The Bulletin Magazine - June 2011

The Bulletin

Journal of the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration

June 2011

Chairman’s Report

4

Editor’s Report

5

Brian Baker Editor Brian Baker & Associates

Business Manager’s Report

5

Fire and Petroleum Safety

New APEA Members

9

Services 52 Milton Grove

News

13

Press Releases

25

Bletchley Milton Keynes MK3 5BH Tel: +44 (0) 1908 377127 Mobile: +44 (0) 7541 039 686

Articles New Stage 2 Vapour Recovery Central Vacuum System

By OPW Is Designed With European Markets In Mind

34

APEA 2011 AGM, Conference, Exhibition and Awards Dinner

37

Jamie Thompson

Managing the Risk – for Regulators, Contractors & Forecourt Operators - conference presentation from APEA 2010 Live

42

Publishing Chairman

APEA attends Africa’s PetroForum event

49

UK Petrol Station Numbers Continue to Fall

49

Interview with Jamie Thompson

50

Obituary Jack Gall Thomson

56

email: Bakerb4@sky.com

70 Wangford Road

CONTENTS AND EDITORIAL

Reydon Southwold Suffolk IP18 6NX Tel/fax: +44 (0) 1502 722999 Mobile: +44 (0) 7770 625851

The Ups And Downs Of Self - Employed Inventing by Jack Gall Thomson

57

email: jamie@jamiethompson.org.uk

Ask The Experts

62

Total UK Ltd – 2010 Retail Contractor Health and Safety Awards

64

Technical Challenges with Biofuels – Retailer’s Perspective

65

After a year of TVS

68

Jane Mardell Business Manager PO Box 106 Saffron Walden Essex CB11 3XT

Branches Branch reports Training 2011 course dates and booking details

United Kingdom

69

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

74

email: admin@apea.org.uk

Front Cover - An old petrol station now used as a bar - Malta 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

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

Welcome to the current edition of the bulletin, as ever I hope you find it as informative and interesting as I do every quarter. As I write this I am enjoying the sunshine coming in through the window and the rise in temperature is extremely welcome; how different from a few months ago with the arctic conditions!

A sad note to start, a short press release appeared in the last issue of the Bulletin following the sad loss of our past Chairman, Tony Jenner. I would like to pass my personal condolences to his family on this tragic loss; Tony was for a long time a stalwart of the association and a good friend, he will be sadly missed.

The long awaited revision of the Blue Book is imminent and will be, once again, a must have document for everyone concerned with our industry. Hopefully the new copy will be hitting our doormats soon.

Enforcement issues take up an extremely large part of my working day; one current topic that has recently raised its ugly head again is the illegal storage of fuel. With the price of petrol escalating almost daily we in London have seen a large rise in the theft of petrol, both from siphoning from vehicles and driving off from filling stations without paying.

A gentleman in a part of London was arrested by the police following a tip off and was discovered to have in excess of 300 litres in unsuitable containers within his bath! He was arrested, charged with theft and plead guilty in court, and is now awaiting sentencing. The petrol was seized by the police and will be disposed of once the trial is complete. The matter of a prosecution by the LFEPA for illegal keeping without a petroleum licence was thought of but as the final outcome will probably be a custodial sentence then would it be in the public interest to take legal action in this case? A decision that any licensing authority will always consider. Another interesting aside from this is we had to inform the police that they required a risk 4

assessment under DSEAR for the petroleum storage facility within the police station!

Another issue that is being dealt with at the moment is a small explosion which occurred on a petrol filling station recently. It emanated from within a tank chamber and actually lifted the two lids over a metre into the air; an electrical fault is suspected and investigations are ongoing. Once complete I will produce a detailed report as to the outcome for publication within the bulletin.

The above case shows only too well how this ‘associations’ aims and objectives work well; “industry and regulators working together” is the saying and I have had some extremely valuable help from Gareth Bourhill regarding electrical aspects of this incident and without this input the investigation would not be as far ahead as it is now.

On a lighter note European standards! All industries rely on standards and ours is no exception; they play an integral part in the development of petrol filling stations and are quoted in the blue book. As part of my role I, along with my colleague Ray Blake, have been looking into various standards and they make interesting reading. The various committees that sit and produce these standards are extremely hard working and the work is time consuming and the resultant standards that are subsequently introduced are invaluable; indeed the Associations Technical committee chairman, Jamie Thompson, sits on various of these committees and the work produced is an important part of the safe operation of petrol filling stations. As a consequence of this all involved within the industry should ensure that all equipment, installation methods etc that are covered by a European standard, are adhered to.

I would still like to extend my invitation to all branches to invite me to their meetings - it would be a pleasure to meet the membership

and discuss the ways that members see the association evolving and benefitting them all. I have accepted an invitation to give a talk to the southern Branch at their next meeting and would welcome more requests.

Membership of the association continues to be at a healthy level - I am pleased that this trend continues. As I write this I am minded of the APEA conference exhibition and dinner this year which once again will be held at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. This event is the foremost within the Industry and will be as usual heavily attended. The date change was unfortunate and was due to other events being held on the same date - the decision came after the last Bulletin was produced so please remember that this year’s event will be on the 23rd November and I look forward to seeing as many members as I can there. F2F events are once again our event organisers and I’m sure will do us proud in making it once again the most talked about event in the petroleum industry.

All in all this first year in my position as Chairman has flown by and I must say that so far I am enjoying the experience. It has been a pleasure having contact with members and helping them with queries which usually refer to enforcement issues; I welcome any queries from members and will always reply.

Finally I would like to wish all members a happy and safe summer, hopefully the weather will be kind wherever you may be and please enjoy this current edition of the bulletin.

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

The last few months have been very

busy

with

membership

renewals, the Bulletin and producing the 2012 Yearbook which is now at the printers. I will be on holiday in June for 10 days, so should you require to contact anyone from the APEA there will be a list of contact details

for

the

various

APEA

committees on the home page of the

APEA

website

at

www.apea.org.uk. The office phone will also be manned in my absence.

experience is there for all to see so personally, any plaudits are completely justified. Mind you the “R” word was mentioned in the interview which he ably side stepped with true aplomb!

As Editor, I am constantly looking for suitable material and have been fortunate to identify many good papers for this publication but occasionally my supply starts to dwindle so here is an appeal from me – please send me any articles you have – big or small and I will be pleased to publish them.

One thing I must say is that on the odd occasion, something raises its head which may prove controversial. Nothing wrong with that and when there are strong views to publish we do as well as any response that is constructive and objective. Once the topic (and views) has been aired it is time to move on as generally time and space moves to another raft of subjects. So do not be disappointed if all you want to say does not go in!

My thanks go to the many wellwishers who contacted me during February and March when I suffered a health setback, which was a complete surprise to me, but happily I am recovering steadily and hope to produce a few more Bulletins’ yet.

Finally, again on another personal note, I shall be leaving the employ of public service on 30 June this year as part of the local government cutbacks that are taking place all over the country.

I have worked in the public sector for over 40 years and have never seen such carnage taking place.

Yes, I have to agree that savings have to be made but not, as I fear, to the level that puts the public at risk, whatever the service is.

Being cynical, are we soon to see a lot more incidents taking place as sites go uninspected as there are insufficient Inspectors to provide routine inspections? What madness to have legislation stating that petroleum, and for that matter other substances that are ranked as dangerous, if no-one is able to check that these places are operating safely.

Brings a new meaning to the term “big bang theory”!

I am off to the potting shed; need to sow some seeds – great to see the sunshine back and the lighter evenings here in the UK. Best wishes until next time.

Brian

Your APEA Contact Details With this issue of the Bulletin, you will have received a letter advising you how to update the contact details we hold for you on the APEA membership database for postal correspondence and by email.

The update should be completed online from the APEA website at www.apea.org.uk, your log on details are also detailed in the letter.

This can be done at any time by clicking on ‘My Account’ on the top right of any page on the APEA website.

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

5

EDITOR’S REPORT/BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT

Here in the UK we continue our austerity with the main topic of conversation being the cost of fuel which is at record levels and seems relentless in its upward spiral. Many factors play a part, not least the conflicts in oil producing countries but when Europe can reduce their prices, why do we in the UK do the opposite?

It is not just the rising cost of fuel that sees business cutting back or even closing down but what extra costs does that represent to the nation in terms of lost tax revenues elsewhere? To cap it all, petrol filling stations continue their decline to below 9,000 sites in the UK, as can be seen in the news article elsewhere in this edition.

My interview series continues and on this occasion falls to a very renowned stalwart of this Association and the downstream industry in general – Jamie Thompson – and the substantial contributions he has made over more than 50 years could not go unrecognised.

Jamie still has the same effervescence as if he were 30 years younger, as the enthusiasm and passions still ride high in his agenda and his global activities continue.

These saw him in South Africa in March representing the APEA, and achieving more networking opportunities.

I have known and worked with him for many years (not the tidiest of trainers I may add!) but the depth of

We do not hold email addresses for all members so if you wish to receive information and notifications from the APEA about events, training, publications and other APEA business, please update your membership record contact details.

2012 Yearbook

BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT

Thanks to all of you that registered online for the 2012 Yearbook and also those of you who booked advertising, the artwork is now at the printers and the Yearbooks will be distributed on 1st October.

If you have not received your copy by the end of October please let me know and I will chase up your delivery. We only have a limited amount of spare copies so you need to contact me by the end of October if you have not received your copy.

We will be sending all Yearbooks

by Royal Mail recorded delivery and by courier so that we can follow up any non deliveries.

2011 AGM, Conference, Exhibition and Awards Dinner Following the success of APEA 2010 we will be repeating the format for APEA 2011.

It brings together equipment suppliers, service providers, oil companies, independent retailers, supermarkets and regulators for a day of conference debate, new technology and product display, networking and industry recognition.

APEA 2011 takes place on 23rd November at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry.

The event takes place in a dedicated conference and function centre, boasting top class facilities.

Anyone wishing to book for the Conference, Exhibition or Awards Dinner should contact Tom Treverton at F2F Events by email at tom@f2fevents.co.uk or by telephone on + 44 (0) 1442 289 920.

If you would like to enter any of the awards you can do this online from the home page of the APEA website at www.apea.org.uk or please contact me for an entry form at admin@apea.org.uk, please 6

specify which award you wish to enter so that the appropriate form can be emailed to you. Details about the awards can be found on page 40.

I will be managing the AGM part of the event and information and nomination forms will be posted to all members with the September issue of the Bulletin.

Bulletin - 2011 Advertising Thanks to all of you that renewed your advertising for the 2011 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.

You will also receive a 50% discount on Yearbook advertising each year.

If you would like to book advertising in the Bulletin for 2011, please call me on 0845 603 5507 or email me at admin@apea.org.uk for a booking form.

Publications The revised 3rd Edition of the Blue Book is scheduled for publication at the end of May and will be available at the discounted rate of £70 to APEA members.

You can purchase the Blue Book from the Publications page of the APEA website at www.apea.org.uk.

It is available in hard copy and in a pdf format which you can download.

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

This can be downloaded directly from the APEA website and is available to members at £11.00.

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

The 2011 dates are detailed on page 74 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.

If you are interested in hosting a bespoke course for your company 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 interested in and the course details and form are displayed or please 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 membership to the APEA.

