be found below.

Jane

Detailed below are new members that have recently joined the APEA during October, November and December 2009.

Kay Sterling

Melvyn Vance

Central Bedfordshire Council

Veyance Technologies

High Street North

Unit 25 Robins Road Zone 3

Dunstable

Burntwood Business Park

October

Bedfordshire LU6 1LF

Burntwood

Adam Ruck 126 Fridaybridge Road Elm, Wisbech Cambs PE14 0AT

Dave Rees

please do not hesitate to contact me for a quote.

We can offer discounted rates for these courses if you are able to provide a venue and catering.

You can book online from the Training page on the APEA website or you can download a booking form from our website training page, just click on the course you are

contact me by email or by phone and I can email you a copy.

Also anyone booking a training course now, that is not an APEA member will automatically receive

General Assistance

membership to the APEA.

New Members There

have

been

40

new

members joining during October,

Finally if any of you need any assistance with general or technical matters, please do not hesitate to contact me on 0845 603 5507 and I will endeavour to help.

November and December 2009 and

Staffordshire WS73XB

Vale of Glamorgan Trading

Lucas Clarke

Standards

Clarke Construction Services

Public Protection 1st Floor, Civic Offices

Catherine Connelly Argyll & Bute Council Development & Environment Kilmory, Lochgilphead PA31 8RT

Barry CF63 4RU Lars Zimmermann Shell Deutschland Oil

Nigel Whitlock Central Maintenance Solutions Ltd. Brook House Warton Lane, Grendon Atherstone Warwickshire CV9 3DT Andrew Wheble Riegens Lighting Ltd 2 Elliot Drive Springwood industrial Estate Rayne Road, Braintree Essex CM7 2GD

The website continues to be a useful site for information and to make online bookings and payments. I am glad so many of you are using it.

If you wish to contribute anything to the site please feel free to log on and go to the APEA Resource Centre where you can submit your article for approval.

There is a ‘Help’ pull down menu if you need some assistance. If you need any assistance please do not hesitate to contact me.

You can also use the website to change your contact details, just logon and you will be able to access your record. If you cannot remember your logon details please contact me.

Suhrenkamp 71-77 Hamburg

Crestacre House Barracks Lane, Walsall Wood Walsall West Midlands WS9 9DL Glyn Jones GSS Training Limited Carrington Business Park

22299

Carrington

Germany

Manchester M31 4DD

Ian Trueman

Henry Hurd

Allianz Engineering Inspections

Staffordshire County Council

Services Ltd

Community Services

Haslemere Road

57-60 High Street

Liphook

Burton Upon Trent

Hampshire GU30 7UN

Staffordshire DE14 1JS

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

11

NEW APEA MEMBERS

Publications

Lee Smith Tyndale Cottage Appleton Wiske Northallerton North Yorkshre DL6 2AB Nicki Rose Cheshire West and Chester Borough Council Trading Standards Backford Hall Backford Chester Cheshire CH3 5TR Hayden Schulz 70-74 Perversi Avenue Diamond Creek 3089 Australia

Padraic Mulroy Mulroy Environmental 30 Lisroland View Knockbridge Dundalk Louth Ireland

Robert McArthur DRB UK Maintenance Ltd Suite3, 2 Drumhead Rd Cambuslang Investment Park Glasgow Strathclyde G32 8EX

Richard Robinson Aidan Strain Electrical Engineering 40 Maphoner Road Mullaghbane Newry Down BT35 PTR

Andrew Callender Digital Revelation Ltd 22 Monro Place Clarendon Park Epsom, Surrey KT19 7LD

NEW APEA MEMBERS

Malcolm Railson Urgent Technology 31 Sunningdale House Caldecotte Business Park Caldecotte Milton Keynes Bucks MK78LF

Simon Smeeton Turners (Soham) Ltd Fordham Road Newmarket Suffolk CB8 7NR Gilbert McCracken Inverclyde Council 40 West Stewart Street Greenock PA15 1YA

Steven Pashley Cleansing Service Group Ltd Chartwell House5 Barnes Wallis Road Fareham Hampshire PO15 5TT

Kathryn Cairns Inverclyde Council 40 West Stewart Street Greenock PA15 1YA

George Spence Nap Construction Ltd 62 Downhouse Road Caterington Portsmouth Hampshire PO8 0TY

Shaun Diamond Tates Ltd Long Acres Industrial Estate Rosehill, Willenhall West Midlands WV13 2JP

Paul Rich OHES Environmental Consultancy No 1 The Courtyard Denmark Street Wokingham Berkshire RG40 2AZ

Gary Foubister Orkney Islands Council Council Offices, Kirkwall Orkney KW15 1NY

Anthony Anderson Petroleum Solutions LTD 14 Fawcet Place Belmont, Lower Hutt Wellington 5010 New Zealand Christopher Matthews Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue Service Fire Station High Handenhold Durham DH2 1XF 12

Stuart Smith Newry & Mourne District Council O'Hagan House Monaghan Row Newry Down BT35 8DJ

November

Alex Bateman R.E.S & Sons Ltd 2-3 Siding Court Henry Boot Way Priory Park East Hessle East Yorkshire HU4 7DY Daniel Clenaghan 12 Pound Pill Corsham Wiltshire SN13 9HZ

Nick Burton R.E.S & Sons LTD 2-3 Siding Court Henry Boot Way Priory Park East Hessle East Yorkshire HU4 7DY Jendrik Frings PO Box 233184 Dubai United Arab Emirates

December Kevin Moore 43 Letterkenny Road Londonderry BT48 9XG Northern Ireland Brian Mc Gonagle MSI Limited 107 Baldoyle Industial Estate Dublin 13 Ireland Richard Read Aedas Architects Limited 7 Brewery Place Brewery Wharf Leeds West Yorkshire LS10 1NE Steve Cramp Gilbarco Veeder-Root Crompton Close Basildon Essex CM2 8RA Stephen Purpora GEA INC 658 N Progress Drive Saukville Ozaukee 53080 United States

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

A man was ordered to pay £12,000 after thieves damaged a tanker on his land, causing oil to seep into ditches and damage wildlife. Fluid from E and S Forklift Sales and Hire seeped into drains at Donnington, Lincolnshire, in February, harming a swan and causing the death of invertebrates living in the water.

Business owner Eric Elam was fined £8,000 and ordered to pay Environment Agency costs of £4,003

by Spalding Magistrates' Court on 30th September 2009 after admitting polluting a tributary of Hammond Beck Drain.

Mr Elam told investigating officers that an oil tank had been vandalised on the site on February 11 and a pipe had been ripped off. He thought his staff had cleaned up all the oil without realising there was a surface water drain underneath the area where the tank had stood – and so he did not notify the agency of the spill. This incident and the resultant fine is a timely reminder of the risks associated with decanting Red Diesel from Jerry‘ cans on to boats.

UK, South Devon.

Diesel spill at supermarket petrol station The Environmental Agency has launched an investigation after the sprinkler system at a Newton Abbot superstore contributed to a diesel spill. Up to 100 litres of water and 50 litres of diesel flowed into a River Teign watercourse after the sprinkler system at the Sainsbury's petrol station store broke down.

The agency does not believe the incident has caused any significant environmental damage. It is believed a large water tank at the back of the store for a sprinkler system had split and water had emptied from the tank at pressure.

Two drums of diesel were next to the tank to power the pump for the sprinkler system. One of these was knocked over and about 50 litres of diesel flowed out of the building, across the delivery yard and into the Aller Brook.

A Sainsbury's spokesman said: "Unfortunately a fault with the sprinkler system at our Newton Abbot store led to a small amount of diesel entering the nearby river. We are taking steps to repair the sprinkler system to help prevent this happening again." Environment Agency spokesman Paul Gainey said: "In addition to the water, diesel from the generator, which runs the system, also escaped. It is thought about 50 litres of diesel flowed into the water which went into a nearby watercourse.

The Environment Agency attended to investigate the matter and its environmental impact. The officer thought that, because of the high volume of water mixed with the diesel, it was sufficiently diluted enough not to cause damage to the environment.

We do not believe there has been any environmental impact."

UK, Halifax. Cars fill up then conk out! petrol was ‘half water’ A fuel company has launched an investigation after drivers told how their cars broke down after filling up at a Halifax petrol station. Pumps for unleaded fuel at Undercliffe Service Station on busy Godley Lane were sealed off after motorists complained. One driver said when the car fuel lines were examined the petrol "looked like muddy water with frog-spawn in it." Mark Holmes, 49, of Skircoat Green, Halifax, was one of several drivers who contacted the Courier to report the same problem.

Mr Holmes put £50 of fuel into his wife's Renault Scenic at the BP station. After a few days it wouldn't start and an RAC engineer suspected contaminated fuel. The car was towed to Balmoral Garage in Halifax where the tank was drained. Mr Holmes said: "All my lines were clogged up – it looked like muddy water with frogspawn." He says the problems have cost him £240 and he will be seeking compensation.

Bank worker Christopher Conroy, of Upper Lane, Northowram, broke down after putting £35 of unleaded petrol into his Corsa at the same station.

When he took it to a garage, he said the fuel was found to contain 50 per cent water. His tank was

drained at Dews Garage, which confirmed the petrol was 50 per cent water. He said: "It was dark brown and a bit gooey with the fuel on top." Repairs cost him £115 and he fears his car may have lasting damage. Another man, who did not wish to be named, said he broke down just half a mile from the station after filling up. He said: "The road quickly filled up with three other people who'd broken down. All had just filled up at the same station." He added: "I'd suspect that as this is a very busy station there will be lots of people who've had problems."

Another customer, Judith Potter, said she started experiencing problems a day after filling up at the station on November 10. Her fuel pump had to be replaced. The manager at the service station declined to comment. A spokesman for BP said: "We are working closely with the petrol station and assisting in their investigations. BP continually tests fuel it delivers and so far is confident the fuel met required specifications."

UK, ‘Oldest working petrol pumps in country’ found

NEWS

UK, Lincolnshire.

Polluter fined £12,000 for red diesel spill

A set of rusty petrol pumps owned by a 65-year-old mechanic are thought to be the oldest working set in the country.

Battling against the rise of modern supermarket stations buying and selling fuel for much less than he can, owner Bernard White has done everything in his power to keep the old relics working. The same pumps have stood on the forecourt of Laurel garage in Ramsbury, WIltshire, since the early 1950s.

The nozzles have been specially adapted to fit modern cars while seals around the hose are replaced regularly to prevent leaks. And they survived the imperial measure clamp down when the European Union tried to enforce metric-only labelling on all sellable goods.

"Strangers do not realise they are still operational. The site looks a bit long in the tooth so they are surprised to discover we are still selling petrol," said Mr White, 65.

Fuel at this garage will cost £5.53 per gallon - slightly more expensive than normal because of the

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

15

garages remote location.

The old Avery Hardoll pumps are limited to counting a maximum of just 20 gallons at a time. After that the gallon counter dial goes back to zero. While the pumps run off electric motors - just like modernday pumps - the face resembles a clock with hands telling the motorist how much fuel is being pumped.

Mr White, who lives with 86-yearold mother May in the bungalow opposite the site, is now searching for spare parts so he can keep the pumps going as business has been declining. "We used to get the pumps filled once every few months, now it is getting less and less."

"We have about 10 customers a week. Some are just passing by but others are regulars because they like using the pumps. For some people petrol stations are so few and far between they are glad to see us. I will keep going as long as I can. We have no intention of stopping at the moment even though we don’t make much money on petrol sales."

NEWS

UK, West Yorkshire.

Car ends up on top of Sainsbury’s petrol pump A driver had a lucky escape after his car bizarrely crashed into a petrol pump and ended up on top of it!

The incident happened around 11.30pm in the evening at Sainsbury‘s Shore Head petrol station. Fire crews from Huddersfield were called to the scene. The driver escaped unharmed. A fire-fighter said: “It was bizarre how it happened and the driver was lucky.

The pumps must have automatic shut-offs to prevent explosions.”

UK, Dorset, Poole.

Chevron fined for oil leak Energy company Chevron has been ordered to pay more than £11,500 in fines and costs for allowing diesel oil to escape from its terminal in Poole, Dorset, and putting an important nature reserve at risk of pollution.

On 30 October 2006, the Environment Agency was alerted to a fuel spill at the site. An agency officer saw liquid escaping from a 16

diesel storage tank. The fuel was flowing down a crack in a concrete floor, surrounding the tank that formed part of a ‘bund‘, which should have contained any spills.

Further checks with Chevron revealed that approximately 29,000 litres of diesel had been lost from the tank and escaped to the ground beneath the bund floor.

Surface water drains close to the terminal and the nearby Poole Harbour were checked for pollution and were found to be clear.

However, on 1 November 2006, Wessex Water reported that fuel was contaminating Poole sewage treatment works and a nearby sewage pumping station. An investigation showed that most of the spilled diesel from the terminal had entered a foul sewer, resulting in a reduction in the quality of effluent at the sewage works, causing it to breach its discharge consent for 12 hours.

The leak was traced to a small hole in the metal base of the storage tank. The bund that should have contained the spillage was cracked and the joint between the tank and bund base had not been sealed properly. All tanks at the Poole terminal were checked once a year.

Agency officers discovered that Chevron had been advised on a number of occasions to replace the sealant between the leaking tank and the bund base, but the company had failed to carry out the work. When inspected, there was also no sign of anti-cracking reinforcement or waterstop barriers at construction joints on the bund floor.

This was a major fuel spill that could have resulted in the serious pollution of Poole Harbour, an internationally important wildlife site,' said Julian Wardlaw for the Environment Agency. 'The majority of the diesel entered Wessex Water‘s foul sewer network where it caused serious operational problems, but the water company prevented major pollution of the harbour by intercepting and containing the spilled fuel. Had there been heavy rainfall at the time, diesel would have escaped from the sewer network into Poole Harbour. “This incident could have

been avoided if Chevron had acted on a consultant‘s advice and carried out repairs and improvements to the tank and the surrounding concrete bund,” he added. Appearing before a district judge at Bournemouth Magistrates' Court on 26 October, Chevron was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £5,511 in costs after pleading guilty to causing poisonous, noxious or polluting matter to enter controlled waters.

Decline in number of rural petrol forecourts in Scotland Transport Minister urged to prioritise support to safeguard remaining stations.