New Members There have been 53 new members joining during January, February and March and details can be found on page 9.

Website The new website is now up and running and I hope you find it easier to navigate. I appreciate the positive comments that I received to date.

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 email it to me for review.

General Assistance 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.

Jane

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

January Norman Gillespie Munro Black Ltd 84 Keith Road Talbot Woods Bournemouth Dorset BH3 7DX Paul Reyner Synertest Ltd 25 Ayebridges Avenue Egham Surrey TW20 8HR Philip Prow Brulines Fuel Systems One Surtees Way Surtess Business Park Stockton-on-Tees TS18 3HR Peter Ross P B Ross Ltd 164 Lutterworth Road Blaby Leicester LE8 4DP Mark Jenkins Hampshire Trading Standards Montegomery House Monarch Way Winchester Hampshire SP22 5PW Lynton Jones Hampshire Trading Standards Montgomery House Monarch Way Winchester Hampshire SO22 5PW Steve Green 14 Copse Crescent Pelsall Walsall West Midlands WS3 4DY Paul Dixon National Measurement Office Stanton Avenue Teddington TW11 0JZ Steven Price West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service Coventry Fire Safety Centre Radford Road Coventry West Midlands CV14EL David Bromley West Midlands Fire Service Hay Mills Fire Safety Centre Speedwell Road Hay Mills Birmingham West Midlands B25 8HH Neil Avery West Midlands Fire Service Wolverhampton Fire Safety Centre Retreat Street Wolverhampton,West Midlands WV3 0RG

David John West Midlands Fire Service Wolverhampton Fire Safety Centre Retreat Street Wolverhampton West Midlands WV3 0RG Robert Coles West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service Coventry Fire Safety Centre Radford Road Coventry West Midlands CV14EL Donal O Leary Petro Systems Management Ltd Inchirahilly Crookstown Cork Co Cork Ireland Caroline Lovett Lancashire County Council Trading Standards 55 Guildhall Street Preston, Lancashire PR1 3NU Lara Mason Lancashire Trading Standards 55 Guildhall Street Preston, Lancashire PR1 3NU Geoff Lee Cookson and Zinn (PTL) Ltd Station Road Works Pond Hall Road Ipswich Suffolk IP7 5PN Geoff Markey Cranford Environmental Advisors Limited Unit 8a, Old Pill Farm Industrial Estate Caldicot Monmouthshire NP26 5JH Mick Norton West Midlands Fire Service Hay Mills Fire Safety Centre Speedwell Road Yardley Birmingham B25 8HH Jacquie Holt 153 Rayne Road Braintree CM7 2QD Mick Huckstepp East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service Hove Fire Station English Close Hove East Sussex BN3 7EE Jim Owen East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service Uckfield Fire StationBell Farm Lane Eastbourne East Sussex TN22 1BA Keith Marsden 23 Brownlow Street Clitheroe Lancashire BB71EG

Graham Oxley 19 Main Street Longside Peterhead AB42 4XL Philippe Carre 3 Mayfield Avwenue St Brelade Jersey Channel Islands JE3 8FT Peter Rawlins Surrey Trading Standards Omnibus Building Lesbourne Road Reigate Surrey RH2 7JA David Hall 24 Eileen Gardens Kingshurst B37 6NL Chris Lane Tyne and Wear Fire & Rescue Service SHQ Nissan Way Barmston Mere Tyne and Wear SR5 3QY Chris Rees Atkins Asset Management Broadway House Farm Broadway Laugharne Carmarthenshire SA33 4NT

NEW APEA MEMBERS

Detailed below are new members that have recently joined the APEA during January, February and March.

Graham Bartlett Lecter Associates Ltd 7 Merlin Centre Gatehouse Close Aylesbury Bucks HP19 8DP Martin Barry Daly, Barry & Associates Glengarriff Road Bantry Cork Ireland February Jayne Currie Craigavon Borough Council PO Box 66 Lakeview Road Craigavon Armagh BT622AJ Peter Farmer Trading Standards Department Glasgow City Council 231 George Street Glasgow G1 1RX Richard Pearce Pearce Electrical Services 39 Bloomfield Road Brislington Bristol BS4 3QA Nicola Barry Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service 146 Bolton Road Swinton Manchester Lancashire M27 8US

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

9

David Sandy Oxfordshire County Council Trading Standards Service Graham Hill House Electric Avenue Off Ferry Hinksey Road Oxford Oxfordshire OX2 0BY

Carl Benjamin Phoenix Forecourt Services Ltd Cartref Eryri Cwm Road Penmaenmawr Conwy LL34 6HP George Farrugia Centre Point Resources Ltd 10, Northfields Indipendence Avenue Mosta MST9026 Malta

Paul Sommerville City Access Products Ltd Maxim Business Park, Maxim 1 2 Parklands Way 1st Floor Motherwell Northlanarkshire ML1 4WR

Jason Tolliday JT Tank & Forecourt Installations Ltd 23, Stow Grove Castle Bromwich Birmingham West Midlands B36 8AY

Tim Tusler 133 Wordsworth Mead Redhill Surrey RH1 1AL

Vincent Carroll Carroll Civil Engineering & Building Ltd Unit 4 High Tech Centre Lonsdale Road National Technology Park Castletroy Limerick Ireland

Brian Wilson 54 Bells Burn Avenue Linlithgow West Lothian EH49 7LB

NEW APEA MEMBERS

Andy King Midlothian Council Trading Standards 9 Ironmills Road Dalkieth Midlothian EH22 1JN

Stuart Nixon 14 Winchester Close Orrell Wigan Lancashire WN5 8PA Paul Walker Baltor Systems Unit 19B, Kennedy Enterprise Centre Belfast Antrim BT11 9DT Tom Treverton F2F Events 119 High Street Berkhamsted Hertfordshire HP4 2DJ Shane Mc Mahon Stopwatch A15 Kilcronagh Business Park Cookstown Co Tyrone BT80 9HJ

Digby Maxwell Electrical Safety Systems Limited Units 1 & 2 Fulwood Road North Huthwaite Nottinghamshire NG17 2NB Robert Winwood Anderlec forecourt Services 49 Fillingham Close Chelmsley Wood Birmingham West Midlands B37 7TE Dale Woodcock Gilbarco Veeder-Root Crompton Close Basildon Essex SS14 3BA Keith Nicholson Walsall Road Norton Canes Cannock Staffordshire WS11 9NS

Robert Brooks Petro Chemical Solutions Ltd 1 Acorn view Cannock Road Burntwood Staffordshire WS7 0BE

Andy Milne AB-ELEC Electrical Services Granitehill Enterprise Centre Granitehill Road Aberdeen AB16 7AX

Gavin Armstrong Toyota Motor Manufacturing UK Ltd Health and Safety Department Burnaston Derbyshire DE1 9TA

Davey Gilmore Forecourt Ireland Crosshill, Keadue Boyle, Roscommon Ireland

Johan A Psaila 11, Redentur Triq L-Isturnell Roza Luqa LQA3 101 Malta

Alekha Prasad Gas Equipment & Services Co.Qatar Ltd Villa no:21, Street No.623 Ahmed Bin Hazem St Zone 56, Al Maamoura Doha 12 650 Qatar

March Neil Donkin Northern Electrical Services 79 Kirkbride Place Eastfield Dale Cramlington Northumberland NE23 2XJ

Jane White 127 Abbey Road (Ground Right) Torry Aberdeen AB11 9QB

Spear Abowe P.O. BOX 31492 KAMPALA 256 Uganda

10

Phil Davies Empire Forecourts Ltd 99 Milton Park Abingdon OX14 4RY

Peter Mc Kearney PMcK Ltd- Electrical Contractors + Engineers 47 Grange Rd Moy, Dungannon BT71 7EQ

Daryl Matthews Impact Facilities Management limited 306 Musters Road West Bridgford Nottinghamshire NG2 7DF

James Collins James Collins Electrical Engineers And Contractors Balgeeth Ardcath Garristown Meath Ireland

Rhoda Campbell URS Corporation Ltd Burnel House 54 Princess Street Manchester Greater Manchester M1 6HS

Cliff Carr Euroshutters Engineers Ltd Unit 13 Woodside Ind Est Thornwood Epping Essex CM16 6LJ Paul Chawner Stoneleigh Cottage The Square Shearsby Lutterworth Leicestershire LE17 6PQ Darren Warters Scope Electrics 166 Buxton Road Macclesfield Cheshire SK10 1NG Neil White 31 Claremont Road Westcliff on Sea Essex SS0 7DX

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

Electrical contractor Active Connect is all geared up to install Marshall-Tufflex’s MT32 prefabricated modular wiring solution in BP company owned petrol stations around the country following a successful trial of the system at a site in Surrey.

The BP Connect Service Station in Woking underwent complete redevelopment to update its facilities and incorporate a new M&S Simply Food outlet onto the site.

As a BP approved electrical contractor, Active Connect was charged with designing and installing all power and data systems for the project and decided to trial Marshall-Tufflex’s MT32 modular power connection with a view to using it within future projects.

“Our priority was to find a power connection system that would allow us to efficiently complete fast-track retail projects,” explained Active Connect director Gary Woodland.

“We were also keen to identify a system that reduced the number of electrical engineers on site, which impacts upon health and safety issues. The MT32 system was very good. It’s quite straight-forward to install and far easier than a traditional ‘hard wired’ installation. It did exactly what it said on the tin.”

Active Connect supplied MarshallTufflex design engineers with full specification and drawings for the BP service station project, allowing Marshall-Tufflex to produce detailed plans and a cable schedule. The project was managed by Bovis Lend Lease. Electrical wholesaler, The Electric Centre, in Molesey, supplied the entire system in five kits to cover different sections of the 245m2 service station, including till areas, the Wild Bean Bakery and back offices.

Each kit contained a pre-wired home run complete with distribution hub ready for on-site final connection to the distribution board

and accessories. MT32 home run multi-core cables are prefabricated to suit the project specifications, which enabled quick and easy connection to pre-wired and assembled lighting and power points within the service station.

Marshall-Tufflex Odyssey perimeter trunking incorporating MT32 prewired modular accessories was also supplied for a particular area that required a concentration of multiple surface power and data service outlets.

The trial proved successful on a number of counts for Active Connect. Not only has it identified a power connection system that delivers big time savings on electrical installations, it has provided Active Connect with a competitive edge in being able to offer its clients a fast-track service using the MT32 bespoke factorytested modular wiring system. A further benefit with the MT32 system is that it can be easily reconfigured and re-used post-installation and without waste, allowing the electrical contractor’s clients such as BP to refresh their store image and lay-out without major upheaval or cost implications.

UK, Fuel retailer HKS Motors continues expanding petrol station network HKS Motors, based in Leicester, has purchased Oldbury’s Bury Hill Service Station with support from Santander Corporate Bank. The acquisition is the latest in a string of deals for the petrol station operator, and the company said it will enable it to “continue to develop our growth strategy with confidence.”

The company owns and operates 24 petrol stations nationwide with a concentration of sites in the East and West Midlands. The company, established more than 25 years ago, is a family-run, local business which has achieved significant growth over recent years through the acquisition of a number of petrol stations and has strong aspirations

for further growth.