The number of rural petrol stations throughout Scotland has fallen sharply over the last decade.

Official figures released showed forecourts and associated shops in Aberdeenshire dropped from 55 in 1999 to 30 last year.

In Angus they fell from 15 to five over the same period.

There were 40 petrol stations in Perth and Kinross in 1999; now there are 20.

The Tory MSP Nanette Milne said the situation was “deeply worrying” given limited public transport links and shopping facilities in rural and remote communities. She added that the decline of “lifeline services” has also had an impact on jobs.

Mrs Milne is urging Transport Minister Stewart Stevenson to prioritise support for petrol stations to help safeguard their future.

The figures, the latest available, showed the number of petrol stations in Scotland has dropped from 880 in 1999 to 510 last year – a 42% decrease.

In Aberdeen there were 40 forecourts in 1999; there are now 20.

The number of petrol stations in the Highlands has dropped from 70 in 1999 to 60 last year – a rate that has remained static since 2005.

The Scottish Government figures show there were 25 petrol stations in Dundee in 1999 but that figure dropped to five last year.

In Moray they dropped from 25 10 years ago to 20 this year. There were 10 petrol stations in Orkney in 1999 but there are now only five. There

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

UK, Somerset, Warminster. Firm fined for burying oil-filled tanker A Warminster demolition company was ordered to pay £8,235 in fines and costs after it buried an oil-filled road tanker in the ground. The case was brought before magistrates in Yeovil by the Environment Agency. On February 15, 2008 the agency was alerted by a member of the public who claimed the demolition contractors, LA Moore, were excavating a tanker at its premises near Wells, Somerset.

The company has used the old railway siding at Haybridge for a number of years to store vehicles

and heavy plant equipment. There is also a workshop at the site. It was alleged LA Moore had acquired a tanker in the mid-1990‘s and filled it with fuel oil to heat its vehicle workshop. The tanker that could hold approximately 3,000 litres of oil, was parked at the company‘s main depot at Haybridge.

At some point the company decided to bury it in the ground.

Then, in 2008 the tanker was excavated as L A Moore prepared to clear the site for a future development. Magistrates heard the site lies within a groundwater protection zone.

The River Axe flows through the premises and there are a number of boreholes nearby, one of which supplies water to a local paper mill.

There is also a public road and a number of houses nearby. On February 16, 2008, officers from the Environment Agency‘s Environmental Crime Team arrived at the L A Moore site armed with a warrant. They were shown to a yard where the tanker had been buried.

A small section of the top of the tanker was showing above ground.

The tanker was found to contain a thick viscous black‘ oil. When they returned two days later Agency officers found two men heating up the oil so it could be pumped out of the tanker and taken to a refinery for recycling. They were advised to stop because of the risk of pollution to surrounding surface and groundwater.

During excavation groundwater was seen running freely into the exposed area around the tanker. A large dent and scratches were visible in the side of the tanker.

During discussions with LA Moore Ltd it became apparent the company didn‘t recognise the seriousness of its actions and risk of pollution from the tanker. As a result the agency served the company with an anti pollution works notice clearly stating how the removal operation should be conducted to minimise any risk of pollution of surface and groundwater.

When the tanker was finally pulled

out of the ground it was found to have sustained major damage to its front nearside. A large sack had been used to plug‘ a hole in the main tank. “The burial of a fuel-filled tanker was highly irresponsible, particularly given the location of this company within a groundwater protection zone where oil spillages can have a very serious impact on the environment and surrounding water supplies,” said Malcolm Newton for the Environment Agency. LA Moore of Market Place, Warminster, Wiltshire was fined £3,000 by Yeovil magistrates and ordered to pay £5,235 costs after pleading guilty to causing poisonous, noxious or polluting matter, namely heating oil, to enter controlled waters, namely groundwater, at the Old Railway Yard, Haybridge near Wells, an offence under Section 85(1) of the Water Resources Act 1991.

UK, Cardiff service station chosen for Texaco’s new image A service station in Cardiff has become one of the first locations around the world to incorporate Chevron's new Texaco service station image. The Texaco 2020 image is part of the group's Shining Star programme, which plans to build on Texaco's long heritage and reputation in Europe.

Chevron has announced that Cardiff has been chosen as one of the first locations worldwide for the launch of its new Texaco service station image. The new design has a more modern, fresher look, with improved lighting and a colour change in canopy lettering from red to white. In total, more than 25 sites in and around Cardiff will benefit from the new brand image.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

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have been no closures in Shetland where five stations have operated since 1999. In 2007 there were 15 petrol stations in the Western Isles but the number dropped to 10 last year.

Petrol Retailers Association chairman Brian Madderson said changes in market conditions mean there are now fewer petrol stations across the whole of the UK than in 1912. “The decline in the number of rural petrol stations in Scotland is the result of a number of trends that have affected the forecourt sector across the UK,” he said.

“Strong supermarket fuel outlet growth since the 1990s and a constant upwards movement in fuel duty have squeezed profit margins and made motor fuel retailing a very challenging business area. At the same time, forecourt retailers have faced high business rates in recent years and this has added further pressure,” Madderson added.

A Scottish Government spokesman said it recognised that petrol stations keep “rural communities moving” and is doing all it can to support them through the rural petrol stations grant scheme, which has the support of the association. “The scheme, which is administered by Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Scottish Enterprise, enables petrol stations to upgrade their fuel supply equipment, and become more economically viable and less vulnerable to closure,” he added.

NEWS

The new Texaco image is part of the company’s Shining Star programme which aims to build on the strengths of Texaco’s 90 year heritage in Europe and cement Texaco’s reputation as a premium brand. This improvement in the service station image is part of a comprehensive programme which includes investment in the company’s facilities and fuels supported by an integrated marketing campaign. In addition, enhancements have been made to the support package offered to independent Texaco retailers to help them to meet the needs of their local customers.

Brian Worrall, UK Country Chairman for Chevron said: “With our refinery in Pembroke, fuel terminal in Cardiff, and more than 130 Texaco service stations and fuel distributors in Wales, we are one of the largest private sector employers in the Principality and so it made sense that Cardiff would be one of the key locations for the launch of our new Texaco site image.”

Already the refreshed look of the sites is going down well with customers who appreciate the clearer signage and brighter lighting. Kurt Williams, owner of the Texaco St Mellons Service Station on Newport Road said: “We’ve had a lot of people comment positively on the new look for our site and there’s definitely been an increase in customers since we introduced the new brand image.”

UK, Vintage Petrol Pump – Thos. Furber & Co. Ltd, Harborne, Birmingham.

Thos. Furber & Co. Ltd is a long established funeral directors in Birmingham. The company moved to its present location in Station Road, Harborne, Birmingham in 1930 when it vacated its previous premises from which hearses were horse drawn.

Thos. Furber’s fleet of Rolls Royce funeral cars were fuelled up using a hand pump which had been bought second hand from Bristol Street Motors of Birmingham. The Chairman and Managing Director, Mrs. Audrey Furber, stated that the petrol pump has been in place 20

since the relocation in 1930 but its original construction probably dates back to the late 1920’s. The pump is still in regular use to fuel the current fleet.

Pictured with the pump is Mr. David Yardley of Thos. Furber & Co. Ltd.

UK, Changes to British Standard for Commissioning and Maintenance of Portable Fire Extinguishers Revision to the British Standard BS 5306 Part 3:2009 have recently been published. The standard stipulates that the “Responsible Person” under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 must ensure that only Competent Persons conduct work on fire extinguishers. The quality assured certification for this is under the British Approvals for Fire Equipment (BAFE) under ST104 scheme.

The Responsible Person is now responsible for identifying any material alterations that may lead to a review of the type, size and number of units necessary to provide adequate coverage.

The interval for a basic service has been changed to reflect the fact that it is not always possible to service extinguishers exactly at 12 month intervals from the previous service so an allowance of one month either side is now permissible.

The arrangements for discharge

tests have also been amended to 6 years from the date of manufacture for water, water based and powder extinguishers.

The standard also verifies that plastic head caps are to be replaced on the extended service (every 6 years from manufacture) and before reassembly, if it has been painted or Ultra Violet degradation has taken place.

Labelling has been changed to ensure that the service provider does not block out any previous markings and have the full postal address of the Service Provider.

Any Maintenance Report must include details for the provision of permanent replacements for condemned or missing extinguishers, or those that have not been maintained. The report should also carry advice if coverage in the building needs improving by the Service Technician. The certificate of inspection should include; • Name, full address and telephone number of the Service Company • Date of Inspection • Service Technician’s ID • List of all Extinguishers serviced and those that do not conform • Signature Person

of

the

Responsible

• Statement advising that the service has been carried out in accordance with BS 5306 Part 3 – 2009 The standard also provides guidance on extinguishers manufactured before 2002. If they do not have the CE marking they should be condemned as they do not comply to UK law. However, if they have been refurbished this does not apply. Extinguishers manufactured older than to BS EN 3; 1997 are acceptable provided they are serviceable and are marked with a fire rating.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

A substantial change to the way petrol and diesel are sold to motorists has been announced by Minister for Communications, Energy & Natural Resources Eamon Ryan.

Minister Ryan is demanding that fuel companies ensure 4% of their sales come from biofuels by the middle of next year. Minister Ryan also said that the 4% target will be revised upwards when the technology improves.

Up to €6bn is spent each year buying oil and gas from abroad and these fuels generate lots of greenhouse gases. The Government says biofuels produce 35% less greenhouse gases than fossil fuels.

The change should not cause problems for motorists. To have a small percentage of biofuel mixed with petrol or diesel will not require their vehicle to be changed in any way.

The Government says conditions will be introduced to ensure that biofuels come from sustainable sources. However, Tom Bruton of the Irish Bioenergy Association said the proposals do not specify where the biofuel will come from, so it could come from anywhere or any source sustainable or otherwise.

UK, Buncefield. Total UK pleads guilty to Buncefield safety breaches The Buncefield explosion on December 11, 2005, was the largest in Europe since the end of World War II and was caused by staff on duty failing to notice that a tank gauge had become stuck causing 300 tonnes of petrol to spill over the top of one of the storage tanks.

The tank continued to fill past critical levels after a backup safety switch failed to trigger, causing the plant to fill with petrol vapour.

Alerted by a tanker driver to the strong smell of petrol vapour, the supervisor on duty at the time of the incident then shut off the wrong pipeline by mistake. The vapour cloud ignited, and caused widespread damage and injured 43 people. Now, nearly four years later,

Total UK is facing three charges: Between the 1st day of January 2003 and the 12th day of December 2005 Total UK Ltd failed to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of its employees, contrary to Section 2(1) and 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Between the 1st day of January 2003 and 12th day of December 2005, Total UK Ltd failed to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in their employment were not exposed to risks to their health or safety, contrary to Sections 3(1) and 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Between the 10th day of December 2005 and the 31st day of December 2005, Total UK Ltd caused polluting matter, namely fuel and firewater chemicals to enter controlled waters, namely ground waters in the chalk aquifer underlying the vicinity of Buncefield, contrary to sections 85(1) and (6) of the Water Resources Act 1991.

Total pleaded guilty to endangering workers and members of the public by failing to adequately manage risks associated with the filling, emptying and monitoring of fuel storage tanks at the depot, which resulted in over filling of the tanks and the release of flammable materials that caused the explosion. Total additionally pleaded guilty to causing fuel and chemicals to be released into the chalk acquifer beneath the Buncefield depot.

Hertfordshire oil storage is facing two charges: Between the 1st day of January 2003 and the 12th day of December 2005, Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd failed to take all measures necessary to prevent major accidents and limit their consequences to persons and the environment, contrary to Regulation 4 of the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 and section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Between the 10th day of December

2005 and the 31st day of December 2005, Hertfordshire Oil Storage Ltd caused polluting matter, namely fuel and firewater chemicals to enter controlled waters, namely ground waters in the chalk aquifer underlying the vicinity of Buncefield, contrary to s.85(1) and (6) of the Water Resources Act 1991.

Hertfordshire Oil Storage pleaded not guilty.

British pipeline agency is facing two charges: Between the 18th day of November 2001 and the 12th day of December 2005, British Pipeline Agency Ltd failed to take all measures necessary to prevent major accidents and limit their consequences to persons and the environment, contrary to Regulation 4 of the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999 and section 33(1)(c) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Between the 10th day of December 2005 and the 31st day of December 2005, British Pipeline Agency Ltd caused polluting matter, namely fuel and firewater chemicals to enter controlled waters, namely ground waters in the chalk aquifer underlying the vicinity of Buncefield, contrary to s.85(1) and (6) of the Water Resources Act 1991.

British Pipeline Agency pleaded not guilty.

TAV Engineering is facing one charge: Between the 1st day of October 2003 and the 12th day of December 2005, TAV Engineering Limited failed to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in their employment were not exposed to risks to their health or safety, contrary to Sections 3(1) and 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974. TAV pleaded not guilty to failures in the design and manufacture of the switches that should have triggered an alarm

Motherwell Control Systems 2003 is facing one charge: Between the 28th day of September 2003 and the 12th day of December 2005 Motherwell Control Systems 2003 Limited failed to ensure, so far as is reasonably

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a plea and case management hearing will take place at the Old Bailey on Friday 13th November.

Ireland, Change of content in petrol and diesel

practicable, that persons not in their employment were not exposed to risks to their health or safety, contrary to Sections 3(1) and 33(1)(a) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Motherwell Control Systems pleaded not guilty to failing to conduct adequate maintenance and technical support of switches which should have triggered an alarm when fuel tanks were filled over a certain level.

A trial date has been provisionally fixed for 14 April 2010 at St Albans Crown Court.

UK, Petrol vapour recovery stage 2 (PVR II)

NEWS

The proposed PVR II Directive specifies that all existing service stations with a throughput of petrol above 3,000 cubic metres per year must be fitted with PVR II equipment by 2018. This is compared with existing UK PVR II controls that specify all existing petrol stations with a throughput of 3,500 cubic metres fit equipment by 2010 (2012 in Scotland).

The compliance threshold for new petrol stations remains the same at 500 cubic metres per year.

The UK has already taken action in England and Wales to reduce petrol emissions by implementing a Directive on the control of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions from the storage of petrol and its distribution from terminals to service stations, so-called Stage I petrol vapour recovery (PVR I).