Shane Thakrar, head of business development at HKS Motors, said: “We are pleased that Santander has continued to support us in our growth strategy and would like to thank the team for once again delivering a competitive deal in an efficient manner. “This latest acquisition enables us to further strengthen and develop.”

UK, Tottenham driver escapes jail term after bluff threat to torch petrol station A driver who threatened to blow up a petrol station in protest over his car being clamped was spared jail recently.

Fuat Spencer, 36, held a cigarette lighter next to a petrol pump nozzle and warned the manager he would ignite fuel lines unless staff removed a clamp from his Renault Scenic, parked in a disabled bay on the forecourt.

The married father, of Trulock Court, Trulock Road, Tottenham, pretended to flick the lighter during a 20-minute stand off with police who were forced to rush the Turk and disarm him.

Recently, he was cleared by a jury of attempting to commit arson with intent to endanger life, but he admitted threatening to destroy or damage property at the BP garage in Stoke Newington. The political refugee claimed the stunt was a bluff and he never intended to light a flame.

In January 2011, Judge Martyn Zeidman QC gave Spencer a suspended 12-month jail term for two years after hearing he had been the victim of torture in his homeland.

The judge also heard that Spencer’s daughter suffered severe epilepsy and he had desperately needed his car to ferry her to hospital appointments.

Judge Zeidman told him his reaction to being clamped was appalling, adding “it is essential that you understand the great upset and

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

13

NEWS

UK, MT32 fast-tracks petrol station refurbishment for BP

alarm that you have caused.” He said he accepted Spencer’s claim that he was bluffing, but a fatal accident could still have occurred.

“If people had been burned or killed, it would have been no consolation for them to know that you meant it just as a threat”, he said. The judge also accepted there was “no doubt that you were the victim of torture when you lived in Turkey.”

The court heard Spencer was beaten about the head by police after being caught putting up political posters in Turkey. They had chased him down the street, beat him and left him to slip into a coma.

There are physical reasons that link that head injury with what may have been an obsessional personality and a difficulty with coping with stress, said the judge. “It is in the public interest in this case, exceptionally, that the sentence should be suspended.”

NEWS

UK, Edinburgh. Tesco face compensations claims Supermarket giant Tesco is facing compensation claims running into tens of thousands of pounds after its petrol pumps at a city garage were accidentally filled with diesel.

A number of cars were severely damaged as a result of the “human error” at Colinton Mains Tesco, with experts estimating the repair costs could be up to £7000 per vehicle.

Tesco confirmed it was in the process of dealing with compensation claims being made by motorists.

A spokesman for the company could not say exactly how many customers had been affected by the mistake but said it was “in double figures”.

Murdo Guy, a fuel draining mechanic, has been contacted by some of the drivers who accidentally filled their cars with the wrong fuel.

The specialist, who works for Fuel Fixer, said the cars could have easily been fixed if they had not been driven, but because people were 14

unaware there was a problem they had just been using their vehicles as normal.

Mr Guy said: “We didn't actually get called out to do fuel drains on any of the cars because the people involved didn't know it had happened.

“The cost to repair the cars is probably around £5000 to £7000 because a light engine rebuild is needed so it's quite a sore one.

“If you drain a fuel tank very quickly you mitigate the damage but if you keep driving it you damage the system.”

Mr Guy said that he would have expected Tesco to play back the CCTV from the petrol station forecourt and use the DVLA database to try to track down the customers who filled up with the wrong fuel, in an effort to prevent them causing further damage to their vehicles.

He added: “I would guess that quite a few people have had unexplained car problems and suffered serious damage as a result of this.”

One customer affected by the mistake at Tesco said: “My car was towed away and estimates have been ball park £8000 to fix it.

“Tesco will be getting a hefty bill.”

Another customer who was put in touch with the Tesco contact centre in Dundee said the company had been “very unhelpful” and had only offered a “goodwill gesture” of £100.

A Tesco spokesman said petrol station staff noticed the mistake, which took place on December 23, “pretty quickly”.

He added: “We have been in touch with customers affected.

“If any customers feel they have been impacted, we would urge them to contact the store.”

UK, Birmingham.

Petrol station in plunge is fined A contractor has been fined £5,500 after one of its employees plunged from a canopy at a petrol station in Birmingham.

James Stone fractured his pelvis as

a result of the fall at a Total petrol station in Golden Hillock Road, Small Heath, in 2008.

GLK Installations Ltd, based in Hampshire, was also ordered to pay £2,793 costs after admitting three breaches of health and safety regulations.

Emma Hall, prosecuting at a city magistrates’ court, said Mr Stone was one of three employees who was sent to the petrol station to do repair work on a canopy.

She said Mr Stone had gone onto the canopy wearing safety equipment, but there came a point when his safety line became snagged. He fell four and a half metres to the ground.

Ms Hall said there was no edge protection on the canopy and no safety line had been put around it.

Jonathon Forrester, defending, said GLK was a small company, which had been in business for around eight years, and that it had never been involved in incidents like this previously.

UK, Camper van destroyed in Brighton petrol station fire A driver fled a petrol station forecourt when his camper van caught fire as he filled it with liquid petroleum gas (LPG). The fire is believed to have started in the passenger compartment after LPG escaped into the van and was ignited accidentally by a spark.

Seventeen fire-fighters tackled the blazing van outside the BP garage at the Vogue Gyratory in Lewes Road, Brighton.

The van driver and his greyhound dog made it to safety along with others on the forecourt and those working at the garage. The camper van, however, was completely destroyed.

East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service investigators have concluded that the fire started by accident. Station Commander Tony Gurr, who was at the incident, said: “The management team of the petrol station ensured that all safety procedures were followed and the

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

UK, Sussex, Markwells Wood. Oil found in small English village’s ancient woodland A small British village has been dubbed the “Texas of England” after a European oil company announced it has discovered a £345 million ($532 million) oil reserve in nearby woodland.

Northern Petroleum said that drilling in Markwells Wood in West Sussex, southern England, had yielded oil and the company would now drill 4528 feet (1380 metres) in the hope of producing between 35 million and 61 million barrels of oil. The company's managing director, Derek Musgrove, described the discovery as “encouraging” and said the find should enhance the value of Northern Petroleum's “other undeveloped discoveries and exploration prospects” in the UK.

UK, Police officers put wrong fuel in cars hundreds of times despite in-built alert in petrol caps When hundreds of police patrol cars in UK broke down officers might have feared they had been infiltrated by a malignant intruder set on paralysing investigations.

However, they turned out to have a rather less sinister but perhaps more

frustrating enemy: ineptitude.

For despite police managers spending thousands of pounds installing “talking” petrol caps on their vehicles which play a recorded reminder not to use the wrong fuel, petrol has been put into diesel vehicles over 300 times.

The mistakes by Essex Police were disclosed in a Freedom of Information request which showed that officers had filled up with the wrong fuel 332 times in the last seven years, costing the force £62,000. The force claims the problem is a national issue and if the figures are replicated across the 43 forces in the country, refuelling errors are costing the taxpayer roughly £380,000 a year.

The problem in Essex was revealed in 2008, when it was disclosed that officers had failed to notice the warning “diesel” on the fuel caps of their vehicles on 222 separate occasions in the previous five years, costing £42,000. Senior officers decided to take action and installed a warning system on each car which cost a total of £4,000.

The new petrol caps are bright yellow to draw attention to the act of re-fuelling and light triggers the playing of a recorded warning when the flap is opened which announces: “This is a diesel vehicle.”

But despite the extra precaution 110 diesel police cars were filled up with petrol in the following two years.

Essex Police has 715 diesel vehicles one in 13 of which has mistakenly been fuelled with petrol.

Pumping petrol into a a diesel car can severely damage the engine and if the ignition is started the entire engine can need replacing, which can cost up to £5,000 per vehicle. By contrast, putting diesel into a petrol car causes relatively little damage.

Petrol burns hotter and for a shorter time than diesel and does not have the latter's lubricating effects. If the wrong fuel is put into a diesel vehicle, the pump and any fuel injection system are likely to be damaged, as well as the relevant filters.

The changing temperatures can

irreparably damage seals inside the engine and, once the fuel is burned, the wrong waste gases quickly clog the catalytic converter.

Several years ago, diesel pump nozzles at filling stations were made larger so they would not fit into a petrol car but this means it is still possible to put petrol into a diesel.

An estimated 400 drivers a day put petrol into their diesel engine and the problem is most common on a Friday, when tired workers heading home are concentrating least.

Around 155,000 diesel cars a year are permanently damaged by using the wrong fuel, which costs Britain's drivers an estimated £800m annually.

Merely unlocking the doors of a diesel filled with petrol can cause irreversible damage, as in more sophisticated cars, the unlocking action activates the car's fuel pump to prepare for starting.

The RAC estimates someone misfuels a vehicle every three and a half minutes.

A spokeswoman for Essex Police said: “We are constantly reminding staff to ensure they use the correct fuel. However, our staff drive both petrol and diesel vehicles during the course of their work and unfortunately mistakes happen. “We have around 900 vehicles and do fit devices to prevent wrong fueling.

This is not a concern unique to the police service and is a problem nationally.”

A spokeswoman for the Association of Chief Police Officers said it did not keep statistics on the incidence of misfuelling nationwide but added that any organisation with multiple users of the same pool vehicle could have this problem.

UK, Hampshire.

Overturned tanker spills kerosene near fishery A fuel tanker has overturned spilling up to 2,000 litres of kerosene near to a popular fisheries lake. The tanker rolled onto its side in a gulley along Coombe Road outside East

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

17

NEWS

pumps closed down.

“Fire crews disconnected the LPG supply and did a fantastic job in adopting quick aggressive fire fighting tactics, utilising fire fighting foam, hose reels and two sets of breathing apparatus and stopped the incident escalating into a large scale event. “East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service’s petroleum officer, as with all such incidents, will be visiting the site to ensure the affected pumps are safe.” Mr Gurr praised the garage management team, saying: “The garage was evacuated within seconds and they followed all safety procedures correctly.”

NEWS

Meon. Fire fighters and an Environment Agency pollution team are battling to contain the spill and prevent it from running into surrounding water courses.

A spokesman for Hampshire Fire Service said the kerosene had leaked from a roof vent on the tanker which is believed to contain a further 5,000 litres of the highly flammable liquid. Part of the road has been blocked and police have put road closures in place at Coombe Road and Coombe Cross.

Police warned drivers to avoid the area.

A police spokeswoman said the driver of the tanker was not hurt and no other vehicles were involved. She added the road closures could remain in place until late into the evening and several homes were evacuated.

The scene of the accident is near to the Meon Spring Fly Fishery lakes at Whitewool Farm, which are stocked with rainbow and brown trout. Residents have been notified.

Hampshire County Council and Environment Agency officers are at the scene. Environment Agency spokesman Joe Giacomelli said: “Our emergency pollution teams were called into action to limit any environmental impacts of kerosene entering local watercourses or sensitive groundwater.

“Environment Agency officers are responding to reduce the harmful effects of the kerosene, working with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service to minimise any damage done. “At this point, there is a low risk of immediate harm to the River Meon, however, we will continue to closely monitor the situation to determine whether there will be any longer term impacts on the groundwater and the watercourse.”

UK, Petrol stations contaminate their immediate surroundings Scientists have examined the effects of contamination at petrol stations that is potentially harmful to 18

health, which can be noted in buildings less than 100 metres from the service stations.

“Some airborne organic compounds - such as benzene, which increases the risk of cancer have been recorded at petrol stations at levels above the average levels for urban areas where traffic is the primary source of emission”, Marta Doval, co-author of the study and a researcher at the University of Murcia, said.

The study shows that the air at petrol stations and in their immediate surroundings is above all affected by emissions stemming from evaporated vehicle fuels (unburnt fuels from fuel loading and unloading operations, refuelling and liquid spillages).

The research team measured the levels of “typical traffic” pollutants in different parts of the urban area of Murcia, and calculated the quotients for the levels of an aromatic compound (benzene) and a hydrocarbon (n-hexane) at three Murcia petrol stations (near the petrol pumps and surrounding areas) to find the distance at which the service stations stop having an impact.

“In the three cases studied we obtained maximum distances of influence of close to 100 metres, although the average distance over which this contamination has an effect is around 50 metres”, Enrique Gonzalez, the UM researcher who led the research team, said.

However, the distances depend on the number of petrol pumps, the amount of fuel drawn from them, traffic intensity, the structure of the surroundings, and weather conditions.

UK, Lancashire. Firm fined £8,000 for Blackburn diesel spill Water giant United Utilities has been fined £8,000 for polluting a brook in Blackburn. The firm was prosecuted after a 2,700 litre diesel spill last year at the Fishmoor water treatment works. The Environment Agency said officers visited the site

in January last year and found pollution to a 1km stretch of Higher Croft Brook near the River Darwen.

Diesel was found to be entering the brook as a result of an incident at the site when the fuel from a generator had overfilled a tank when a valve failed to close. A plug was missing from the generator enclosure and if the plug had been in place the leaked diesel would have been contained.

The Environment Agency said: “Approximately 2,700 litres of diesel was lost and this had seeped into the ground and diesel had then also reached the brook. “The spill resulted in significant pollution affecting about one kilometre of watercourse.” The water company pleaded guilty at Hyndburn Magistrates Court and was also ordered to pay costs of £3,048.

Scotland, Edinburgh.

Tanker driver axed in airport booze probe An airport tanker driver was suspended after a pilot accused him of being drunk while he was refuelling his passenger plane. The EasyJet captain confronted Steven Winters after hearing him throw up in the cabin toilet of his aircraft, it was recently revealed.

The flier believed Mr Winters - who left his 72ft 45,000-litre tanker because he was feeling ill - had booze on his breath, and reported him, but the driver was allowed to finish his shift at Edinburgh Airport before being suspended the next day by bosses at North Air. Mr Winters, of Clydebank, was later cleared and returned to work after an investigation found he hadn't been drinking, but instead had a medical condition. However, an airport insider last night said: “The supervisor should have sent him home immediately and told police but did neither.” A spokesman for North Air - which is owned by BP said Mr Winters was “not under the influence of alcohol” and no action would be taken. He said: “At no time were passengers or crew put in any danger - the vehicle was put in a

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

UK, Scotland, Edinburgh. Petrol tanker collides with HGV on A8 Emergency services dealt with a collision between a petrol tanker and a heavy goods vehicle on the A8 recently. The collision took place between Ratho Station and Edinburgh Airport in the morning.

One man was taken to hospital with back injuries. No fuel was spilt.

UK, Scotland, Glasgow. Woman sets herself on fire in Glasgow petrol station drama

and we are in discussions with the owners and police.” Cindy Turner, operations director for Motor Fuel Group, who run the station, said: “We are carrying out a full investigation with the local authority.” Councils are responsible for licensing petrol stations and can close them down if there are safety breaches.

USA, Ohio. Ethanol rail car derails in Arcadia Ohio

Authorities in Hancock County

A probe has been launched after a woman set herself on fire on a filling station forecourt. The 36-yearold walked into the BP garage in the east end of Glasgow and hosed herself with petrol from a pump before setting her clothes alight.

Horrified staff rushed to put out the flames.

The woman, understood to live nearby, was rushed to hospital in a serious condition with major burns.

She is now off the danger list but is still recovering in hospital and it is thought she will need plastic surgery.

Now Glasgow City Council is investigating a possible breach of safety procedures at Craigpark filling station in Alexandra Parade, Dennistoun.

Council experts are trying to find out if the pump had been left switched on when the woman walked into the station, or that a member of staff thought she was a customer filling up and switched it on by mistake. Normally all pumps must be switched off unless they are being used. The only people who can use a pump are drivers or customers with empty petrol or diesel containers.

A council spokeswoman said: “The matter is under investigation

said most people have returned to their homes after a freight train carrying volatile chemicals derailed and caught fire earlier this month.

Some of the train cars exploded after

catching

fire,

forcing

evacuations of nearby homes. No one was injured. “Everything around us just started flickering, like there was almost a dim light somewhere,” said Chris Moses, who lives nearby.

“The whole sky lit up and everything around us was orange. About 20 homes were evacuated in the area about two miles west of the village of Arcadia. Only a handful of families were still out of their homes as of late Sunday 7th February, 10TV's Jason Frazer reported. Capt.

Jim Breyman of the Arcadia Fire Department said that the fire was subsiding, though it could take a day or two for it to completely burn out. The train was headed from Chicago to North Carolina with 62 cars

loaded

unknown

with

what

ethanol. caused

It's the

derailment. The Ohio Environmental Protection

Agency

collected

samples of water near the blast site to check for possible contamination, Frazer reported.

Spain, Chevron, to sell Spanish fuel business to Cepsa US oil giant, Chevron is selling its Spanish fuel, lubricants and aviation supply agreements to one of Spain's largest energy companies Compañía Española de Petróleos (Cepsa) for an undisclosed sum.

Under the terms of the agreement, Cepsa will acquire 62 Texaco-branded service stations in the Canary Islands, a storage facility at the port of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Chevron's aviation supply agreements with 11 airports, the lubricants blending facility in Valencia and finished lubricants sales and marketing operations in Spain.

Chevron had said in March 2010 that it would sell certain operations in Europe, including the Pembroke refinery in the UK, the Caribbean and select Central America markets as part of restructuring of its global refining business.

Chevron, like many other global integrated oil companies, barring Chinese and Indian oil companies, has been hit by an overcapacity in crude refining brought on by recession and the high price of crude last year, which has curtailed demand for petrol, diesel and jet fuel as consumers reign back on spending as well as the use of alternative clean fuel.

The oil giant had in November last year sold its fuels, marketing and aviation businesses in the Caribbean and Central America to Vitogaz SA, a wholly-owned subsidiary of French international downstream petroleum company Rubis.

USA, WA, Bremerton.

Disaster averted as mobile home catches fire in petrol station Quick action by a petrol station manager extinguished a mobile home fire that could have become disastrous. As it was, a 65-year-old Bremerton man lost his only home and two cats in the fire that broke out at the AM/PM Arco station at Sixth Street and Naval Avenue.

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

21

NEWS

safe condition.” An Edinburgh Airport spokesman said: “Correct reporting procedures were followed.”

NEWS

Robert Lee Pearison had been working on the vehicle, since he had to move from the mobile home park where he had been living. As he pulled into the station, flames broke out under the engine compartment, witnesses told Bremerton Fire Department officials.

“I started to get out and the thing was on fire,” Pearison said. Station owner Bhupinder P. Kushal called 911 while manager Ahmad M. Dlain shut off two petrol lines, one at the pumps, one from the main holding tank. Dlain grabbed a fire extinguisher and emptied it onto the fire, temporarily dousing the flames. but the fire broke out again. In all, Dlain used four fire extinguishers battling the blaze until fire-fighters arrived to finish the job.

“They did a phenomenal job,” said Mike Six, fire marshal for the Bremerton Fire Department. “We would have had a much bigger fire had these guys not responded with the fire extinguisher.” The 1989 24foot motor home was a total loss.

Pearison had a small burn on his hand. His two cats died apparently of smoke inhalation, fire officials said. The cause of the fire is under investigation. Pearison will receive help from the American Red Cross.

Oman, Omanoil marks the opening of 10 new filling stations in 2010

Waqybah and Falaj Al Qabael in

organization, omanoil strives to

Sohar, Al Bureek in Al Khaburah, Al

continuously raise the bar of quality

Reham in Bedyah, Al Suwaih in

by providing the highest standards

Janal,

Al

of customer service through its

Hummaira in Shinas, Al Serh in Al

Emtiyaz Unit, and by investing in

Rustaq, Thamrit in Al Thamrit and

professional staff training as part of

Dhofar in Salalah.

its quality assurance platform. These

Al

Hussain

Aqar

Al

Twin

and

General

efforts have been made in order to

omanoil

always empower its personnel to

expressed, “The opening of 10 filling

react promptly, respond to all

stations in 2010 underscores our

necessary

inquiries

meticulously-planned

informed

decisions

Manager

Ishaqi,

of

Retail

at

growth

and to

make simplify

strategy and commitment to serving

customer's lives and the overall retail

all

and shopping experience.

local

communities

of

the

Sultanate, reaching even the most remote regions and providing them with

holistic

and

products

and

expand

the

convenience

fully

fledged

services.

As

omanoil

we total

experience

to

all

Wilayats and Governorates, we will

Bulgaria, Sofia.

Bulgarian revenue agency shuts 269 petrol stations across Bulgaria

continue to pioneer the local retail

A total of 269 petrol stations across

business and earmark additional

Bulgaria have been forced to close

strategic locations for 2011.”

by the Bulgarian Revenue Agency

He added, “Today, omanoil has

(NRA) or did not bother opening for

expanded its presence in key areas

business, because they had failed to

of the Sultanate to proactively meet

comply with new regulations in force

the

since January 8 2011.

market's

increase

in

fuel

demand and other professional

Starting from January 8, all cash

retail services in-line with the robust

registers in petrol stations were

growth

and

supposed to be wired directly to the

commercial projects in both public

NRA. On the first day of the

and private sectors.”

measure, NRA agents closed down

in

developmental

Welcoming more than 85,000

76 establishments, while 90 others

visitors every day, omanoil filling

decided to close down themselves

stations and convenience stores

to avoid sanctions.

offer a broad mix of services and

On January 12 alone, the NRA shut

products twenty four-hours-a-day,

47 petrol stations and another 56

Augmenting its national outreach

seven-days-a-week. The Company

remained closed for business on

to all regions of the Sultanate, Oman

presents its services in a friendly and

their own accord. In all, as of

Oil Marketing Company (omanoil)

modern setting and continues to

January 13 2011, 269 petrol stations

announced that the Company

expand its Ahlain brand experience

across Bulgaria remain shut. The

inaugurated ten new filling stations

to ultimately cover its entire network.

strategy

in a number of prime locations

All stores are specially tailored to

contraband, and funnel between

across the nation during 2010 alone,

meet the needs of busy shoppers by

250-300 million leva into the state

bringing the total number of its

providing a fine selection of high

Budget. According to the report, in

network to 122 and making it the

standard

quality

the next few days, all petrol stations

fastest growing network in the local

products with speedy transactions in

in Bulgaria will be investigated by

retail industry.

a clean and inviting shopping

agents, who have vowed to fine

environment.

establishments up to 10 000 leva if

With the establishment of six

services

and

aims

to

curtail

illegal

they flout the new regulations.