The proposed Directive (as at July 2009) is nearly complete and should be finally agreed by the end of 2009.

The near final text of the proposal can be found on the Defra website , http://www.defra.gov.uk/environm ent/quality/pollution/ppc/regs/pdf/ pvr2-impact-assessment.pdf

Background Petrol contains volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which evaporate inside the fuel tank of a vehicle and fill the air space above the liquid fuel.

Petrol vapour escapes when drivers fill the empty, or partially empty tanks of their vehicles at service stations. This petrol vapour is 24

forced out from the fuel tank by the incoming fuel and, unless controlled, escapes into the atmosphere through the filler neck of the fuel tank.

Petrol vapour recovery systems can be installed at service stations to reduce the amount of petrol vapour that escapes to the atmosphere from vehicle refuelling; these are known as 'stage II' controls.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a precursor to ground level ozone. In sunny, still conditions and in the presence of nitrogen oxides, emissions of volatile organic compounds react to form ground level ozone. This is one of the components of summer time smog and harms human health, vegetation and building materials.

Ozone and its precursors can be transported over long distances and consequently pollution episodes may occur many hundred of kilometres from pollution sources.

In the UK the highest levels occur in south-east England due to its proximity to continental sources of ozone precursors.

Maximum concentrations generally occur downwind of the precursor pollutant source.

Ozone concentrations are often higher in rural and suburban areas than in urban conurbations. This is due to the complex chemical reaction that causes ozone to form; high emissions of nitric oxide from vehicle exhausts in cities may react with ozone to form nitrogen dioxide reducing local ozone concentrations.

The UK Government and the devolved administrations recognise that because of the transboundary nature of ground level ozone, any reduction of ozone concentrations requires an international approach.

PVR II is an obligation under the UNECE 1991 Geneva Protocol (the ‘VOC Protocol’) concerning the Control of Emissions of Volatile Organic Compounds or their Transboundary Fluxes.

The VOC Protocol is one of eight protocols to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), 1979 Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLTRAP). The Protocol came into force on 29 September 1997. The UK

ratified the Protocol on 14 June 1994.

Scotland, Aberdeen.

Fireworks thrown at city petrol station incident at supermarket could have had ‘catastrophic’ consequences A gang of youths hurled fireworks at a petrol station in Aberdeen in an incident which threatened to mar the city‘s annual bonfire proceedings. It came as emergency crews came under attack in a separate incident, which saw teenagers throw missiles as firefighters attempted to extinguish an illicit blaze on playing fields.

City councillors condemned the disgraceful behaviour of those responsible for the incidents. Officers were called to the filling station at the Asda supermarket on Jesmond Drive, Bridge of Don, at around 8.20pm following reports of around 20 youths throwing fireworks at cars.

Police later confirmed some of the missiles had strayed near the forecourt forcing store bosses to close the petrol station early. Local councillor Willie Young said the incident could have had catastrophic consequences. “One flame and that place is up”, he said.

“I don‘t want to imagine the catastrophic consequences that would result from a petrol station going up in flames.”

Finland, Oulunkyla.

Service station in north of Helsinki destroyed by massive fire A fire in the Oulunkylä area of the north of Helsinki has destroyed a service station recently. Large clouds of smoke came from the blaze, and the fire brigade warned residents in the area to stay indoors.

The fire broke out shortly before 1:00 in the afternoon. The building also contained a grocery store and a fast food restaurant.

The cause of the blaze remains

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

unknown and police are investigating. One possible theory is an electric malfunction. Staff at the service station said that they had heard a pop on the ceiling shortly before the fire broke out. Rescue officials said that there was no danger of an explosion, as the fuel tanks were underground in an oxygen-free environment.

India, Competition intensifies in retailing of petro-fuels

NEWS

Competition in petroleum fuel retailing is getting warmer, even as the government established the Kirit Parikh committee to suggest reforms in pricing.

The two private fuel retailers, the Ruias-owned Essar Oil and Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), are both expanding the rollout of their outlets, after a long period of rollback and dormancy. RIL has, in recent days, re-opened around 400 outlets from around 70-odd a few months earlier. The company once had around 1,450 fuel retail outlets and then shut almost all; its market share is now only around 0.5 per cent, say industry players; RIL declined to disclose sales. While Essar Oil is selling around 110 million litres a month, industry sources said RIL is selling around 15 million litres.

In April, RIL had surrendered the export-oriented unit (EoU) status for its 33 million tonne per annum (mtpa) refinery at Jamnagar in Gujarat to be able to re-enter the retail fuel market. RIL, in a media release had said, “The (Jamnagar) refinery will now operate as a nonEoU unit to cater to the increasing demand for petroleum products in the country. It will sell petro products in domestic and overseas markets.”

In May 2008, RIL had closed almost all its outlets, due to mounting losses as it was selling fuel much above the subsidised retail prices of stateowned oil companies. Essar Oil, on the other hand, operates around 1,278 retail outlets and has around 2 per cent market share. The company’s plans are to take the number of outlets to 1,500 by March.

While Essar Oil is selling auto fuel at par with rates of public sector companies that dominate the market, RIL is selling petrol at a Rs 26

2.50 premium to their prices at certain locations. The company, however, has priced diesel at par with PSU firms. “Our mainstay is diesel. Our outlets are mainly on the highways, so not many petrol users come to us. Higher petrol pricing helps us keep losses away,” said an RIL official.

Government-owned oil marketing companies are selling petrol at Rs 48.76 a litre and diesel at Rs 36.70 a litre in Mumbai, and at Rs 32.87 a litre for diesel and Rs 44.63 a litre for petrol in Delhi.

Indian Oil Corporation has over 18,000 fuel retail outlets. Bharat Petroleum Corporation has over 10,000 and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation over 9,000.

“The private companies are banking on the Kirit Parikh committee report to have a level playing field and increase their market share. Also, if fuel prices are de-regulated, the proposed RIL and Indian Oil Corporation joint venture to operate the former’s retail outlets may not be needed,” said an industry expert on retailing.

The five-member Parikh panel was established last month and told to give a report in three months. The expert group will examine the current pricing policy of the four sensitive petroleum products — petrol, diesel, PDS kerosene and domestic LPG, and make recommendations for a viable and sustainable pricing policy for these products. Kirit Parikh, who chairs it, is a former member (energy) of the Planning Commission. Also on the panel are Isher Ahluwalia, head of the Indian Council for Research into International Economic Relations, and Suman Bery, head of the National Council of Applied Economic Research, beside the secretaries of finance and petroleum ministries.

This is the third high-level panel to be reporting on the issue. The earlier ones were chaired by C Rangarajan, currently chairman of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, and by B K Chaturvedi, former Cabinet Secretary. Their reports have not been fully implemented.

Qatar, Doha. Fuel station safety to be reviewed Safety conditions at petrol and automobile service stations across the country might be reviewed by the authorities. The government is setting up a committee to study the condition of petrol and service stations. The move follows a massive explosion which took place in a fuel storage tank at a service station in the city in October. The incident left a bus and car, which were refuelling there, partly damaged. Some labourers, who were being transported to their work site in the bus, suffered. Some shops in the vicinity of the tank were also damaged, albeit slightly. It is unclear at the time of going to print if there has been any fatalities.

The explosion, an Interior Ministry source told Al Sharq, did not take place due to any laxity in safety measures. Rather, it was a freak accident. Nevertheless, plans are afoot to have a panel in place which would assess the need to review the condition of the existing fuel storage tanks at petrol and service stations and see if they could be reconstructed, if the need be, the source said.

The proposed committee will have experts and work under Qatar Petroleum (QP). It will have representatives from the Interior Ministry and other government agencies as well. The Civil Defence Department, which is a part of the Interior Ministry, monitors safety conditions at fuel stations. It is studying the conditions and assessing if they need to be improved. It is likely that regular monitoring of fuel storage tanks would be done.

Meanwhile, there have been 478 incidents of fire in the country so far this year. At least two people have died in these incidents and eight have suffered serious injuries. Some 26 incidents of fire have taken place in homes, 99 in vehicles and 43 in commercial establishments other than industrial units. Some 30 industrial units have reported fires, while nine farm houses and two ships were also involved in incidents of fire.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

China, Beijing.

Sinopec to build 312 gas stations in SW China

NEWS

Sinopec has signed a framework strategic agreement with Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, south China, to build more than 300 petrol stations there within three years.

Sinopec's intention is regarded as a pre-emptive move to launch a head-to-head competition with PetroChina, which is building a 10 million tons per year refinery in Qinzhou of Guangxi and will have it enter operation next year.

Sinopec is upgrading a refinery in Beihai of Guangxi to five million tonnes per year which won’t come on stream until the third quarter of 2011. Given that PetroChina will also build numerous gas stations in Guangxi, market watchers reckon that the competition between PetroChina and Sinopec will be fierce in the future. Sinopec's detailed station plan for the following three years means the following stations are to be built: Nanning (100); Laibin (50); Yulin (50); Guilin (40); Guigang (30); Fangchenggang (22); Hechi city (20); Liuzhou (NA); Total: 312.

South Africa, Cape Town. Fuel giant drives risk assessment profiling Energy company Engen has introduced a risk assessment profiling (RAP) tool as part of its fiveyear spill intervention programme to further drive its zero tolerance on fuel spillage and leakage.

Engen’s retail engineering construction manager, Pat McKune, says that the R347-million programme comprises multiple projects aimed at mitigating the risk of fuel entering the ground or water resources around Engen’s retail site network of 1200 sites and 6500 underground storage tanks.

The programme is divided into two independent, but parallel, phases.

During the first phase, 350 underground tank gauging systems were installed and 120 system installations are in progress this year, with a planned 250 to be installed 28

next year. In the other phase, 139 surface spill control systems have been installed, with 100 installations planned for 2009.

With the support of monitoring company the Oil Industry Corrosion Control group, Engen has RAPprofiled its entire network, assigning site risk levels according to various factors, including asset integrity, corrosion risk, stray currents, age of installation, leak history, site volume throughput and ground-water vulnerability. From this data, a prioritised site list is produced, with a priority index, a failure prediction index and a groundwater vulnerability rating, based on data, from technologies company Geohydro-logical & Spatial Solutions International, on the country’s protected environments and sensitive water resources.

“All new and rebuilt sites, as well as those undergoing major upgrades, are provided with steel composite tanks, double-walled fuel piping and automatic tank gauging with built-in pressurised line leak and tank leak detection,” says McKune. Other built-in features include real-time statistical inventory reconciliation and remote alarm systems, concrete to forecourts and concrete filler slabs to contain and manage fuel delivery spills, filler and forecourt drainage or containment systems and drainage that leads to 6-m3 oil interceptors. “We have aligned ourselves voluntarily with world fuel-installation standards and leak-management processes,” he adds. The company voluntarily undertook a detailed study, in 2005, to assess the risk of fuel leakage or spillage at each service station.

Simultaneously, it reassessed its fuelinstallation engineering standards and used the outcome as the basis for priority mitigating actions, focusing on introducing its product inventory loss policy to get 815 sites up to the new Engen standard by 2012.

USA, CA, Oakland.

Shell to pay $19.5M for gas station violations Alameda County judge has ordered Shell Oil to pay $19.5 million for environmental violations after

state investigators found hundreds of cases of unmonitored leaking, spilling and unmonitored gasoline tanks at stations statewide.

The state attorney general's office launched its 2006 investigation after the San Diego and Riverside district attorneys settled cases with the company for "numerous underground fuel storage violations," California Attorney General Edmund Brown Jr. said in a statement. The AG investigated more than 1,000 Shell stations across California and found that many failed to maintain leak detection systems and spill alarms, according to the lawsuit. Others failed to conduct contaminate testing and monitoring on their gas tanks, Brown said.

One investigator found "liquid and hazardous substances in the contaminate sump" at a station in Agoura Hills that had previously failed Shell's own inspection, Brown said. Shell was ordered to pay $19.5 million, to comply with state law, and to improve its spill monitoring, employee training and hazardous waste management. Earlier this year, Brown and district attorneys reached similar settlements with UHaul, Target, Kmart and Travel Centres of America for their handling of toxic waste and other hazardous.

USA, Florida, Orlando.

Hundreds of local gas stations could be forced to close The clock is ticking on hundreds of Central Florida gas stations. Their owners have until the end of the December to upgrade their storage tanks or face fines, or even be forced to close. About 1,250 tanks in Central Florida still remain out of compliance – 900 underground and 350 above-ground. A majority of the gas stations still not in compliance are independently owned, so their profit margins are a lot smaller. The necessary upgrades cost about $250,000, an investment that could take some independent owners years to recoup -- if they can even find a way to do it by this month’s deadline. “A lot of independent people are going to be hurt by this - a lot of small business people,

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anywhere from two to about six tanks.

An estimated 10 percent of gas stations state wide could close.

According to the Department of Environmental Protection, there have been 28,000 fuel leaks in the 25 years station owners have had to comply to the new rules.

USA, MD, Frederick, Maryland. Man dies from burns in gas station fire A man was severely injured, and later died as a result of those injuries, and damage is estimated at $200,000 at an Exxon gas station on Md. 85.

A Germantown man died from injuries he sustained in a fire that broke out at a Frederick gas station.

Maryland State Police along with Frederick County Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a vehicle fire at an Exxon station on Route 85 at Interstate 270 shortly after 4:00 a.m.

T r o o p e r s arriving on scene found a victim on fire in an adjacent parking lot while a vehicle and fuel pumps nearby were also engulfed in flames. Fire and rescue were able to put out the flames and the victim was immediately taken to the Frederick Airport.

A Maryland State P o l i c e helicopter then airlifted the

victim to the MedStar burn unit in Washington, DC, with 3rd degree burns, but he later died of his injuries.

The victim was identified as 26 year old Ainsley Ronald Gordon, Jr., of the 19000 block of Century Boulevard in Germantown. Route 85 at I-270 was closed for an hour while fire and rescue crews worked to extinguish the blaze. The fire did an estimated $60,000 in damages to the service station's fuel pump, and to Gordon's Nissan SUV. Investigators have established that Gordon stopped at the Exxon station for fuel, but they are still investigating exactly what ignited the fire. Maryland State Deputy Fire Marshals are seeking the public's help in this investigation.