Ahlain convenience stores to date,

At present, omanoil operates a

the ten new strategically located

network of 122 retail stations and 65

multi-facility filling stations will serve

Ahlain convenience stores, and has

closed for business altogether. The

an extensive number of motorists

been exerting commendable and

NRA say that 3000 petrol stations in

throughout Oman.

visible efforts in the growing retail

Bulgaria account for 400 million leva

industry. As a customer-focused

leva in monthly turnover.

The filling stations include Al 22

Alternatively,

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

they

could

be

More people to service more KPS customers With more customers comes the need of more people to take care for customer requests. Here are KPS’s latest additions to the sales team.

Mr Christian Fagerstrom, Regional Sales Manager, South East Asia

Mr Wayne Zhang

meet any customer requirement.

Already missed by his customers and colleagues in Scandinavia and Europe, Christian will strengthen KPS’s capacity in a highly developing part of the market.

New Global Sales Director Mr. Magnus Enstrom has joined KPS in the position as Global Sales Director. With long experience of international and export sales, degrees in both engineering and business management as well as a very recent MBA degree, Magnus is well qualified to lead the KPS sales organization and provide all customers with the best possible service.

“I am eager to meet all KPS’s current and future customers and learn their needs, says Magnus.” I am still getting to know the KPS organization, but I already see great potential in both the products and the people. We - and our customers - have some exciting years ahead of us!”

New Regional Sales Manager South East Asia Christian Fagerstrom, formerly Area Sales Manager at KPS Sweden, has been appointed new Regional Sales Manager for KPS Fueling Solutions, covering the South East Asian region. Christian brings with him thorough knowledge of the KPS product line and experience ranging from piping system design to on-site installation support and true motivation to find solutions to

KPS Sweden Responsible for sales in Sweden, will be someone already familiar to many of the Swedish customers: Mr. Per Andersson. Per will be combining sales with his work in the technical support team where he has established himself as a competent and well-liked technical advisor and trainer.

PRESS RELEASES

Mr Magnus Enstrom, Global Sales Director

Mr Harvey Jing

Mr Per Andersson

Stronger Regional Presence in China To support the increasing sales in China, two new faces have joined KPS China. Mr. Harvey Jing will be KPS’s new Area Sales Manager for the northeast parts of China and

Wayne Zhang the Area Sales Manager for southern China. They will both be reporting to Sales Manager Adam Deng at KPS China.

KPS Petrol Pipe System™ is approved to EN 14125, UL 971, ATEX 137, EN 13463-1 and IP 2. KPS conductive pipes are also approved for Germany.

The unique permeation barrier prevents permeation while the conductive lining provides an electrostatically safe pipe. We deliver the same high quality pipe to all markets.

KPS: With offices and logistics centres in Sweden, UK, France, Spain, Slovakia, Malaysia, India and China and distributors all over Europe and Asia, we keep close to our customers. We deliver on time, and if you are one welding socket short on site, we make sure you get it. When you need answers, a technical support person is never far away. For more information see www.kpsystem.com.

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25

PRESS RELEASES

European approved tank lining company opens UK office

KPS launches conical conductive tank chamber

Synertest, the leading Tank Relining Company in France, has opened a UK office in response to demand for European approved Double wall Tank Lining and Leak Detection systems. Synertest has only ever installed double wall tank linings that are certified as complying with the EN 13160 parts 17 which includes not only the leak detection method but also the secondary lining materials, construction and installation.

Synertest procedures have been developed to ensure that the quality of each installation is carefully controlled. As epoxy is used in the installation of the lining, temperature and humidity are carefully controlled so that the Epoxy will adhere to the Tank wall and lining materials ensuring structural integrity. Synertest have seen from other installations that failure to keep these climatic conditions correct results in failure of the lining system after a very short time as the materials delaminate. As part of Synertest’s certification every installation carried out has to be notified to the certifying body (TUV) and they have the option to inspect all or part of the installation to ensure that the correct procedures as originally certified are followed. Any deviation from the procedure would immediately invalidate Synertest’s approvals.

The full protocol document and photos of each stage of the installation are provided to the site owner at the completion of the project with further copies kept by the Certifying Body. In all cases before a lining is applied any structural defects are repaired and any structural coating is applied to the full surface of the tank rather than just the area of the tank that has failed.

In addition to Double wall Tank Lining, Synertest will also be offering their single wall lining systems for both below and above ground Storage tanks for fuel and any other liquid products.

For further information on Synertest Approved systems contact Paul Reyner at Synertest@btconnect.com or tel: 07785 367113.

The new conical conductive tank chamber from KPS is a giant leap forward in the development of tank chambers. The KP TC1500 is more than a tank chamber for electrostatic safety. It has several features that in themselves are a revolution.

26

Rotate for optimal pipe entry angles

another installation feature. Since the base can be rotated on the bottom plate, it can now be finetuned for optimal pipe alignment.

- “Here in South East Asia we face additional issues”, says Mahinda Vallipuram, general manager at KPS Fueling Solutions. “Often soil conditions are difficult and water tables are high, especially during the monsoons. What we need in those situations is a tank chamber with high strength in the walls and an inner lid that is really watertight.

Now we have just what we need.”

The new KP TC1500 is adapted to the desired pipe gradient

- “It may seem a small change that the chamber walls now lean slightly inwards, but now they fit perfectly with pipes laid with a gradient down to the tank”, says Mats Sundberg, technical director of KPS. In order for the chamber to still be stackable for efficient transportation and storage, the bottom plate is separate from the base. The separate bottom plate also provides

Watertight inner lid with built-in test port and sighting glass

- “Once we had the watertight lid, the technical support people insisted we should add a test port to the lid so that the chamber could be tightness tested without any separate test lid”, says Mats Sundberg. “That was an easy thing for us to do. And, if a customer uses KPS pipes and KPS entry seals with the KPS chambers they get a very secure and robust solution.”

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

- “The conductive chambers complete the KPS conductive pipe system”, says Lars Selling, CEO of KPS. “It is a really good product and it has been great to see product developers in Sweden work on this project together with Malaysian engineers and GRP experts, using input and ideas from our installers and technical support. I hope our customers will like the product as much as we do!”

For more information on KPS conductive chambers visit www.kpsystem.com e-mail sales@kpsystem.com or contact your nearest KPS office.

Industry alliances crucial for future oil and gas sector James Smith FEI, President, Energy Institute, and Chairman, Shell UK, welcomed over 200 energy professionals at this year’s International Petroleum (IP) Week held in London today.

This 3-day event, organised by the Energy Institute (EI) and supported

by Ernst and Young, opened with a keynote conference themed around ‘A changing industry’, which included senior representatives from Earthing blocks are built-in in both tank chamber and dispenser chamber the International Energy Agency, The new chamber is conductive Rosneft, BP and the BG Group. With throughout, making it safer for the oil and gas sector constantly evolving, this annual event provides workers during installation and energy professionals across the maintenance as any dangerous entire international arena with the electrostatic charging arising from opportunity to share the latest activities such as hole saw drilling or thinking on the future of the oil and rubbing is prevented. The chamber gas sector. is automatically grounded once A key topic in this year’s backfill is completed. The built-in discussions was how the nature of earthing block simplifies bonding business relationships is changing, and there was an emphasis on increased collaboration in the industry. With oil prices continuing to shift upwards since September 2010, and taking into account geopolitical and financial considerations, working in alliance is proving a valuable opportunity.

The challenge of A pilot installation of the new conical conductive tank these partnerships is the chambers

management of risk, and the complexity and breadth of the partnership required to deliver the projects. But the mutual benefits can far outweigh these issues with the resulting shared knowledge and access to resources.

Safety issues remain high on the agenda at IP Week as deepwater development looks set to continue.

A key challenge for the next decade is for working offshore in emerging markets.

Louise Kingham FEI FRSA, Chief Executive, Energy Institute, says, “Cooperation is becoming increasingly important. The energy landscape is more varied than ever.

At this year’s IP Week, we’ve seen delegates still cautious about demand outstripping supply. The requirement for improved efficiency and continued investment remains.

The challenges are not new, the complexity is ever increasing and more wide ranging, but industry is focused on a renewed realism.”

Partnerships are based on an alignment of objectives, communications based on trust, and mutual benefit. And this does not apply exclusively to industry alliances. It is just as important to be working alongside universities and institutes, such as the Energy Institute, to build the capacity and people skills to respond to these energy challenges.

Tony Jenner A Sad Loss

The commercial vehicle refuelling industry lost one of its most notable and best loved characters. Tony Jenner died during a holiday in New Zealand last month, aged 63.

Tony contributed enormously to the industry by creating a company that has become a leader in commercial fuelling solutions.

He formed Forecourt Engineering in 1980.

Operating from

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29

PRESS RELEASES

and grounding of any isolated conductive objects inside the chamber.

PRESS RELEASES

Farnborough, Hants, he, along with his sons Barry and Keith, built a strong business by being uncompromising on quality and providing innovative but practical engineering solutions for the installation and maintenance of a wide range of forecourt equipment.

Tony held strong views about health and safety, becoming a chairman of the Institute of Petroleum’s Blue Book committee and latterly chairman of the APEA. His passion for quality and integrity, combined with a lively sense of humour, attracted the best in the industry to join him and they remain in the company today.

In 2002 the size of the family business doubled overnight when they acquired a company based in Barnsley, South Yorkshire to form Cameron Forecourt.

In work, Tony didn’t tolerate fools gladly, but had the respect and loyalty of his staff from whom he expected work of the highest standard. He was also a committed family man. His wife, Vanessa, was actively involved in the company, until her untimely death in 2005. His two sons have been with the business since they both qualified professionally; Barry as an engineer and Keith as an accountant. Barry was appointed Managing Director of Cameron Forecourt in January last year and has a team of 46 staff, half of whom are field-based engineers.

Tony was a larger than life character who had a tremendous sense of humour with a quick and sometimes caustic wit. He usually had an amusing but relevant view about things, fuelled by his interest in current affairs and his travels throughout the world with Vanessa.

A notable raconteur, Tony will be best remembered for making people laugh. He will be sadly missed but leaves a legacy of which to be proud.

Cameron Forecourt strengthens sales and support UK fuelling solutions specialist Cameron Forecourt is supporting its continued growth in the commercial sector with two new key staff appointments.

Steve Hollis has joined the company as a sales engineer, 30

orders and then moved to the technical team where he now has a senior technical support role.

Adrian plays an active role in the APEA as the Eastern Branch Representative and also sits on their Council.

bringing more than 25 years experience of the commercial fuelling sector, having worked for a number of well-known UK manufacturers. Steve, who comes from Northwich, Cheshire, will be responsible for sales and support to new and existing customers throughout the UK.

Karen Walmsley joins Cameron in a sales and service role, taking care of the requirements of existing customers requiring service and maintenance contracts. She will also support the sales team in dealing with new customer enquiries. Karen, who lives in Darwen, Lancashire, has been in the commercial fuelling systems business for almost 20 years, previously having worked for a Lancashire-based supplier.

Hytek Employee Long Service Award Adrian Holyomes has completed 10 years service with Hytek (GB) Ltd. The company supplies fuelling and Lubrication equipment, alongside products for the oil heating industry.

Joining Hytek back in January 2001 Adrian originally worked as part of the customer service team answering the phone, inputting sales

During his time at Hytek he has helped towards adding hundreds of new and exciting products to their range, most recently the introduction of their fuel recirculation system to combat issues associated with the latest bio fuels.

In Adrian’s free time he keeps himself busy as a captain of a pool team taking part in National competitions, as well as being a keen fisherman.

To mark Adrian’s long service Kevin Arnold Hytek managing director presented Adrian with a watch.

Design, construction, modification, maintenance and decommissioning of filling stations The forthcoming edition of the Design, construction, modification, maintenance and decommissioning of filling stations (also known as the Blue Book) will be essential reading for all those involved in the design, construction, modification, maintenance and decommissioning of facilities for the storage and dispensing of vehicle fuels at either retail or commercial premises, as well as those involved in the enforcement of regulations applicable to such sites.

The Blue Book is the established technical guidance on providing information about storage and

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

• Updates to sections on leak detection.

• Updates to sections covering below-ground storage tanks to reflect industry good practice.

Full price £140.00

• Updates to guidance covering above ground storage of petrol in protected tanks where such installations may now be required

The guide will be available at the end of May. To purchase the guide please go to the Publications page on the APEA website at www.apea.org.uk

• Incorporation of guidance covering fuels containing biocomponents up to the allowable amounts identified in EN 228 and EN 590 (technical information is also provided for fuels containing higher amounts of biocomponent).

• Development of guidance on engineered control measures for attended self-service (ASS) and unattended self-service (USS) sites.

This technical guidance is in alignment with the operational guidance contained in the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) publication: Petrol filling stations guidance on managing the risks of fire and explosion (the Red guide).

• Updates to sections on vapour recovery to reflect changes in UK and European legislation and the uptake of stage 2 vapour recovery.

• Introduction of an Annex on safety signs and safety information notices for signage particular to filling stations.

• Updates to sections on LPG to ensure alignment with UKLPG Codes of practice.

• Introduction of an Annex providing technical information on the storage and handling of AUS 32.(Diesel Exhaust Fluid) This third edition will replace the edition published in 2005. Although the book makes frequent reference to legislation applicable in the UK, it is anticipated that the general principles will be applicable in most regions internationally.

3rd edition I978-0-85293-600-9 Published jointly by the Energy Institute and APEA

EI and APEA Member price: £70.00

Energy Institute launches poster pack to encourage continuous workforce involvement in safety Good practice in safety across all sectors of the energy industry is of paramount importance.

It is generally accepted that engagement with the workforce can lead to safer workplaces as staff become more aware of and involved in mitigating health and safety issues.

With good workforce involvement (WFI), staff, including contractors, are encouraged to take part in the decision making process about managing health and safety in the workplace, however, achieving good WFI requires planned and sustained effort. To support safety managers and leaders in their efforts

to implement effective WFI programmes, the Energy Institute (EI) has developed a series of posters to encourage colleagues to contribute to safety in the workplace.

This new poster pack can be used as part of a wider WFI campaign and these resources are supported

by Guidance on running a WFI campaign and using the WFI poster pack to help in proactive health and safety management. The posters tackle a number of themes, such as: What stops you from communicating safety issues? What if you are the only person in your team who sees the risk? and What ideas do you have to improve safety? The posters are designed to challenge general perceptions and provoke discussion amongst workers. To support the sharing of ideas, the series also includes space to capture comments to contribute to WFI schemes.

The UK Health and Safety Executive (HSE) was involved in EI’s Human and Organisational Factors Committee (HOFCOM) which developed these new resources.

Commenting on the posters, Rob Miles, Head of Human and Organisational Factors, Offshore Division, HSE, says, ‘HSE believes that effective involvement of the workforce in how work is planned and executed is a fundamental part of achieving safety goals. The workforce are closest to the risks and have so much valuable experience to contribute on how tasks can be done safely. This is particularly true on some older installations where the operators and management may have changed several times and some unique operational experience can only be found through workforce involvement. We also know that engagement of the workforce through effective involvement underpins the creation and maintenance of a good safety culture.’

The WFI posters are the latest resources from the EI’s HOFCOM, which also produced the related Guidance on effective workforce involvement in health and safety.

Forthcoming publications include Human Factors Briefing Notes (2nd edition) and Guidance on human factors safety critical task analysis.

Visit www.energyinst.org/wfi to find out more about WFI.

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

33

PRESS RELEASES

dispensing of petroleum products used as fuels for motor vehicles (including petrol, diesel and autogas (also known as LPG). It provides information on civil, mechanical, hydraulic and electrical installation issues for the planning, design, construction, commissioning, modification, maintenance and decommissioning of filling stations, together with information aimed to minimise the risks from fire and explosion, to health and to the environment.

This new publication will be produced jointly by the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration (APEA) and the Service station panel of the Energy Institute (EI). Considerable technical input has also been provided by UK competent authorities (the Health & Safety Executive and the Environment Agency), trade associations and professional organisations.

Key technical changes in the new edition include:

New Stage 2 Vapour Recovery Central Vacuum System

By OPW Is Designed With European Markets In Mind

By Art Boroff, Director of Vapour Recovery Sales for OPW Fueling Components

ARTICLES

Although we refer to central vacuum systems for Stage 2 Vapour Recovery as “new” the fact is central vacuum systems have been around for more than 40 years.

Central vacuum systems were first introduced in the 1970’s when the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) implemented Stage 2 vapour recovery in California as a way to improve air quality. At that time there were many different vapour recovery systems under development including a variety of central vacuum systems, balance systems and dispenser-based vacuum-assist systems.

In July 1977, Hasstech (later to become part of OPW) received the California Air Resources Board (CARB) certification for its central vacuum system. This was the first CARB certified Stage 2 Vapour Recovery System in the world – a Central Vacuum Vapour Recovery System with a Thermal Oxidizer.

By the late 1980’s Stage 2 Vapour Recovery had found its way to Europe when the local governments of Gothenburg, Malmo and Stockholm, Sweden adopted the practice. It wasn’t long before the clean air practice was being applied in Switzerland, Germany and Italy.

Certification of the OPW/Hasstech Central Vacuum System opened the door for the development of several different types of Stage 2 Vapour 34

Recovery Systems, such as Balance and Vacuum-Assist. As more and more States and European countries adopted Stage 2 Vapour Recovery, the Central Vacuum System, referred to as a “CVS” remained a very popular choice. Unlike other systems, the CVS allowed marketers to quickly and cost-effectively upgrade their sites to Stage 2 Vapour Recovery without incurring all the high costs, and suffering the downtime, of installing new dispensers.

CVS units are very well designed

and built. They are rugged and extremely reliable. In fact, many of the CVS systems installed at stations in Sweden, Italy and the United States nearly 30 years ago are still in service today.

With Stage 2 Vapour Recovery about to sweep across Europe, OPW has placed considerable attention on enhancing the CVS and has recently introduced a “new” system…a Central Vacuum System specifically designed with the EU in mind. The new OPW CVS meets all the compliance regulations of the EU without putting a burden on your budget to become compliant.

The EU commission,

headquartered in Brussels, Belgium is the administrative body of the C o m m o n Market (EU) Organization.

The EU commission Art Boroff makes a proposal and drafts directives that must be accepted by the governments of Member Countries.

Once a directive is in force, the member countries are obligated to make national laws according to that directive. The Stage2 Vapour Recovery directive has been passed and will become mandatory in 2018.

It is estimated that over 33,000 stations are currently not Stage 2 and will fall under this new directive.

Another 25,000 stations may be added to this number, representing the countries that may follow the lead of the EU even if they do not join. This equates to more than 50,000 stations, 200,000 dispensers or 800,000 hose points – however you choose to do the math – that will be required to upgrade their sites to Stage 2 vapour recovery. In most cases these sites already own perfectly good dispensers, dispensers that still have 10 years or more of useful life.

Most site owners will likely not want to invest in buying new dispensers to replace the ones they already have.

With the OPW CVS, they won’t have to. The OPW CVS allows site owners and operators to keep their existing dispensers and save a whole lot of money. And, in the future when their dispensers do need to be replaced it’s a simple process. They keep the CVS system and piping and simply

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

A L Regulator

ARTICLES

attach everything to the replacement dispensers.

The OPW Central Vacuum System uses one high quality regenerative gasoline blower to create a constant vacuum. This is much more favourable than individual vapour piston pumps or vane pumps that possess high wear parts that are prone to constant wear, service and maintenance, to prevent a catastrophic pump failure. The average life of a dispenser mounted vacuum pump is 3 years. An OPW regenerative blower has no wear parts, requires no routine maintenance (so you save even more money) and the average life of the CVS regenerative blower is 10 years. The A/L ratio is maintained by having a true proportional mechanical regulator at each hose

point.

The mechanical regulator also eliminates the need to tap into d i s p e n s e r electronics, simplifying the installation process saving time and money.

In addition, this makes for more accurate A/L control at each nozzle.

No electronic valves to stick or fail and there is no need for recalibration.

The OPW CVS offers a host of impressive f e a t u r e s , including an attractive Steel Weatherproof Cabinet, a controller that comes standard with an Ethernet connection and a USB port so you can remotely monitor your station, and as an option, a printer and the highly desired Vapour Monitoring System. The OPW Central Vacuum System is so versatile that it can be installed on the top of the canopy.

In jurisdictions where it is allowed, you can save money by reducing the amount of ground breaking required to run Stage 2 piping and run the vapour piping up and over the top of the canopy.

The OPW Central Vacuum System is ATEX and TÜV approved to 21st.

BlmSchV Standard according to VDI 4205 part 4.

In conclusion, it should be pointed out that EU regulations require an efficiency of 85%. The OPW Central Vacuum System delivers on this efficiency. In addition, the OPW Central Vacuum System offers: • No need to buy expensive new dispensers to convert to vapour recovery

NG CVS2 unit

36

• No need to maintain multiple vapour pumps or electronic systems

• Lowest initial cost • Lowest overall cost of ownership • Lowest lifetime service cost •

Is approved for retrofit applications with current OPW hanging hardware or any other brand of quality hanging hardware.

Look for the NEW OPW Central Vacuum Stage 2 Vapour Recovery System. It’s the overall best value in vapour recovery technology. Ask for it. Demand it! Get it today from your quality OPW Distributor.

Watch our informative CVS demonstration video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=sImW 4z4XGiI&playnext=1&list=PL9E341208 4EC2F9AF OPW Fueling Components – Europe DOVER CR spol. s r.o. (OPW) Prumyslova 4 431 51 Klasterec nad Ohri Czech Republic Phone: +420 474 624 440 Fax: +420 474 628 271 info@opw-fce.com www.opw-fce.com

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

APEA Live 2011: The industry event of the year 23 November 2011 | Ricoh Arena, Coventry APEA Live 2011 is set to be the event of the year, combining business learning and networking, with the opportunity to celebrate the continuing efforts, contributions and successes of APEA members and our industry.

This year’s event will take place on Wednesday 23 November 2011 at Ricoh Arena, Coventry. Once again, APEA Live will pack a variety of exciting elements into one unmissable day, including our annual Exhibition, Conference, Workshop programme, AGM and Awards Dinner.