Singapore, Queues for cheap petrol $1 a litre promotion by Shell a hit, but jams outside stations leave road users fuming.

The lure of $1 a litre was just too tempting for many motorists, who converged on Shell stations islandwide.

Shells biggest promotion in a decade led to thousands of motorists and bus commuters getting stuck in jams during that window. The oil company offered its new Shell FuelSave 95 and 98 at a special price of only $1 a litre. The usual price is $1.90 for FuelSave 98 and $1.767 for FuelSave 95. The discounts given were thus between 43 and 47 per cent.

But while many motorists were happy about the promotion, the long queues formed at the petrol stations slowed traffic down. A spokesman for SBS Transit said that buses which needed to stop at bus stops along the affected roads were badly affected.

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because the economy is bad”, said Maurice Noujam, who has been in business for 40 years at the Citgo at Lee Road and Edgewater Drive.

“The bank’s not going to loan you money. Where are you going to get that” .

Noujam told News 13 he would decide whether it was worth it for him to stay in business. Florida’s legislature has given the gas stations plenty of time to comply.

The laws requiring secondary containment were passed in 1984.

The law was designed to protect the state’s groundwater, which makes up about 92 percent of the water we drink, and covers both above-ground and underground storage tanks. Gas station owners who have waited until the last minute told News 13 they are now finding a shortage of tanks, with the wait being about six to eight weeks.

The bad news for the station owners, if they decide to stay open in the meantime, they face a $10,000 daily penalty. However, if the stations close, reduced competition could be bad for consumers if it leads to higher gas prices. Depending on the number of pumps, stations can have

Petrol Retailers Association appoints Chairman

PRESS RELEASES

The RMI Petrol Retailers Association (PRA) has appointed Brian Madderson as its new NonExecutive Chairman, with effect from 1 November 2009.

Previously, Brian Madderson was Managing Director of George Hammond PLC where he was involved with the successful development of fuel and convenience store retailing at prime locations around Kent and Sussex.

Additionally he was closely associated with shipping services, especially fresh produce imports through the Port of Dover.

When reflecting on his new role Brian Madderson said: ‘I will reinforce the position of the PRA as the association for independent forecourt retailers, who own and operate more than 60% of the sites around the UK.’ Commenting on Brian’s appointment, RMI Chief Executive Rob Foulston said: ‘Brian will provide leadership for the PRA within the RMI’s revised structure, and will also act as spokesman for the Association.’

Brian Worrall appointed president of UKPIA Brian Worrall, Sales Manager in Europe for Chevron’s marketing business, has been appointed President of the UK Petroleum Industry Association, the trade association representing the nine main oil refiners in the UK. He succeeds the outgoing President Janet Ashdown of BP. Brian has a wide UK retail business background and has worked for Chevron for the last eight years in a number of roles, including working within Chevron’s retail business and on assignment at the corporate offices in California.

Brian commented “It is with great honour that I take over as President of the UK Petroleum Industry Association. I look forward to continue working with my fellow Council members and with the Secretariat to address the many challenges faced by the UK 30

downstream industry. The industry’s endeavours are to continue to meet consumers’ and UK energy needs, as well as meeting ever more stringent targets for greenhouse gas reduction under EU and UK laws.”

Manufacturers raise concerns over conductive lined pipe Pipework companies say conductive lined pipe ‘can create sparks’.

PetroTechnik, the global suppliers of the UPP non-conductive underground pipework system, have raised a number of serious concerns over the safety of handling and installing conductive lined pipe for the transfer of fuel underground, which is being manufactured and marketed by another supplier. They are calling upon the industry to take great care before specifying or purchasing conductive lined pipe.

PetroTechnik’s view is also endorsed by long-established manufacturer NUPI. PetroTechnik’s concerns, as well as those of NUPI, centre on the generation of electrostatic discharge from conductive lined pipe which, unless the pipe is grounded at all times, and that grounding is maintained, could be strong enough to ignite fuel and fuel vapour. Non-conductive pipes, on the other hand, cannot generate anything more than a much weaker brush discharge that cannot generate sufficient energy to create a spark.

The conductive pipe in question features an internal conductive layer that turns the pipe from being non-conductive to conductive.

PetroTechnik’s technical manager, Andrea Ticci, explains the key issues: “The UPP system, like those from NUPI, is a non-conductive polyethylene (HDPE) pipe. There is another pipe on the market that is made of polyethylene with an inner liner of conductive material.

“The presence of an electrostatic charge on the surface of a pipe, or any other product, is not in itself hazardous. However, the hazard lies in the electrostatic discharge (ESD), which, in the form of a spark, can

cause electric shocks during handling and installation and ignite fuel or fuel vapour.

“With non-conductive pipe, it is possible to generate a charge, but only a low level energy brush discharge because the effective discharging capacitance is low.

With conductive lined pipe, however, the presence of the conductive liner means that it is possible to generate a sufficient electrostatic charge to cause a spark discharge just by handling the pipe, unless it is properly grounded (earthed) during handling, installation and in use, and remains grounded for its entire life on site.”

He adds: “Just by handling the conductive pipe, you can generate sufficient static electricity to cause electrostatic discharge when it is ungrounded. This could give operatives an electric shock. More dangerous, though, is that any spark from an ESD generated within the conductive pipe, as a result of static build up during handling and installation before grounding, could cause a spark. This, in turn, could ignite any fuel vapour present in the area of installation.”

Absolute safety in use, says Andrea Ticci, is dependent on the conductive pipe being grounded and maintaining that grounding. But first it must be properly installed with every joint secure.

“Any breaches of the electrical connection to earth,” he adds, “could create an insulated conductive section with a consequent risk of spark discharge – and therefore of ignition. Ground movement, settlement, poor installation, even wear and tear, or any number of factors could also cause a break in the electrical connection.”

PetroTechnik point to a number of key facts that they are urging specifiers and installers to consider: • Ungrounded conductive systems are a cause of concern because of the risk of electric shock or ignition.

•

Conductive lined pipe can generate spark discharge through fuel flow if unearthed.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

• The conductive part of conductive lined pipe can acquire charge just through handling, which can give installers an electric shock.

• Conductive liners inside nonconductive pipe turns the system into a capacitor that requires grounding at all times.

• Non-conductive pipe cannot generate spark discharge through fuel flow in normal operating conditions or handling.

• There is no need to maintain a connection to earth with nonconductive pipe. Grounding does not apply.

• Plastic surfaces can only store small amounts of electrical energy as they have a small effective capacitance.

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• Static energy build up on nonconductive pipe is so small that there is no risk of static discharge in the form of a spark.

• The electrostatic discharge of non-conductive pipe cannot ignite flammable vapours because there is insufficient energy to cause ignition in normal operating conditions.

• There is no need for grounding because they have a very small capacitance and energy associated.

• No known spark or ignition has ever been generated out of a non-conductive HDPE surface in normal conditions.

“What particularly concerns me is that the conductive inserts used to bridge the surfaces of the conductive lined pipe are pushed into place without any device to ensure permanent contact. This leaves the prospect of a break in conductivity.”

Independent consultant, Graham Hearn B.Sc C. Eng M.I.E.E, who specialises in the study of the generation of static electricity in commercial environments, has undertaken a number of tests at Wolfson Electrostatics at the University of Southampton. His results, contained in a video presentation, are available at www.petrotechnik.co.uk/Wolfson.

PetroTechnik can be contacted on + 44 (0)1473 243300, info@petrotechnik.com. Full details of the UPP system is at www.petrotechnik.com.

Supervault – strides further ahead The concept of storing petrol above ground has grown consistently over the last decade due in no small part to Ledbury Welding & Engineering’s Supervault four hour fire rated and multi hazard accredited storage tank. Historically below ground tanks whilst being an environmental anathema were ‘Hobson’s’ choice for the industry until the above ground storage initiative gained some credence.

Capacities up to 75,000 litres have achieved success in a variety of markets by surpassing its rivals comprehensively with both storage and weight advantages. Now with an unprecedented storage

capability of 110,000 litres the Supervault will continue to build on its success. With what is a relatively small ‘footprint’ it would surely stand favourably against the installation costs of below ground tanks (the obvious environmental benefits notwithstanding). 110,000 litres storage capacity is a huge leap forward and moves above ground petrol storage into another dimension.

Process Safety Leadership Group – final report on safety and environmental standards for fuel storage sites The Process Safety Leadership Group(2) publishes its final comprehensive six-part report.

The Report sets out standards of control expected at all establishments storing large volumes of petroleum products capable of giving rise to a large flammable vapour cloud in the event of a significant product escape.

In July 2007, the Buncefield Standards Task Group(3) (BSTG) published a report addressing some of the key requirements of the Major Incident Investigation Board’s(4) (MIIB) recommendations relating to the design and operation of fuel storage sites. The development of the BSTG recommendations was undertaken in parallel with that of the MIIB investigation to provide rapid industry/regulator safety enhancements and ensure a swift response to the MIIB’s progress

PetroTechnik say that the history of UPP non-conductive pipe, and that made by NUPI, demonstrates its safety. Over eight million metres of UPP pipe alone have been installed in 150 countries over the past 28 years without a single product failure or reported incident.

Andrea Ticci adds: “If you install a conductive lined pipe system, it is vital that it is checked regularly.

Breaches of the electrical connection to earth will create an insulated conductive section with consequent risk of spark discharge.

34

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

PRESS RELEASES

reports. The final report of the MIIB was published in October 2008.

The PSLG final report builds on the improvements developed by the Buncefield Standards Task Group, providing full and comprehensive guidance in addressing all twenty five recommendations of the MIIB’s report on the design and operation of fuel storage sites.

Tony Traynor, chair of the Process Safety Leadership Group, commented “The PSLG final report is unique in that it is the product of close collaboration between the Industry, Trade Unions and Regulators.

It represents a comprehensive guide not only to the MIIB recommendations but also to what is considered best practice in the control of risk in petroleum storage installations. A great deal of its guidance is relevant to the Petrochemical and Chemical industry in general. UKPIA has made a major contribution to the production of this report and to raising the profile of Process Safety in our Industry. I very much thank them for this. I know they will be instrumental in promoting the delivery of these recommendations in their sector” The industry has already made significant progress in implementing the guidance provided in the PSLG report. In addition, through making its Process Safety Leadership Commitment a reality, and its active role in establishing the Process Safety Forum(5), UKPIA is also addressing the areas of high reliability organisations, and delivering high performance through culture and leadership, defined within the PSLG’s Principles for Process Safety launched in July 2009.

Finally the integrated FAFNIR solution to measure bulk storage tanks

BOSS Forecourt Watch targets criminals in West Fife

The flexible level sensor VISY-Stick Flex, a cost effective and accurate solution to measure and control large fuel and oil storage tanks.

FAFNIR has announced the launching of their long awaited solution to measure and control, accurately and economically, the content of large tanks and vessels.

36

VISY-Stick Flex is the latest integration into the VISY product family. It will enable customers to combine measure and control traditional horizontal tanks with large vertical tanks using the same system with reliable and cost effective magnetostrictive technology.

The VISY-Stick Flex can be compactly packaged and transported and installations can be handled quickly and easily due to it‘s stainless steel corrugated tube.

Naturally the unit can also be operated wirelessly should cabling be a problem. Adding our VISY-RFT will allow transmission of data up to 2,000 meters (line of sight).

FAFNIR expects that the VISY-Stick Flex will successfully replace the traditional measuring technologies being used for bulk tanks such as Radar or Guided Microwave. The rigid design, lower hardware costs, easier installation, and integration into a low cost system architecture are also convincing factors.

For further information, please contact us at FAFNIR GmbH, Hamburg: Tel.: +49-40-39 82 07-0, www.fafnir.com

Criminals who fill up and drive off from fuel stations are the target of a new scheme launched by police and industry partners in West Fife.

Fife Police has joined forces with the British Oil Security Syndicate (BOSS), Dunfermline and West Fife Community Safety Panel and independent retailers to introduce Forecourt Watch in West Fife.

The scheme creates a closer link between police, BOSS and retail staff to increase awareness, prevention and the reporting and recording of incidents. The West Fife Forecourt Watch scheme is the latest addition to some 70 schemes already operating throughout the UK. Marking the launch of the scheme at Dunfermline Police Office, PC Kenny Greig, community safety officer for Dunfermline, said: "Fife Constabulary is committed to working in partnership with others to reduce crime and bring criminals to justice. Fuel theft is not a victimless crime and has an impact on consumers, retailers and the police.

“This will lead to positive changes in the way we manage forecourt crime, driving down fuel theft, increasing the number of detections and making this business environment a safer place for staff and customers alike.”

A pilot Forecourt Watch launched initially in Dunfermline last year saw a reduction of 35 per cent in reported fuel thefts at participating service stations, compared to an increase elsewhere of 17 per cent.

Research shows that fuel theft is often linked to offenders or vehicles involved in other types of crime and to disqualified drivers, those without insurance, tax or MOT, or vehicles with false number plates. Service stations will work in conjunction with police and BOSS to help bring offenders to justice.

High visibility stickers and posters on the forecourt itself will raise awareness among customers and potential thieves that Forecourt Watch is in operation and making

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

PRESS RELEASES

off without payment is a criminal offence. Stations registered with the scheme will also benefit from sharing information with police and each other on suspects, vehicles and known offenders to maximise disruption and detection of offences.

Jim Anderson, BOSS regional coordinator, says: "Drive-offs and No Means of Payment incidents cost the UK oil industry approximately £30 million every year. By building successful partnerships with local police, petrol retailers and other agencies through initiatives such as the BOSS Forecourt Watch schemes, we are able to deter and prevent crime on service station forecourts.

Our aim is to maintain fuel stations as a safe environment for customers and staff. Fuel retailers in the area have joined the scheme, which will target those people who drive off without paying for their fuel and use service stations as a route to commit more serious crimes.

BOSS estimates that the crime throughout Britain, excluding credit card fraud, cost the oil industry £29.9million last year.

E&S joins Adler and Allan Group Adler and Allan is delighted to announce the merger of E&S Environmental Services into the Adler and Allan Group, bringing a wealth of specialist fuel services expertise.

E&S is at the forefront of introducing new technologies to the fuel distribution and forecourt market with products and methodologies to ensure optimum fuel efficiency and extending the useful life of stored fuel.

Based centrally in the UK, E&S is one of only a handful of companies with UKAS tanker testing approval and builds and operates bespoke fuel polishing machines. E&S holds the European licence for the Masstech tank testing system and is heavily involved in the introduction of phase 2 vapour recovery.

All of E&S’s business lines are entirely complimentary to Adler and Allan’s, and provide significant opportunities for the Group to increase its forecourt presence and 38

add highly technical service lines to Adler and Allan customers.

E&S directors, Nobby and Andrew Clarke join the board of Adler and Allan and will continue to run the E&S operation.

Mark Calvert, Managing Director of Adler and Allan, firmly believes the merger will further enhance the company’s strength in this sector.

Commenting on the merger he said: “E&S is an excellent fit with Adler and Allan and together we will be better positioned to respond to new opportunities presented by the introduction of bio fuels and assisting our customers in an increasingly challenging regulatory environment.”

For more information please contact Alan Scrafton, Group Sales and Marketing Manager, Adler and Allan on 020 8555 7111.

Hytek launches new fuel management system Hytek has launched a brand new fuel management system which can be used with existing or new fuel pumps. The FC5 system uses the same tried and tested technology used in Hytek’s FC10 and FC20 fuel management systems, and offers a stand alone fuel control system at an

e x t r e m e l y competitive price.

Consisting of a c o m p a c t , stainless steel terminal, the FC5 is suitable for wall or tank mounting, and is fully weatherproof. It can be linked to one or two fuel pumps, and the terminal displays fuelling totals by vehicle, tank levels, low tank warnings and details of last fuelling.

The back lit LCD display provides excellent viewing of fuel data, even in direct sunlight or at night.

For more detailed fuel data, fuel transactions can easily be downloaded to your PC via the USB stick provided using the viewer software. The software is easy to use, and does not require on-site commissioning. Once installed, data can then be filtered by vehicle or fuel type, and exported to Microsoft Excel or Word.

The FC5 terminal stores up to 2,000 fuelling operations before downloading is required, and can record the date, time, registration number, odometer reading, amount and type of fuel dispensed. All of Hytek’s fuel control systems use datatags rather than keys or cards.

Guaranteed for life, a Hytek datatag is a short range proximity device which can be programmed with a variety of data to authorise and monitor fuel usage by driver or vehicle. For example, the datatag

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

can require that an odometer reading is entered using the numeric keypad on the pump before fuel is dispensed.

The datatags are easy to programme with registration, odometer entry and fuel type at the terminal. Up to 127 different tags can be used at any one time with each FC5 system, and existing tags can be locked out for security reasons.

Hytek products are sold only through distributors. For further information or a copy of the catalogue call 01279 815600.

Franklin Fueling Systems introduces Colibri tank Monitor

PRESS RELEASES

Madison, Wisconsin – October 12, 2009 – Franklin Fueling Systems introduces the next revolution in petroleum equipment - the Colibri automatic tank monitor. This innovative new product combines a superior mix of basic, straightforward functionality with a powerful tank monitor platform, to seamlessly provide an inventory information system that gas station owners around the world can easily and affordably utilize.

Colibri is the ideal solution for station owners who understand the importance and benefits of owning an automatic tank monitor, but may not require all of the functions included in other, more complex tank monitors. Colibri can save time and eliminate human error by allowing station personnel to remotely monitor fuel inventory.

Colibri provides station owners and 40

personnel with accurate and reliable information they can have confidence in, as opposed to the potentially inaccurate and sometimes hazardous method of manually “sticking” tanks.

Colibri provides vital information such as leak test data, temperature readings, density measurement, net/gross volume and water volume; all of which can be viewed on a colour LCD touch screen or via the standard Colibri Web interface.

The Colibri Ethernet port and Web interface allow personnel to view vital information through a standard Internet browser, anywhere in the world. Colibri’s powerful rules system enables the use of emails and text messages as a means to communicate tank events such as completed leak tests and low product level or water intrusion alarms.

“The incredible amount of research and effort put into the development of Colibri allows Franklin Fueling Systems to offer a powerful yet economical tank monitor, which is so user-friendly that any station personnel, anywhere in the world, will be able to take advantage of all of the features Colibri has to offer,” said Jay Walsh, Vice President of B u s i n e s s Development for Franklin Fueling Systems.

An important consideration in the development of Colibri was to create a platform that station owners in e m e r g i n g markets could easily utilize right out of the box.

“The colour LCD touch screen, userfriendly icon-based navigation and multiple language settings make Colibri a truly global solution for station owners around the world who require an economical and dependable, yet extremely effective tank monitor,” said Walsh.

“The industry has yet to see such a product that caters to the specific needs of this demographic. Another

advantage of Colibri is that we have made it as economically priced as possible, creating even further value for station owners.”

To learn more visit, www.franklinfueling.com/colibri, the exciting new interactive multilingual website dedicated to Colibri.

Franklin Fueling Systems is a wholly owned subsidiary of Franklin Electric, a global leader in the production and marketing of systems and components for the movement of water and automotive fuels.

Recognized as a technical leader in its specialties, Franklin Electric serves customers around the world in residential, commercial, agricultural, industrial, municipal and fueling applications.

Contact: Jay Walsh Vice President, Business Development walsh@franklinfueling.com +1-608-838-8786

Riegens Provide Energy Efficiency for BP Riegens Lighting has been instrumental in the conversion from HID lamps to the more energy efficient T5’s on BP forecourts nationwide. In addition to canopy lighting, Riegens has supplied luminaires for the popular BP retail areas as part of a rollout programme throughout the UK, of which seven outlets have been completed, the first of which was Bedworth, Warwickshire.

The lighting refurbishment is a result of BP’s environmental policy, including the company’s growing association with solar power, lowcarbon electricity and other forms of energy and environmental benefits.

Energy efficiency was one of the main reasons for choosing Riegens products as the luminaires met the criteria for BP’s European Tender on canopy and shop lighting systems.

The controllability of the Riegens luminaires was also an important factor in the specification for additional energy savings.

Riegens Drive luminaires were specified for the forecourt lighting

by Mark Rogers, EU Design Manager at Bovis Lendlease, who chose the

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

was very high in the new product and the show was very successful for us in terms of meeting both existing and new customers.’

The new Purefuel Conditioner is designed to help combat bugs which can otherwise cause pump filters to block and vehicles to breakdown. They are ideal for commercial and retail filling sites that are using biodiesel and ethanol fuels. The Purefuel Conditioners can also help reduce the need to dose tanks with biocide, and don’t slow down fuel delivery through the system.

Riegens

Drive

luminaires

incorporating 2 x 55W TCL lamps to replace the existing HID fittings.

Offering direct light distribution, Drive is a high performance, IP54 sealed

luminaire

designed

for

specifically

petrol

station

forecourts.

Riegens 2 x 14w T5 recessed asymmetric luminaires were chosen for the sales areas with additional accent lighting provided by Courier luminaires with 1 x 35W lamps.

Recessed louvred 2 x 14W T5 luminaires have also been installed in the toilets and ‘back of house’

RIEGENS Lighting Ltd 2 Elliot Drive, The Pool House Springwood Industrial Estate Rayne Road, Braintree, Essex CM7 2GD Andy Spivey Tel: 01376 333400, ww.riegens.com

Hytek stand busy at APEA Expo It was a busy APEA Expo for fuelling and lubrication specialists Hytek, who took the opportunity to launch their brand new Purefuel Conditioner at the show. Adrian Holyomes who is Hytek’s senior technical sales support said ‘interest

Fairbanks, the Wetstock Management Specialist, is delighted to announce that following on from the successful re-signing of their contract for BP company owned and dealer sites, the expansion of their MRH contract and securing the Tesco PFS contract all during 2009, they have been engaged by Murco Petroleum Ltd to provide wetstock monitoring, SIR based leak detection and pump calibration audits on their company owned network of 230 sites.

“Having worked with Murco for the past 3 years we are very pleased to be extending our services to the entire estate”, says Fairbanks Director Steve Jones.

Peter Nottingham, Network Manager Forecourts for Murco commented, “We have always recognised the value of stock loss management and see Fairbanks’ services as an excellent addition to the internal processes we have in place”.

areas, in addition to Certus and Evac fittings in the storage areas Riegens have been able to supply all of the luminaires required for the refurbishment at each site, chosen as a result of being capable of designing,

manufacturing

and

supplying energy efficient client specific lighting solutions within the required timescales. Riegens was also favoured due to their 5 year warranty and their broad European experience.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

41

PRESS RELEASES

Murco signs with Fairbanks

Biofilm build-up in diesel tank and pipe line systems storing biodiesel fuels

industry about the use of biocides. It

By Edward Wheeler, Eurotank Ltd

involves a significant investment

is a requirement of European law for products claiming to control or have an

effect

on

microbial

contamination to be registered as such with the European Union. This from the manufacturer, which can

The introduction of biodiesel also

had grown to, never more than half

run into millions of Euros.

known as FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl

way up the side of the tank.

The

Biocides that are to be used as

Ester) into standard road diesel (EN

picture also shows the effects of

additives in road transport diesel

590) has resulted in an increase in the number of cases of microbial contamination issues at retail filling stations

in

the

UK

and

other

European countries.

As well as providing an additional fuel source, FAME increases the amount of water droplets held in suspension within the fuel.

Without getting too technical, the bottom

line

biodiesel.

is

that

bugs

like

Water provides the

essential environment for bugs to exist and FAME is a rich food source

ARTICLES

so they can grow. Bugs have always been present in diesel, stopping them from growing within your storage system is the key to problem

Picture 1 - Severe Biofilm build-up

free operations. Controlling water is critical

to

reducing

microbial

contamination.

Since the introduction of biodiesel into parts of the UK network, the supply chain has done a lot of work

dosing fuel with biocide, which kills

must be tested to ensure that there

off the bugs and causes them to

is no negative effect on vehicle

release from the tank wall.

engine performance, this again is a

There

is

information

a

lot

going

of

negative

around

the

significant cost.

message for retailers is to carefully

in reducing the water content within EN 590. Up to 200 parts per million (ppm)

is

allowed

within

the

standard, however, the vast majority of EN 590 is delivered with a water content of less than 80ppm.

It is important for downstream retailers to focus on removing all free water from their storage systems as well as keeping the surfaces (tanks and pipe lines) as clean as possible to reduce the risk of severe biofilm build-up which leads to operational problems.

Picture 1 shows an example of severe

biofilm

build-up

in

an

underground GRP diesel storage tank. The ‘water mark’ on the right hand side shows where the bio film 42

The important

Picture 2 - Biofilm in a diesel tank

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

select (have visibility of) the type of biocide being proposed or used by their maintenance company. There are a small number of biocides on the market, which we have found to be very effective when combined with a thorough tank and pipe line cleaning procedure.

Dumping

biocide into a tank alone, is unlikely to

resolve

any

issues

being

experienced and will probably result in

an

increase

in

pump

filter

blockage as biofilm is released from the tank walls.

Picture 2, on the previous page, shows another example of biofilm in a diesel tank. The important thing to note about this picture is that the area directly below the tank lid

Picture 4 - Biofilm build up inside an ACV

ARTICLES

which is located on the top of the suction line within the tank manhole.

It is a surprising place for bugs to collect and grow, considering the fairly constant flow of fuel from the tank to the pump. The passing fuel contains nutrients (FAME) and water droplets, and dissolved oxygen held in suspension, which creates an environment to support growth.

Picture 5 shows biofilm build-up within the pipe work joint. The internal front face of the plastic pipe provides refuge from the flow of fuel, enabling growth to occur. Parts of this biofilm will eventually break off and travel further up the system, coming to rest (and potentially grow) in additional underground joints and eventually collecting on the pump filter.

Picture 3 - Bottom of an internal suctionline

(circled) is free of biofilm. caused

by

the

force

This is of

fuel

deliveries keeping this area clean.

Therefore, sampling the fuel directly underneath the tank lid is very unlikely to show up any problems.

Picture 3 shows the bottom of an internal suction line, removed from a tank. The white stuff is biofilm. This illustrates the difficulty in removing 100% of the bio film from the storage tank and shows how bio film gets into (and sticks) inside underground pipe work.

Picture 4 shows biofilm build-up inside an ACV (angle check valve), 44

Picture 5 - Biofilm build up within the pipe work joint

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

better than cure and it is an issue that all retailers of diesel need to consider and budget for in the future.

It is important to note that all of the pictures included with this text are taken from sites that have been successfully

remediated

and

illustrate the worst case scenario for each part of the fuel storage system.

The problem is complex but the solution is simple, keep your diesel tanks and pipe lines clean and water free (as far as it reasonably practicable) and you are unlikely to suffer from microbial contamination problems.

Picture 6 - Biofilm growth within a pump filter

Picture 6 shows biofilm growth within a pump filter.

Fuel passes

from

in,

the

outside

which

demonstrates the ability of the bugs to pass through the 30 micron filter media and grow using only the

ARTICLES

passing fuel as a source of nutrients to survive.

Picture 7 shows bio film within the pumping unit/pre meter strainer.

Once a storage system is heavily infected

it

can

cause

pumps

significant wear by clogging the pump, which is very time consuming to

remove

and

can

result

in

premature pumping unit failure. The big question for retailers tied into a fixed cost pump service agreement

Picture 7 - Bio film within the pumping unit / pre meter strainer

is whether this would be covered within the existing terms of the agreement.

Picture 8 shows a bio film, which has developed on a nozzle filter.

From a retailer’s perspective, this is a real nightmare situation as it is highly likely that if the nozzle filter gets blocked to this degree, the pump will deliver less than 15 litres per minute.

As well as being a major

inconvenience to the customer, the automatic cut-off may also fail which can result in the customer overfilling their tank, often all over their shoes and clothes.

Taking into account all of the above,

prevention

is

obviously

Picture 8 - Bio film within the pumping unit / pre meter strainer

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

45

A Transparent Maintenance Solution

By Susie Marshall, Urgent Technology

ARTICLES

When you start up in business for yourself it helps to have a good idea, and so it was that Urgent Technology was founded on the basis of a great idea for a software solution that would automate the process of placing maintenance calls and enable all users of the system (retail sites, m a i n t e n a n c e contractors and head office) to track and update the progress of their calls at every stage of the process.