The sum of this event’s parts is truly phenomenal; make sure you book your place at APEA Live 2011!

APEA Live 2010 was an outstanding success all round, with great feedback from attendees, members, sponsors and exhibitors alike.

In order to make 2011 even better we asked for your input by setting up the APEA Live Forum, where you were invited to let us know what you thought about 2010 and what you want in 2011.

The Forum took place following the APEA Council Meeting on the 28 January. The floor was open to comments from everyone who attended or exhibited in 2010, as well as anyone who didn't but wanted to know more about this annual event.

There was also the chance to discuss ideas and improvements for 2011. In addition, Council members were present and there was ample opportunity for all members to network with their industry peers.

The forum was a success, with all in attendance contributing to valuable discussions regarding the event’s format and long term objectives, which will help to ensure our strategic direction is aligned to members’ needs.

Day Delegate Packages: Exhibition, Conference & Workshops Following the trial of a tailored ‘pay for what you see’ ticket structure in 2010, APEA members have since informed us that they would prefer a simpler setup in 2011. Therefore this year, day delegates will have the choice of two ticket types, namely a free Exhibition or ‘paid for’ Conference pass. The Conference ticket will include access to all Workshops staged at the event.

Furthermore, the Conference ticket will cost just £40 to APEA members, which is cheaper than the equivalent ticket in 2010 and the same price that was charged in 2009!

Member

Non-Member

Conference Ticket (inc. lunch, tea/coffee & all day content)

£40.00

£80.00

Exhibition Ticket (inc. exhibition admission only)

Free of charge

Free of charge

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

37

ARTICLES

APEA Live Forum

The AGM APEA Live 2011 will be the ideal setting for the all important Annual General Meeting, taking place in the mid section of the day’s events.

Free to all members, the meeting will offer attendees the chance to learn about association activities, achievements and developments, in the past year.

APEA Business Manager Jane Mardell will once again be organising the AGM, and invitations will be distributed in due course.

The Exhibition, Conference & Workshops Exhibition It is set to be a record breaking year for the Exhibition, with over 25 stands already booked (as of 4 April 2011).

Companies will be able to showcase a range of current products and services, to a steady stream of delegates, busying the aisles throughout the whole day.

Covering a multitude of industry fields, the Exhibition will enable companies to interface with existing and potential customers, opening the doors for future developments and business opportunities that could positively impact the industry. Keep reading to find out how to book your exhibition stand for 2011.

ARTICLES

Conference Running alongside the Exhibition, the Conference element of the day will help businesses flourish, via accomplished speakers that will deliver presentations on the latest industry innovations and trends. The Conference provides a chance to gain insight and expertise from your industry peers.

Last year’s Conference was packed with over 250 delegates (double the turnout from 2009) and we have high expectations for this year.

Workshops 2010 saw the introduction of a brand new content stream, the Training and Demonstration Workshops. The success of these sessions last year has ensured their return in 2011. These afternoon sessions will see top industry professionals deliver interactive demonstrations; a different experience from the morning’s Conference presentations.

Overall the day’s events will provide visitors and exhibitors with additional knowledge, experience, tools and connections, enabling progression and positive change for 2012.

Accommodation For information on booking accommodation for APEA Live 2011 visit: www.apea.org.uk and click on the link for the event 38

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

The Awards Dinner The evening Awards ceremony will give attendees an unmatched opportunity to network with peers and customers at our industry’s annual party! Last year, over 500 guests enjoyed an evening of electrifying entertainment and gourmet food, whilst celebrating with the deserving winners.

2011 will raise the bar even higher, delivering another glittering event that recognises industry excellnce and provides a perfect climax to a memorable day.

Awards Dinner Ticket Prices Member & Non-Member Individual Ticket

£110.00

Table of 10

£1,050

Table of 12

£1,210

To book your table at the APEA Live 2011 Awards, visit: www.apea.org.uk and click on the link for the event

2011 Awards - Enter now at www.apea.org.uk

ARTICLES

NEW for 2011: The APEA Business Initiative Award Sponsored by the APEA Given our i n d u s t r y ’ s increasingly challenging trading conditions, this award recognises those who have demonstrated initiative, entrepreneurship, or clear strategic thinking by implementing a new working procedure or development project with the aim of improving business performance.

The APEA Health and Safety Award sponsored by Artelia Presented to the organisation with the best managed health and safety or environmental programme or system.

The APEA Quality Award sponsored by Scheidt & Bachmann

The APEA Quality Award recognises excellence in the

development and management of quality improvement initiatives or systems.

The APEA Environment Award sponsored by Terence Barker Tanks Recognises that minimising the impact on the environment is a key contributor consideration in the way work is carried out, to minimise any impact on petrol forecourts.

The APEA Personal Contribution to the Industry Award sponsored by Elaflex

Presented to the individual who has shown the greatest dedication and drive to improve standards, engineering practices or operational procedures.

The APEA Innovation Award Awarded to the company whose innovation has had the most significant impact on our industry sector.

Interested in Sponsoring?

The Innovation Award is available!

Contact David Lonergan for details: Tel: 01442 289928 or email davidL@f2fevents.co.uk 40

Now in their sixth year, the prestigious APEA Awards will take place in the evening, and will continue to recognise and reward those organisations and individuals who demonstrate excellence in their areas of expertise.

How to Enter There are two ways to submit your application. In addition to completing the downloadable form you are able to register online and complete your applications on the APEA website at www.apea.org.uk allowing you to save your work and return later to finish your submission. Our aim is to make the application process as straightforward as possible. The deadline for entries is end of business on 7th September.

Self nominate or be nominated In the past, some members have expressed their reluctance to promote themselves, but would gladly complete the application form if a third party thought they were good enough and contacted the APEA to nominate them.

Furthermore, there are many worthy entries amongst members which would otherwise remain unpublicised.

Therefore, APEA encourages all members who are customers, service users, other stakeholders or third party observers to identify organisations, individuals, projects and initiatives which merit recognition and to simply nominate them. APEA will do the rest.

Who are the Judges? Once again, an excellent panel of judges has been accumulated for the judging event. 15 judges will each sit on 2 or 3 category panels; the process is highly transparent and entirely democratic.

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

Sponsorship & Exhibiting Opportunities at APEA Live 2011 APEA Live 2011 will be your chance to engage with the industry; integrating, growing and developing your company within it.

Showcasing your company at this event, will drive leads and create business opportunities. Don’t miss out on the perfect chance to do just that—book your stand or sponsorship now!

Booking Your Exhibition Stand Size

Type

Price

Band A

3x2

Space only

£995.00

Band B

3x2

Shell Scheme

£1,250.00

Car Wash UK Ltd

Band C

3x4

Space only

£1,790.00

D Berry and Co.

Band D

3x4

Shell Scheme

£1,980.00

Already Confirmed!

ABFAD Ltd Avanti Environmental Ltd

Dresser Wayne Durapipe UK

To book your stand, contact David Lonergan - details below

Elaflex Ltd Eurotank Enviromental Fairbanks Enviromental Ltd

ARTICLES

Inspectahire King Tanktechnic Ltd KPS UK Ltd LCM Environmental Petrocom Suresite Ltd Tanknology UK Ltd Terence Barker Tokheim UK Ltd Torex

Interested In Sponsoring?

Sponsoring part of this important annual event is the optimum way to get your company seen.

Prices can range from just a few thousand pounds and are inclusive of an exhibition stand.

Energy Level Systems L.I.S (Western) Ltd DP Tanks CFG Nationwide Site Services Scheidt & Bachmann E&S Environmental Services (as of 4 April 2011)

Although sponsorships have been very popular this year, we still have a few placements remaining, namely: • Awards • Pre-Dinner

• Exhibition • Drinks

• Entertainment • Awards Dinner

For full details on all APEA Live 2011 sponsorship packages contact David Lonergan.

Contact Details If you would like more information regarding stand booking, positioning and other sponsorship packages for APEA Live 2011, contact:

David Lonergan davidL@f2fevents.co.uk APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

41

Different portals for different user groups

Managing the Risk – for Regulators, Contractors & Forecourt Operators conference presentation from APEA 2010 Live

By Malcolm Railson, Managing Director Urgent Technology Ltd Introduction

ARTICLES

In a climate where safety within the petroleum industry is being placed under the spotlight, it becomes increasingly important for all parties involved to play their part in managing the potential risk to reduce the number of accidents and ensure that the fallout is minimised when they do happen.

Accidents are an inevitability in life, but in the petroleum and maintenance industries the risks are much higher. In this article we want to show you how to minimise those risks through the use of technology that enables sharing of information with everybody who owns, maintains or regulates assets in the petroleum industry.

The article will cover the following areas: • Real time tracking and visibility of maintenance tickets so that no problem gets overlooked.

• How to ensure your statutory inspections are kept up to date using document management tools.

• How to ensure that incidents are correctly reported when they do happen.

• Warning contractors of potential safety hazards when they arrive on site such as the presence of another contractor.

• Knowing when contractors are on site and carrying out unannounced safety audits.

• Identifying problem equipment by analysing breakdown frequency.

42

Management Portal The head office management portal shows the maintenance manager all the latest jobs starting with the most recent at the top.

What is eMaintenance eMaintenance

was

originally developed for BP starting in the UK back in 2004. It was designed to be a transparent system to log & track all maintenance activity on sites across the network.

Today it is a system with 37 modules

used

in

14

countries and manages all areas of maintenance, asset management, contractor incident

performance, tracking,

cost,

training

&

compliance.

Over 1 million tickets per year are

• Making sure your equipment is properly maintained by setting up preventative maintenance schedules.

eMaintenance is designed to be relevant to each type of user, whether they are a site, a contractor, head office staff, area manager or industry regulator. Each user will see the information that is important for them to carry out their job effectively, in their own dedicated portal.

By separating the roles of different types of users, it helps each person to get to the information they need quickly and easily without having to spend time searching for it.

handled through eMaintenance today using web portals, automated phone system, text message and PDA..

Instantly noticeable icons and quick shortcuts give the user an ata-glance overview of the current maintenance situation across their network. For example, the green traffic light at the top shows that all portals of eMaintenance are available for use.

The blue double arrow along the right hand side means that the job was dispatched to the contractor directly without any input or approval from a helpdesk. This is typically where a fixed cost contract exists with a contractor.

There is also a quick overview that shows among other things, any new feedback received from sites on completed jobs, how many jobs have been

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

chased today and how many jobs are overdue right now. These links can all be clicked to display only those relevant tickets.

When viewing an example of a single job in the management portal we can see easily the name of the person who placed the call, the type of repair to be carried out, the contractor assigned to the job and the SLA (service level agreement) time during which the contractor must respond to the call to fulfil his contractual obligations.

they get there so they can plan their visit accordingly.

The view of a ticket from the contractor portal gives the contractor access to important information to enable them to complete the job quickly and safely.

The site can upload a document when they place a call, which is available for the contractor to download from here.

Any job that is placed at a site containing asbestos warns the contractor of this within the job view. Links to further information and asbestos declaration forms are available to ensure that the correct safety procedure is followed. This information is also sent by email to the contractor when they receive a new job notification.

intervals and the contractor can schedule these tasks in to fit around his current workload.

Contractor IVR When the contractor arrives on site to work on any job, they are required to check-in using an automated phone system and check-out again when they leave the site. By doing so the system is able to log the exact time when the contractor arrived on site to carry out a job, and when he has completed a job.

ARTICLES

The contractor receives the work request by multiple methods such as fax, email, SMS and web portal and for the higher volume contractors there is an automatic service that pushes the jobs into their systems via

Preventative Maintenance By ensuring your equipment is properly maintained and inspected regularly for potential faults, the

a two-way interface. This way the contractor

gets

an

instant

notification of any new jobs so he can

respond

quickly

to

an

emergency call, while also having access to all of his jobs from his own web portal, where he can manage his tasks appropriately.

Contractor Portal It’s important to make sure that any contractors visiting your sites are aware of any safety hazards before number of breakdowns can be reduced saving costs both in the maintenance bills and in lost revenue from your equipment being out of service.

Using the preventative maintenance dashboard, maintenance managers can create recurring tasks that need to be completed at specified 44

During the check-in process, the contractor is requested to answer some safety questions such as “are you trained and competent to conduct the work requested in this job” and “will you complete a risk analysis before starting work”.

Additionally, when a second contractor checks in using the automated phone system at the same site, he is warned of the existence of another contractor working on the site to ensure that they do not cause a hazard for one another.

Google Maps – every contractor on site now eMaintenance is interfaced with Google Maps, so we are able to produce a real time map of every site where a contractor is checked in to perform work, using the data captured by the system.

The red pointer icons show sites

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

where high risk activities are being carried out, for example a canopy repair where the contractor is working at a height and by clicking on a pointer we can see the details of the site and the job being carried out.

Armed with this tool, the management team can carry out an unannounced audit on a contractor at any time to ensure that safe practices are being adhered to.

Safety Audit The audit is completed against a defined list of questions by section, such as PPE, Confined Spaces and Working at Heights. The sections are modular and so can be added to or

removed from the audit as required.

When logged in to the site portal a user can see all the jobs for their own site. Just like in the management portal, the latest jobs are shown first, with the most recent job at the top of the list. Clicking on the green ‘i’ symbol allows the site user to view further details about the job.

Site Job View This detailed view of a single job shows the site all the important information they need to see such as the contractor attending, the details of the job, any notes or updates from the contractor and importantly if the job is still inside the SLA (shown in green writing, if its late its shown in red).

This view keeps the site staff in the loop on all maintenance activities, and also from here the site can chase the job or give feedback on

the completed work should they have any issues – minimising unnecessary chase calls by phone and gives us an eyes and ears on the ground view of the contractor’s performance.

Powerful reports Because every update to a job is tracked with accurate dates and times, we are able to run many different types of powerful reports.

SLA by Repair Group report The Service Level Agreement by Repair Group for a selected period gives us a breakdown of how many tickets were placed within that period for each type of job category, how many of those tickets were in SLA and how many were out of SLA, both by the number of tickets and as a percentage of all tickets placed.

If we want more details about the tickets themselves we can click on any of the counts to view the details of the calls included in the count, together with the details of the contractors that worked on those jobs.

Each question requires a pass or fail response and the results of all the questions make up the result of the safety

audit

completed

is

,

which

shared

when

with

the

contractor to help them to improve their

safety

standards.

Photo

evidence can also be attached to the audit to show safe or unsafe

EFH Report The EFH or Equipment Failure Hours report details the breakdown hours for key types of equipment that are the important revenue generators in your business.

The blue bars on the left show the total number of

practices.

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

45

ARTICLES

Site View

hours

in

the

week

that

the

equipment was not available to make sales and the red bars show how many of those hours were due to the contractor NOT meeting their

ARTICLES

service level agreements.

The game here is to have the Red bar as small as possible. As an example the week of the 23rd August, the key equipment in the network was down 3,350 hours of which 2,231 was out of SLA, which is about two-thirds, so if each piece of equipment makes £10 per hour that is £22K lost that week, which is directly linked to the contractor failing to meet their SLA. MTBF (Mean Time Between Failure) When a new job is placed it can be associated with the particular asset that needs repairing. By tracking the breakdown of individual assets in this way, we can compare similar assets across the network to compare their individual performance.

Problem assets that break down more regularly than their counterparts on other sites can be flagged for further investigation and possible replacement.

The ticket view gives us an at-aglance view of how this asset

compares with the same model elsewhere in the network.

In this example we can see that this particular coffee machine breaks down on average every 90 days, whereas the average for this model across the network is every 36 days. Therefore this asset is doing well compared with others in the network.

Licence & Permits The licence and permits module of eMaintenance helps you to keep abreast of regulatory compliance at all of your sites. An at-a-glance view of a single site displays green ticks next to each licence, indicating that

Asset Management The asset management system gives us a detailed view of the performance of individual assets on a site to help us identify assets that are failing often and identify possible

replacement

options

from

warehouse

stock.

When we drill down into

this site is fully compliant.

Drilling down into the details by clicking on the license name allows us to view further information about that licence, add tasks and reminders to notify us when we need to begin applying for a new licence and download the certificate of compliance when the regulator asks to view it.

pumps we can see that this site has 4 pumps with an MTBF rate of

Documents

between

As well as licence documents, a general document management system gives you an online database for storage and retrieval of important documentation related to the site.

34

and

135

days

depending on the individual pump.

High (or good) MTBF is highlighted in green, with often failing assets shown in red, such as pump number 1&2 in this example, which breaks down about

once

a

month. We can also drill down into the details for this asset to view all of the tickets

placed

against it and any documentation held.

46

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

Being web-based, documents stored in eMaintenance can be made accessible to any user with the correct access rights to view them. So if a regulator requests to view your tank testing certificates, you can simply make the folder accessible to them on eMaintenance and they can log in and view them from any location.

new event is raised.

In this example of a safety conversation, the staff member is praised for challenging a customer who looked underage. This is a clear example of safe practice.

Conclusion Managing the risk is all

Incident Reporting

about

When things do go wrong, we ask our sites to go online and let us know.

By making the process of reporting

ARTICLES 48

an incident as quick and simple as possible, sites are more likely to report health and safety events when they happen, so you can keep better track of the number and types of incident that happen on your sites.

Recognisable icons allow the site to quickly select the type of incident they wish to report. Each form asks for the specific information related to that type of event and all relevant parties are automatically informed by email when a

forward

planning

and implementing simple processes to cut down on the number of incidents and ensure that safe practices are adhered to.

By

using

a

management

maintenance

system

such

as

eMaintenance you will have access to a transparent tool that allows all users

to

have

visibility

of

the

information that allows them to do their job efficiently and with the least possible risk while helping to give your

business

improved

service

levels, reduced maintenance costs and

better

compliance

statutory regulations.

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

with

APEA attends Africa’s PetroForum event

The inaugural African PetroForum took place on March 1st-3rd, in Johannesburg. With over 180 delegates, comprising representation from leading oil companies spanning the entire African continent and suppliers from

around the world, the event provided two and a half days of conference and business meetings, and a platform for new international partnerships to be forged. The Apea promoted the association at the event and had the opportunity to meet many new contacts in the mainly African market.

Gilbarco Veeder-Root was the headline sponsor for the forum and its global president, Martin Gafinowitz who many in the UK industry will remember, opened the conference on the first day.

Anton Moldan from the South African Oil Industry spoke about the fuels that Africa would be using in the future. Presentations focused on the changing face of the African market – and were followed by a site visit to one of Engen’s premier service stations.

The next two days continued with the appointments program. 70 oil company executives were matched with just over 100 supplier

delegates for 800 business meetings.

Companies included Libya Oil, Engen Petroleum, African Petroleum, Total, BP South Africa, Chevron, NNPC, Oando, PETRONAS, Sasol and Shell.

The line up of suppliers was an impressive mix of global and local companies including: Franklin Fueling Systems, OPW, Brulines, Nupigeco, Petrotec , Fibrelite etc From the Associations viewpoint we secured some new african members and have been asked to quote for training seminars in Egypt and South Africa Fiona Horan of OpenRoom said “The support for our first African PetroForum from oil companies and suppliers alike is immensely rewarding.

We’d like to thank everyone for giving up their time to be here and we’re looking forward to continuing our association with each and every delegate.”

UK Petrol Station Numbers Continue to Fall The recent survey from the Energy Institute and Experian Catalist has confirmed that the number of retail petrol stations in the UK has fallen in 2010 to 8892.

This is quite a drop from when at its peak in 1967 we had around 40,000 retail filling station and another 15,000 non retail sites according to petroleum licensing figures.

The loss of 121 sites closing during 2010 now means that with approx 35 million vehicles registered as being on the road in the UK it equates to

around 4000 vehicles per service station.

The major Oil Companies still own and operate the largest number of service stations at around 3900 (62%) with the remainder being smaller operators.

Supermarkets operate 1303 retail petrol stations (14.5%) with Tesco leading the numbers with 471 sites.

The other interesting facts, from the survey indicates that 15 million

tonnes of petrol was sold through 65,122 nozzles.

For more information and for a copy of the Retail Marketing Survey for 2011 please contact Chris Baker at the Energy Institute tel +44 (0)20 7467 7114 cbaker@energyinst.org

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By Jamie Thompson

Interview with Jamie Thompson

By Brian Baker So who effectively was your first employer and what did your role entail?

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The name of Jamie Thompson is synonymous with the downstream petroleum industry where he has had a presence for almost 50 years now and seems to be as passionate about petroleum as he ever was. I do work a fair bit with Jamie on some of the APEA training courses so recently, I was able to sit down with him and try and piece together this incredible and vastly enriched knowledge he holds from which this interview has been drawn.

Jamie; I think we need to start somewhere near the beginning ,so tell me how you first got into the petroleum industry, was it something you always wanted to do or did you simply drift into it?

I joined the London County Council in 1961 having arrived in London from Suffolk as a very young man and worked in the Public Control Department which amongst other things dealt with licensing of petrol stations. It was not a calculated career move but once I applied for the post and got involved I found the work interesting and varied, and in those times the authority encouraged us to obtain qualifications so I spent much of those early years working four days a week and having paid study leave for one day a week. I was fortunate to get some relevant qualifications and learnt quite a lot about the field I was entering. The “on the job” training in the department was second to none in those days as many a London petroleum inspector will testify.

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Eventually in 1965 due to Local Government reorganisation the Greater London Council was formed and Petroleum Licensing went from the LCC which had just controlled the 11 inner London Boroughs to 31 Boroughs. The City of London for some reason retained its own licensing arrangement. The GLC licensed around 4000 filling stations and altogether issued 12,000 licences as in those days we also licensed flammable stores, carbide stores, underground and above ground car parks. There were 32 petroleum inspectors at its peak and an even larger admin support staff.

I was appointed initially as a petroleum inspector and was responsible for a district in the north west of London. Apart from dealing with new developments and regular inspections, we carried out full surveys on each of the petrol stations we had taken over and made recommendations on the work to be carried out.

It was quite different in those days many sites we had taken over had previously no regular inspections, had no tank numbers, grade labels, unsafe electrics etc and we also had to report very bad cases to the Authority who then had to decide if we would continue to licence.

We also had cases which we decided