With a background in coordinating service station maintenance, Malcolm Railson, founder and Managing Director of Urgent Technology, understood the problems faced by maintenance managers as well as the common complaints received from site managers and contractors, and envisaged a common sense solution where usability and transparency to all users is key: "I wanted to build a system that allowed everybody involved in the maintenance process to have full visibility of the end-to-end process and take responsibility for managing that process themselves. By providing each user with access to their own web-based portal, they are able to view the status of all their maintenance calls in real time and knowing that other users can also see the same information provides a real motivator for everybody to keep on top of their calls".

Simple and Usable...

Simplicity and ease of use is an important part of what makes eMaintenance such a good tool for maintenance management. For example, the site manager's portal lets the user carry out three basic functions: placing a new call, chasing a call and cancelling a call.

All of these actions can be carried 46

out with just a few button clicks leaving busy site managers more time to run their service stations.

They can also view complete lists of

jobs that are still outstanding and see instantly whether they are overdue under the contractor's service level agreement, enabling site managers to make a more informed decision on whether a call needs to be chased or not.

One of Urgent Technology's clients, in comparing her experience using eMaintenance versus another market leading maintenance and asset management system, had the following comments: "Initially the first and most obvious aspect is usability.

For logging a call both from the site users/response centre, or even from the contractor's point of view, eMaintenance is by far the easiest for new users to access, navigate, log calls and review historical information... at the initiation of eMaintenance sites were teaching themselves how to use eMaintenance, a user name and password were provided and off they went."

Another client had this to say: "The biggest win for our business was visibility. Around 50% of the calls to our helpdesks were sites chasing jobs... Particularly useful as we have shift management so a quick log on the system would show what jobs had been logged so duplication

was also removed. The other huge bonus is time. Managers would sit on hold waiting for an operative to take the call, this could be upwards of 20 minutes to log a job. A manager can now place a call within a minute and be back on the floor."

Time Saving...

Another time-saving innovation is the IVR automated telephone service that takes calls both from site managers who can place, chase or cancel calls when they are unable to access a computer with an internet connection, and more crucially from contractors who can ring the service and instantly inform the system that they are checking-in at a site to carry out a job and again when they have completed the job without having to log onto the web-based portal.

This real-time updating of the system benefits all users by logging the exact time when a contractor arrived on site and completed the job, helping to avoid disputes later on.

Contractors can log into their web portal at any time to check on the status of their outstanding calls, submit quotations for jobs and in Iberia, where eMaintenance has been integrated with the SAP financial system, even submit their invoices online.

One client says of the contractor's interaction with the system: "The key is enforcing use of the IVR which we drive through our managers at site.

We can now achieve credible reports to ensure KPI's [key performance indicators] and SLA's [service level agreements] are being delivered. Contractors again spend less time managing open jobs and updating sites by phone as it is all done through the system... the flexibility of notification methods mean we can work with national contractors with dedicated service desks down to the standalone 'man with a van' type operation."

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

Cost Saving...

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When a new call is received in eMaintenance the system automatically calculates the correct response time for the repair and the correct contractor to attend the job and dispatches the call directly to the contractor via their preferred contact method – email, fax or SMS (text message), or a combination of all three. By automating this process eMaintenance reduces the need for human intervention in the form of a call centre, greatly reducing the cost of providing a maintenance service. A management portal is provided for the few cases where human intervention is required such as authorising cost estimates for contractors not on fixed cost contracts and offers management reporting functions to enable head office to have an overview of the system and its use and to pinpoint problems with assets and c o n t r a c t o r performance.

When asked for feedback on what he thought of eMaintenance, one client responded: "eMaintenance has transformed the service and property maintenance function within our business. We have removed two third party helpdesks saving huge annual costs, whilst improving the service we can offer to our restaurants. Keeping the UTL brochure in my drawer was one of the smartest things I've done."

A Little History...

Since eMaintenance was first 48

trialled with BP in the UK back in 2001, it has gone from strength to strength, being rolled out across the BP UK network the following year, and then in 2003 released in the Netherlands.

2004 was a real growth year for Urgent Technology, seeing eMaintenance rolled out in seven countries across Europe and a pilot programme begin for a US version of the system.

Growth of the system has continued year on year since the initial UK pilot and eMaintenance is now being used by BP companies in 15 countries worldwide, with the latest countries to come on board being Australia and New Zealand. A version of eMaintenance was also rolled out to a major UK restaurant chain at the beginning of 2008, demonstrating the versatility of eMaintenance by expanding its uses into other markets.

Tailor Made... "eMaintenance is by no means a generic off-the-shelf product like those offered by some of our

competitors", states Malcolm. "At UTL we pride ourselves on offering versatility and flexibility across all of our products. Our systems are tailored to suit your business and we provide thorough and fast responses to any requests from our clients. I think it's what makes eMaintenance such a fantastic tool. You don't have to change the way you work to use the system and if it can be made

better for you, we're only too happy to build it."

Clients of Urgent Technology would agree with Malcolm. After experiencing the rollout of eMaintenance for himself, Neil Hodgson, Maintenance Services Manager at BP Australia had this to say: "No item of concern or issue raised has been too much trouble.

Any system changes, adjustments and 'client tailoring' has been addressed with equal professionalism and speed... I would like to compliment Urgent Technologies on the level of flexibility that has been 'designed into' eMaintenance. My project team has heavily scrutinized all aspects of the system - no easy task given the capability - and have all been greatly impressed by the adaptability of every aspect and the virtually limitless possibilities of the system."

That's Not All... eMaintenance may have started as a system for logging and tracking maintenance calls, but over the years new modules and systems have been created by Urgent Technology that build on the solid foundation of eMaintenance to provide a whole wealth of tools that will help you to manage other maintenance-related areas of your business.

The list of functions that can be provided by eMaintenance today is extensive.

Here are just a few of those: Through integration with Google Maps, eMaintenance is able to plot the location of all sites in the network and can provide a real-time map showing the sites where a contractor is currently carrying out a repair and displaying the details of the call as well as the site and contractor information. This tool can be used in conjunction with the safety audit module provided by eMaintenance to find contractors working nearby and carry out unannounced safety audits that can be saved in the system for

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

A Preventative Maintenance provides an interface for ongoing or repeat maintenance tasks to be created and managed via the management and contractor portals. Using this module, tasks are created once, assigned to specific sites and automatically rescheduled at selected time intervals.

Contractors can also use this module to place one-off tickets for preventative tasks.

Medici is an asset database and document management system that, through integration with eMaintenance provides reporting facilities on the MTBF (Mean Time Between Failures) and EFH (Equipment Failure Hours) for all site equipment. As well as collecting breakdown data to help identify problem assets, Medici also provides a document management system that can be used to monitor and manage equipment inspection schedules and legal compliance of sites. The system also includes a real estate module for managing lease agreements and rent payments.

The IVR outbound calling service is a new system currently in R&D.

The completed service will enable eMaintenance to make outbound calls using the IVR in addition to the current email, SMS and fax alerts that are issued in response to certain actions such as a new call being raised. The recipient of a call will hear an automated message informing them of a new call waiting. By pressing a key in response to the prompt the contractor will be able to listen to the details of the new ticket that has been raised and inform the system that the message has been received.

Want To See More?

If you would like to know more about the system and how it can benefit your company, Malcolm and his team would be happy to visit your offices to arrange a demo.

You can contact Urgent Technology by telephone on 01908 391160 or email at info@urgtech.co.uk.

Alternatively, take a look at their website at www.urgtech.com for more details.

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reporting on the performance of individual contractors.

The Control of Work module is an add-on to the automated telephone system used by the contractors to check-in and checkout of site when carrying out work. It prompts the engineer to answer a series of questions verifying that he has the correct certification and has completed the relevant paperwork to carry out the job and issuing a warning if there is another contractor working on the site. This system ensures that safe working practices are observed by all contractors working at sites.

The online payment interface for SAP allows contractors to submit their invoices online through the contractors' web portal after completion of a maintenance job.

Submitted invoices will appear on the management portal where they can be disputed or approved for payment via a two-stage recommend and approval process.

Once approved invoices are passed directly to SAP where they are automatically processed for payment.

APEA Yearbook 2011 New Registration Instructions

By Jane Mardell, APEA Business Manager In order to ensure that your details are included in the 2011 Yearbook it is essential that you register by 1st April. With this issue of the Bulletin I have enclosed a letter to all members that are eligible for the Classified section in the Yearbook.

Licensing and Enforcement Authorities will be contacted separately for that section of the Yearbook.

A new system is in place this year, where you can easily register your entry online from the APEA website at www.apea.org.uk.

Even if you do not wish to advertise in the Yearbook, to be included in the Classified and Directory pages you should register as follows:

1.

Go to the APEA website at www.apea.org.uk and click on the link for the 2011 Yearbook Registration.

2.

Logon onto the APEA website using your userid and password, this information is detailed on the letter enclosed with this issue of the Bulletin. Follow the instructions to complete your contact details and then select the Trade Directory or Trade Directorires that you wish to be listed under. And that is it!

Each member is entitled to one FREE Classified entry (company contact details) and one FREE Trade Directory entry (industry sector) per company in the Yearbook.

Any additional classified or trade directory entries are charged at £26.00 plus VAT. The system will total up any costs due, if you have selected additional trade directories and you will be directed to pay via Paypal or Worldpay. Or you can also select to be invoiced, if you prefer.

The registration system will notify me of your entry and I will then record that you have registered on the membership database.

Alternatively if you do not wish to register online, please contact me for a registration form.

If you have any queries or require an advertising booking form, please do not hesitate to contact me at the APEA office on 0845 603 5507 or by email at admin@apea.org.uk

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

49

Interview with Neil Jennings Jennings Design Ltd also trading as 305 Management Services

By Brian Baker Neil Jennings is a Director of Jennings Design Ltd/305 Management Services, who are architectural & project management specialists within the downstream petroleum industry. He has been in this field for some years now and has operated a wellrespected service to many of the major oil companies and independent retailers. He had an LPG Installation in my area, the first for some years so I managed to catch up with him recently.

Neil, thanks for signing up for this interview and to start what has been your career so far and how did you get into the architectural field?

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Brian, my intention always was to be involved in construction having come from a family of ‘builders’.

Prior to working for the Architectural practice in Bradford where my introduction to roadside was made during 1976, I worked for a couple of general practices in Leeds, the first of which worked essentially for ICI at the time and the second specialising in sheltered homes for the elderly, therefore, it is amazing how things go full circle.

Can you remember your first drawing in the petroleum field?

Yes as though it was yesterday. The very first site I worked on (my first day, Easter Tuesday) within this industry was a site in Wakefield known as Shell Durkar and I distinctly remember it was in fact a pump island detail which meant absolutely nothing to me at the time.

From your point of view, what do you find the most difficult aspect of drawing up plans for a brand new green-field site for the building of new petrol filling station?

Without any shadow of a doubt, the largest obstacle to overcome is the enabling of the development with utilities and infrastructure outside of the site boundary.

50

Since deregulation of utility companies the problem of dealing with them has become mountainous and the highway authorities are no easier.

In days gone by utilities would have had local people who were familiar with sites, knew what the issues were associated with existing infrastructure and the servicing of those sites.

Local highway authorities also were no different to utilities, whereas you previously had personnel who knew the local issues, nowadays, the highway authorities duties are invariably outsourced and you are dealing with people in general, (need to be careful not to completely generalise), who do not want to make decisions.

Do your clients ask you to get involved with planning approvals and building control authorities?

Yes, we deal extensively with planning and building control authorities across the country.

Have you been involved with environmental consultants as they have become necessary in more recent times for new sites?

Yes, usually by the time we are appointed to review a site an environmental consultant has already, or is simultaneously, appointed with ourselves and changes in legislation over recent years has led to the environmental consultant playing a major part in the development team, both during the construction, and in fact more so than ourselves, in the postconstruction phase.

Their role in the development procedure is significant irrespective of whether the site is new or existing.

As an architect, how do you find the APEA/EI’s publication referred to as “The Blue Book”. Is it user friendly and useful for you to apply?

In general ‘The Blue Book’ has assisted enormously and cleared up many grey areas of interpretation and local requirement. I think it would still benefit from an index in the rear of the publication with page references.

OK, here is a trick question – How do you keep up to date with changing standards and guidance as there is a wealth of it around?

The vast majority of work which we are involved with is pure roadside. I think by having that daily contact with regulators, oil company clients, suppliers and maintaining an industry wide dialogue, we are reasonably briefed I believe on changes, not only in regulatory and guidance standards but also in trends, which are a major contributing factor associated with those changes.

Also, it goes without saying the Bulletin also is a good base reference source, complimented in no small part by its internationally renowned editor!

I suppose you often find yourself dealing with petroleum officers so be honest how do you find us? Are we up to speed or not? Do you find us different all over the country?

Since de-regulation when fire authorities lost licensing responsibility in the main to local authorities, those early days saw a complete mismatch of individuals dealing with petroleum licensing who seemed to have been dropped into a position for which they were totally unprepared and on reflection were numbers filling gaps. I am happy to say our experience in more recent times is one where officers have been trained, seem to have a desire for the position and an element of trust and relationship is able to be developed.

There is now a pretty consistent

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

approach across the country with the Blue Book providing a good reference guide.

You know, hand on heart, all the years we have been dealing with licensing authorities I can honestly say we have never found ourselves in a corner with any licensing authority, albeit we have come close on some occasions but not, I would hasten to add, of our own making.

Have you worked on any jobs outside of the UK? I wonder what obstacles you found with going outside our borders.

No, we have not done anything outside of the UK since the late 1980’s when we did a little bit of work in the Middle East. I would not discount the opportunity of carrying your bags on some of the overseas ventures to bring to the table whatever we may be able!

Is everything you do nowadays based on computer assisted drawing? (CAD)

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All work we carry out in the office is electronically produced and has been since probably 1995. It was Total at the time who instigated that switchover from drawing board to CAD and I guess during that 1994 –96 period we became a CAD based practice.

I guess you deal a lot with main contractors and civil engineers. Is that a particular daunting experience?

Dealing with principal contractors, both of a building and engineering discipline is a part of the everyday life and in general we are probably fortunate that the majority of whom we are involved with are well experienced in the field and have proven track records. Again, I think there has been a shift from general building contractors performing any work of a petroleum nature and this has benefited the industry enormously. This makes our life easier and also delivers far improved procedures during the construction phase and a finished product article of much higher quality. Those contractors who historically hung on to the ‘shirt-tails’ of the industry and been reluctant to change have slowly been identified and seem to have moved on to other things.

52

This being a fast track industry, what has been for you the quickest new site you have been the architect for?

As a practice when construction times back in the early mid-90’s became what I considered crazy, we were fortunate enough never to be involved with those particular clients, but since then sense seems to have prevailed which has also been brought about by more constrained regulation and particularly with respect to health & safety and in general time-frames for construction of sites is now far more reasonable.

The ‘fast track’ effect on us as a practice is during the preconstruction phase where a client will require either planning or construction packages to be prepared in a short-time frame and you just need to be flexible in your approach in order to be able to deal with this. Once construction starts the pressure then invariably switches to the main contractor to deliver.

If you could change anything what would it be?

The planning system. Planning is a big factor in turning development sites around together with the utility and highway matters, which are a major consideration in any programme. But whilst not wishing to dwell on this aspect, where circumstances require LPA’s (Local Planning Authorities) to perform and for the record we once obtained a detailed planning permission for a Brownfield petrol filling station development site in 2-days. That must be a record, which I doubt will ever be improved upon by us. I cannot mention the LPA concerned nor the site, but needless to say there were political and other internal factors which prompted the LPA to deal with the proposal in that manner, but notwithstanding this case, the system needs to be changed.

As an architect you must have had some odd requests. Is there anything you can share with us?

I don’t recall anything in particular but asking Peter my business partner who joined me in 1983, he reminded me of an instruction we had to look at, putting a roll over wash on the first floor of a very constrained town

centre site, which sadly now no longer exists but needless to say it never happened.

I guess we have seen a hard recession hitting the UK. What have you noticed about these recent times and do you see signs of any recovery?

I am sure what we are seeing is no different to most other contractors, consultants and suppliers within the industry in so much as margins are squeezed, expectations are elevated and long-term forward planning is now a thing of the past.

As far as recovery is concerned, I have no idea as any specialised ‘industry’ seems to follow a set pattern and I don’t think the roadside industry is any different in so much as when one is busy, all are busy, when one closes their books they all do.

I cannot believe you spend all your time at work so what do you like doing when not at the drawing board?

Over the years I really have spent most of my time working. I think it is just a consequence of the nature of this industry in so much as we have always worked countrywide and a fair amount of ‘ones’ time is spent on the road, which has tended to increase the working week.

However, I cannot bemoan this fact as over the years we have been very fortunate to have maintained a healthy level of work, had some good times and been able to maintain a very stable group of people within the practice.

Outside of work I try to put a few ‘gym sessions’ in each week and stay fit and maintain my youthful looks!!

Neil, thank you for taking time out for us and for what has been an interesting interview and we wish you well for the future Brian, it was a pleasure and I’ll never forget our first meeting which was on a site in Milton Keynes when we were proposing a re-pump for Apex during 1988, the site has since been redeveloped on a couple of occasions for different owners/Licensees etc. but it has always been a pleasure working with you, being one of those individuals with whom we have referred many a matter and issue to.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

By Marshall Mott-Smith President Mott-Smith Consulting Group Florida’s regulatory experience with shop-fabricated storage tank systems began in 1983 when the Florida Legislature passed the Water Quality Assurance Act. Since then, thousands of these storage tank systems have been installed in Florida, particularly in the past ten years in response to homeland security issues and the need to provide fuel for emergency power generators during hurricane season.

Florida’s regulatory experience with shop-fabricated tanks has been beneficial in that no other state in the United States has regulated these systems for so long and with such stringent standards, and this experience and information can be helpful to other regulatory entities, to industry, and to storage tank professionals.

Background Information The Water Quality Assurance Act gave the Florida Department of Environmental Regulation (DER now called the Florida Department of Environmental Protection - DEP) the authority to regulate all aboveground storage tank systems (ASTs) with capacities greater than 550 gallons. The law also gave DER the authority to regulate underground storage tank systems.

The DER adopted rules for storage tank systems in 1984, and these rules were amended in 1991, 1994, 1998, and 2004.

There are 186,000 registered storage tanks and approximately 54,000 registered facilities with storage tanks that are either in service or were previously in service.

Only 21,000 of the 54,000 registered facilities are currently active. There are currently about 50,000 active regulated underground and aboveground storage tanks. About

23,000 of these are currently in aboveground service. Retail facilities make up 38% of the a c t i v e regulated facilities, with another 33% in a fuel-user category, and 18% in government use.

However, there are approximately 35,000 reported discharges of petroleum in Florida.

The large number of leaks and the fact that the state obtains about 92% of its drinking water from groundwater resources is why Florida has some of the most stringent tank rules in the United States.

Florida’s Rules for Shopfabricated Tank Systems Florida’s AST rules reference industry standards by the American Petroleum Institute, the National Fire Prevention Association, the Steel Tank Institute, and many others. The rules include a number of exemptions such as mobile tanks, residential tanks, and heating oil tanks, but all new tanks and piping that are in contact with the soil must have secondary containment (This requirement has been in effect since 1990).

Secondary containment for shop-fabricated ASTs can be either an impervious barrier like concrete or a synthetic liner, or it can be in the form of a double-wall or double-skin tank. The construction for piping secondary containment is typically doublewall. AST systems must have overfill protection, spill protection, anti-

siphon valves, and interstitial monitoring for leak detection.

Owners must comply with regulations for registration, notification, repairs, operation, maintenance, financial responsibility, recordkeeping, closure, and must use DEPapproved equipment.

Florida’s Compliance Verification Program Florida’s Compliance Verification Program for storage tank systems began in 1984 and is accomplished by contracting with local governments.

There are approximately 120 inspectors across the state, and these inspectors have performed over 600,000 inspections since the program began with an average of 25,000 inspections per year. The contracts require the county inspectors to perform routine inspections, non-compliance reinspections, installation inspections, closure inspections, discharge inspections, and complaint investigations. All inspections are entered into the program’s innovative data management system that was primarily developed by the inspectors. The inspection processes and work-flows were designed into the software contained in their ruggedized (toughened) field laptop computers. This paper-saving system gives owners, operators, consultants, and other interested parties the ability to view inspection results on line in real time the day after an inspection report is entered into the system by the inspector, and has

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

53

ARTICLES

Florida’s Experience with Shop-Fabricated Aboveground Storage Tanks

improved the consistency of inspections.

Most owners of Florida shopfabricated ASTs comply with Florida’s rules, and there is a high rate of compliance. When facilities are out of compliance, the DEP District Offices and several Counties with DEP-authorizations are responsible for pursuing enforcement of the rules in accordance with the states rules and laws.

The Florida Leak Autopsy Study The DEP-County inspectors participated in a Leak-Autopsy Study that was performed between January 1, 2003, and July 1, 2008.

The purpose of the study was to gather data about the sources and

ARTICLES causes of leaks in the State from all underground and aboveground storage tank systems. The inspectors were usually on-site within three days of the discharge notification by the owner or operator. They 54

completed a five page form that documented the conditions at the facility and captured information about the storage tank system such as leak detection equipment, tank and piping data, the success of the leak detection system, the effects of the contamination, and other important facts. Photographs and other supporting information were attached to the forms, and a comment section was provided for the inspector’s observations. If the inspector was unable to identify the source of the leak, the data was excluded from the study. The charts below show the sources and causes of discharges from shop-fabricated tank systems.

The data shows that the main source of discharges from the shopfabricated tanks in the study is the tank itself, followed by s m a l l diameter piping and dispensers. If there was an overfill, the tank was

include overfill, loose components (usually associated with piping), and spills.

The study contains much more information about discharges from shop-fabricated tank systems in Florida than can be mentioned here. Although the Leak Autopsy Study was suspended by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in July, 2008 due to budgetary constraints, it is still important in that it provides actual field data about the sources and causes of leaks. It helps support industry and owner equipment selection decisions and provides data for insurance company actuaries for risk management evaluations. Before the study, this information was only available as anecdotal evidence.

Unusual situations There are a number of unusual systems in use (some of which are exempt from regulation) that inspectors encountered in the field.

For example, the tank below could be truly characterized as an aboveground tank.

considered the source of the discharge. The main causes of discharges from shop-fabricated systems in the study

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The photo, on page 54, shows a tank with improper secondary containment – (wood not exactly in accordance with the fire codes).

Florida also has a great deal of experience with hurricanes, and has learned many lessons about the types of systems that provide the most effective defence against hurricane force winds, surge, and flooding. The following photos depict some of these experiences.

tank systems to provide fuel for emergency generator systems.

There has been a significant increase in the number of the tanks,

Conclusions The State of Florida has been regulating aboveground

and

underground storage tank systems for twenty five years. The number of

shop-fabricated

storage tank systems has

more

doubled time,

than

during and

this are

increasing in number every year, while the number

of

ARTICLES In the photo above, a vaulted concrete tank manufactured by Convault survives Hurricane Ivan in 2004, in spite of a near collision from a large recreational powerboat. The next hurricane photo from the same storm shows damage to the dikewall and piping system from storm surge. Wind damage is a problem as well, particularly with vertical shopfabricated tanks. Flooding can also damage tanks and piping, and many Florida tank owners have experienced tank “float-offs” from improperly anchored systems.

After events on September 11, 2001, as well as the numerous hurricanes in the middle of this current decade, many government and private entities have decided to install shop-fabricated storage 56

particularly as doublewall sub-base generator tanks as shown in the photograph above. A particular lesson learned from Hurricane Wilma was that the smaller shopfabricated tanks did not provide sufficient storage capacity for power outages longer than four days. Although it was forecast to diminish in strength after landfall, Hurricane Wilma came ashore in 2005 as a Category Three Storm in Southwest Florida, and exited the Central east coast as a Category Three. Tanks with 500 to 1000 gallon capacity could not keep up with the flow-rates needed to keep the generators operating, and this led to power outages at hospitals, nursing homes, and assisted living facilities.

Since then, owners have installed larger tanks to meet the additional demand.

underground storage tank systems are slowly diminishing. Since most leaks begin as a small drip or weep as opposed to a spew or stream, shop-fabricated tanks are often favoured by owners because of the ability to find leaks early and correct small problems before they become large problems.

They

are

maintain,

usually

and

easier

the

to

insurance

premiums for double-wall systems are

much

lower

than

their

underground tank cousins. Owners need to provide sufficient security, and need to be mindful of inventory and their overfill protection system to

avoid

overfills.

If

properly

constructed and maintained in accordance with fire codes and environmental

rules,

they

can

provide equal or superior service to UST systems.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

History of Petrol Stations Part 13 The Electric Petrol Dispensers

By Jamie Thompson quite unusual compared to modern dispensers; Wayne produced an Art Deco design called at the time the ‘Worlds most beautiful petrol pump’!

These new designs had m e t e r s measuring the fuel dispensed and clock face displays showing the amount of fuel b e i n g delivered to the customer.

Many of these dispensers have been used for over 60 years.

In the UK Sheffield

University’s mines department had been authorised to test and approve electric motors for use in h a z a r d o u s atmospheres and this was the early forerunner of the ATEX test houses that we see in the industry today.

As the industry became larger and oil companies ordered more of the same type, production lines were set up by the larger pump manufacturers and the almost

ARTICLES

The next development from the hand operated petrol pump was the move towards a more mechanised powered delivery.

The fitting of an electric motor and pump to the existing hand operated pump started a dispensing revolution which has evolved into the pumps/dispensers that we see today.

The first design was to use an electric motor to do the work of the hand operated pump; the measuring bowls remained much as they did before but the motor had to be a safe one and sparking motors were obviously dangerous!

Already within the mining industry electric motors had been developed for use in the methane atmospheres that were often found in mines and the explosion proof designs that were used in this industry soon became the safe way for the petroleum industry to proceed.

Many of these pump designs were

universal method of display became the Veeder-Root mechanical head.

This consisted of a complicated set of cogs which moved as the fuel was dispensed indicating the

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57

dispensers with no hydraulics inside.

The design allowed for either submersible pumps or remote pumps to serve the dispensers. The uncluttered forecourt proved to be a success but the high costs of production and installation perhaps ensured that this design did not quite make it into the modern era.

ARTICLES amount of fuel being sold together with the price of fuel and many of these systems are still in use in many parts of the world.

The dispenser designs eventually became smaller and more compact and the inside of the dispenser became more crowded, electric lighting was installed inside the display faces.

Perhaps the biggest change was dispenser design, which varied between companies. Many of the smaller companies had by this time stopped production and the largest companies relied on manufacturing larger numbers to survive for a while until eventually some mergers and closures took place within the industry.

The other large change in the development of the petrol pump came with the advent of self service and the introduction of electronic heads in dispensers. The LED/LCD displays and eventually computer 58

screens changed the maintenance industry and the engineers dealing with the dispenser heads needed to be experts in electronics as the boards used chips rather than cogs.

The pump designs also had to meet the expectations of customers, with preset meters and limiting devices and then along came blending when fuel of different grades were blended to suit the marketing vogue at that time. Perhaps a larger revolution which did not quite make it was the use of

I also recall looking at proposals for robot filling stations which have been installed in Europe and USA but again it has not yet found favour in the UK. The development of the dispenser is continuous and with card readers and TV screens on dispensers I am sure we will see many innovations in the years to come.

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As a Petroleum Officer I was notified by an SIR company of a suspected loss of fuel from a petrol tank. To confirm the loss a precision tank test company came and put a small pressure on the tank and confirmed failure. The situation got worse when it was discovered that over 20,000 litres of fuel were lost immediately after the test. Was the action correct?

It is of course easy to be wise after the event.

Generally you should not put pressure on a tank with fuel inside the tank because if the tank is leaking then you risk pushing more fuel into the ground. Having said that the pressures used in precision tank testing are usually quite small but the tank testing company and the tank owner should be looking at the situation and assessing how much fuel was in the tank and the method of precision testing. It really should be risk assessed. In this case with a large amount of fuel remained in the tank an alternative precision tank test using a small vacuum may have been more appropriate.

Jamie Thompson Technical Committee Can cable that is not MICC (Mineral Insulated copper Cable) be used in a Hazardous Area The cable types for hazardous areas of filling stations can be either; 1.Mineral Insulated cable meeting BSEN 60702-1 Requirements 2. Armoured cable with PVC, XLPE or equivalent insulated conductors and sheath etc.

Paragraph 14.9.10 in the “Blue Book” clarifies the types.

Although MICC is still widely used some companies do use the far less expensive steel wire armour.

However, and this must be taken into consideration, the current carrying capacity of MICC cables is far superior to a similar sized steel wire armoured cable. So the problem for the electrical designer and installer is that they would need to install physically larger sized cables when using steel wire armour

hence duct requirements i.e. size of ducts may be larger than equivalent for MICC, also the size of termination glands and space available inside dispensers and in particular submersible pumps may make Steel wire armour impractical.

Gareth Bourhill, Electrical Consultant A Developer in my area is requesting to surround the new tanks in concrete as a backfill. Is this still allowed in the UK? Unless there is a very specific environmental or safety case supporting the use of concrete as a backfill material, then no it should not be used. The reason for this is that the European Standard that applies to the Installation of Underground Steel Storage Tanks BS EN 12285 Part 12003 specifically covers not just the manufacture of the tank itself but the installation method as well, which in Annex A of this 168 page standard calls for a “Non cohesive granular mix”, compacted sand or crushed stone to be used.

This is because the installation process allows for the easy retrieval of the tank should it fail or wish to be removed for some reason and this in itself addresses any pollution issues, bearing in mind that anti pollution laws in the UK arrived in 1990 with the introduction of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

A further point is that on completion of the installation, the installer, usually the main contractor is required to provide a Certificate of Conformity (see page 48 of the Blue Book – March 2005 edition) that includes the installation process itself and complies with the European Standard.

We should also remember that the UK was one of the only countries in the World that used concrete in the past to surround tanks. In Europe all countries use a granular backfill and that has proved most satisfactory over many years.

Brian Baker APEA Training Committee

Is the publication known as the Design, Construction, Modification, Maintenance and Decommissioning of Filling Stations APEA/IP March 2005 otherwise known as the “Blue Book” mandatory?

The publication you refer to as the “Blue Book” is a Guidance Document and is not mandatory, but it represents the best practice and by complying with this guidance you will demonstrate that you have normally done enough to conform with the current safety and environmental legislation.

The guidance has been written by experienced technical and legal practitioners within the industry and this has included a wide variety of interests including all major representatives of the UK Downstream Industry including the following; Health & Safety Executive (HSE), the Association for Petroleum & Explosives Administration (APEA), UK Petroleum Industries Association (UKPIA), Association of UK Oil Independents (AUKO1), Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), the Environment Agency (EA), the Electrical Contractor Association (ECA), the Energy Institute (EI), the Forecourt Equipment Federation (FEF), LP Gas Association (LPGA), National Inspection Council for Electrical Installation Contracting (NICEIC), Petroleum Equipment Installers and Maintenance Federation (PEIMF) and Scotland’s Trade Association for the Electrical, Electronics and Communications Systems Industry (SELECT).

Consequently these organisations will have contributed and been consulted on the final content of the document you refer to as the “Blue Book”.

The document itself is supported by, and makes reference to, numerous European standards which the reader may have to refer to if a specific question is not answered by the Blue Book Brian Baker APEA Training Committee

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

59

ARTICLES

Ask the experts

Reforming of the Yorkshire & Humberside Branch

BRANCHES

At a recent meeting of the N.W Branch Craig Brocklehurst (LBI Managing Director) & Keith Hodgson (LBI Project Manager) had a realisation of the value of technical discussions on topics and issues that are present in the industry today. With it comes the opportunity to talk to personnel and specialists from various areas of the industry, as well as regulators, thus providing great opportunities for increased knowledge and co-operation from subsequent networking.

It was thought “Why not re-launch the local branch for Yorkshire and Humberside?”. With major retailers based in this area and the added value from their experiences and from the many Dealer groups there is an exciting opportunity to bring vast knowledge together for all to benefit.

With the input and best practice approach from the APEA we are sure that branch meetings will be a valuable experience for all members and hopefully NEW members will benefit from the discussions and topics raised for each meeting.

We have subsequently contacted APEA colleagues and were pleasantly surprised by the enthusiasm and offers of support.

With this mind we are looking to set up our first meeting in March. We are based in Sowerby Bridge Nr Halifax which is approx 15 minutes from Jn24 of the M62. We have a choice of venues dependant on numbers.

Watch this space!”

If you would like more information please contact Keith Hodgson at keith@lbiinstallations.com or Tel: 01422 833122/07595069922.

Eastern The Committee would like to take this opportunity of wishing you a Happy New Year and hope it brings all good things. The Eastern Branch hosted its early Christmas lunch on December 9th at the picturesque location at Hanbury Manor near Ware, Hertfordshire.

The early christmas lunch has become one of the Eastern Branch members favourite meetings and provides a great place to network and share business experiences. The 60

presentations on topical subjects were excellent. Jean Fincken who is Petroleum Inspector with London Fire Brigade gave the “regulators update”. This slot is certainly proving to be a valuable part of the meetings with a great deal of information conveyed to members.

Malcolm Railson of Urgent Technology explained his company’s approach to provide effective IT services and maintenance support for oil companies. Urgent Technology is a multi national company founded in 1997 and “eMaintenance uses creative technology which Malcolm showed with a live demonstration.

They are working with companies such as BP Retail providing the ability to access fast, efficient information.

Ed Wheeler, MD of Eurotank Environmental, talked about aspects of Stage II, in particular the issue of over-pressurisation of tanks, posing the question ‘is this a real problem?’.

The implementation of Stage II has resulted in the ullage spaces of some spirit tanks becoming pressurised with air and vapour for long periods of time.

His presentation looked at how new and old sites are affected and what contractors and regulators should look out for when visiting these sites.

Jamie Thompson kindly stepped in at short notice to cover for one of the speakers who was unable to attend for family reasons and talked about some of the training and advice provided by the APEA to some Middle Eastern countries where a serious incident had recently occurred.

The Eastern Branch would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who gave of their time to provide us with these interesting presentations. The branch meetings are technical information workshops and qualify for CPD points so people should take advantage of this benefit when attending.

The meetings are intended to be relevant to all those who are in one way or another involved with the forecourt related industry.

For the diary, the next Eastern Branch meeting and AGM is scheduled for Wednesday 31st March 2010 and will be held at The Imperial War Museum, Duxford,

Cambridgeshire.

Other members are also welcome to join us on the day and can bring a friend or colleague. The Eastern Branch will be electing new officers, so if you are interested in doing interesting things for fellow members please contact the secretary, likewise for nominations of branch officers. Members will receive the agenda in the normal way, which will also be posted on the APEA website. If you would like to give a presentation to our members and talk about your business or specialist technology please do contact me.

Anton Martiniussen Branch Secretary

North West The NW branch will be holding our spring meeting and AGM at Haydock race course on Thursday 15th April. Details of the technical content for the meeting will be sent to branch members shortly.

We are extending the scope of our meeting to accommodate a number of exhibitors and we will be extending invitations to non members to encourage new membership within the North West.

Bob Conlin Branch Secretary

Scotland Since my last report, our branch has had a very successful meeting in Inverness. Thanks to Gordon Robb for making the venue available and making the necessary arrangements and to Highland Council for hosting the meeting.

We had four presentations on the day all of which were very well received. The first of these was given

by Jim Suff - Ledbury Engineering and Welding. Jim provided us with information on above ground petrol storage options and their Supervault system for self contained storage and dispensing.

Our second presentation was from Keith Norman - Petroman Limited.

Keith gave a talk on the issues that some petrol stations are experiencing with fuel contamination and the housekeeping required by sites prior to the introduction of ethanol based fuel.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

Paul Devine Branch Secretary

Southern Nothing to report

Anton Martiniussen - Sec

Scotland

ELAFLEX Ltd

Ian Hillier - Rep

Riverside House, Hoddesdon

North Ayrshire Council

Herts EN11 0PA

Bridgegate House

Tel: 01992 452 950

Irvine KA12 8BD

Mob: 07831 595620

Tel: 01294 324969

email: elaflex@aol.com

email: ihillier@north-ayrshire.gov.uk

North East

Paul Devine - Sec

Mike Silmon - Rep and Sec

South Lanarkshire Council

W O Silmon Ltd

Consumer and Trading Standards

Industry Road, Heaton

North Stand, Cadzow Avenue

Newcastle upon Tyne

Hamilton ML3 0LU

Tyne & Wear NE6 5XB

Tel: 01698 476170

Tel: 0191 224 0777 Fax: 0191 224 0707 email: associationtreasurer@apea.org.uk

Midlands Rob Tunnicliff - Rep 37 Victoria Park Road Tunstall Stoke on Trent ST6 6DX Tel: 07815 069846 email: rob.tunnicliff@stoke.gov.uk Peter Emery - Sec Anchor Safety 19 Adonis Close Tamworth Staffordshire B79 8TY Tel: 07972 599 765

Midlands

email:peter_emery@btconnect.com

Fax: 01698 476180 Mobile: 07795 090903 email: paul.devine@southlanarkshire.gov.uk

Southern Philip Monger - Rep Petrol Retailers Association Meadowside, West End, Sherbourne St John, Basingstoke, Hants.

RG24 9LE. Tel: 01256 850164 Fax: 01256 851273 email: phil.monger@ukonline.co.uk Sue Meadowcroft - Sec 1 Rock Cottage, South Cornelly Bridgend CF33 4RN Tel: 07795 841891

Nothing to report

North West

email: sue@high-cross.com

North East

Louise Morgan - Rep

Nothing to report

Petrocom Ltd

Ireland

The Malthouse

Killian Tallon - Rep

48 Southport Road

Topaz Energy Ltd

Ormskirk

Topaz House

Lancashire

Beech Hill, Clonskeagh

L39 1QR

Dublin 4, Ireland

Tel: 01695 572400

Tel: + 353 1202 8705

email:

email: killian.tallon@topazenergy.ie

Ireland Nothing to report

Branch Representative and Secretary Contact Details

louisemorgan@petrocom.co.uk Julian Rafter - Sec Bob Conlin - Sec

Olive Engineering & Design Services

Eastern

Fairbanks Environmental Ltd

Ltd

Adrian Holyomes - Rep

The Technology Management

The Old Egg Farm

HYTEK GB LTD

Centre

Waynestown

Delta House

Moss Lane View

Dunboyne

Green Street, Elsenham

Skelmersdale

Meath

Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire

Lancs WN8 9TN

Ireland

Tel: 01279 815600

Tel: 01695 51775

Tel: +353 1 8253670

email: adrian@hytekgb.com

email: bobconlin@fairbanks.co.uk

email: jrafter@ipservices.ie

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

61

BRANCHES

Our third presentation was provided by John Rome – John Rome Ltd on the importance of forecourt interceptor and drainage maintenance. John highlighted the importance of planned preventative maintenance to ensure sites could effectively deal with a large spillage if it occurred.

The final speaker on the day was Gordon Robb – Highland Council.

Gordon provided us with a very topical presentation on Fireworks.

He concentrated on issues relating to the correct storage and classification problems with certain fireworks.

On behalf of the Scottish Branch I would like to record our thanks to all of the speakers for taking time out of their hectic schedules to ensure that we all left the meeting with a better understanding of the topics they discussed.

Our branch committee had a meeting on the 27th January to set dates for the 2010 calendar. I will send the details to members when they are finalised.

2010 Training Course Dates Petrol Filling Stations Construction, Safety and Environmental Protection

Electrical Installations An Awareness

DSEAR 15 April

Glasgow

23 Feb

Glasgow

6 May

Luton

20/21 April

Manchester

30 Mar

Luton

8/9th June

Dublin

24 June

Manchester

27 April

Colchester

9/10 Nov

London

24 Sept

Derby

25 May

Bournemouth

22 June

Cardiff

19 Nov

Bristol

21 Sept

Luton

9 Dec

Luton

26 Oct

Belfast

23 Nov

Sheffield

Petrol Filling Stations Risk Assessment, Audit and Inspection 6/7 April

Milton Keynes

11/12 May

Manchester

8/9 June

Cardiff

15/16 Sep

Dublin

5/6 Oct 9/10 Nov

Wetstock Management 11 May

Luton

Derby

8 June

Glasgow

Glasgow

21 Sept

Manchester

Petrol Filling Stations – Enforcement Procedures An Awareness (One day) 6 hours Continued Professional Development 15 March

Luton

5 April

Milton Keynes

12 April

Manchester

TRAINING

Forecourt LPG Installations

Explosives and Fireworks

17 May

Derby

18 Feb

Manchester

16 Sept

Luton

14 June

Glasgow

22 April

Birmingham

23 Sept

Manchester

28 June

Bristol

27 May

Luton

7 Oct

Glasgow

13 Sep

Birmingham

2 Sept

Milton Keynes

12 Oct

Cardiff

18 Oct

Cardiff

Courses will be designed around the new TCB Document, Guidance for Design, Construction, Modification, Maintenance and Decommissioning of Filling Stations.

Please contact the APEA Business Manager on 0845 603 5507 or at admin@apea.org.uk if you wish to find out about purchasing a copy. APEA Members can purchase the guide at the discounted rate of £40 (non member rate £120).

It is strongly recommended that attendees have access to this document during courses.

All courses can be booked online at www.apea.org.uk on the ‘Training’ page.

Bespoke courses can be made available provided the minimum number of delegates is 8. This offers a discount.

For details of this and any other training enquiry, please contact: Jane Mardell - Training Coordinator, (contact details on page 3) or Brian Humm, Training Chairman Mobile: 07818 097141 email: brian.humm@london-fire.gov.uk

DSEAR Course Revised Acting on feedback and a course review by your trainers, the DSEAR course has been rewritten for 2010.

The course now looks at the Regulations and ACoP in much more detail so that, as a person or company working with Petroleum, 62

you will have a much better understanding not only of what the law requires, but of the guidance given on compliance.

As an Enforcement Officer you will understand what is required of employers and what you should be expecting to see in place when you inspect. It will also help you to draft letters and notices more accurately.

The course includes a module on risk assessment and the principles of carrying one out on a petrol forecourt.

Even if you have done this course before, you will almost certainly learn something new about the legislation – and we all need a refresher course to keep ourselves up to date!

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk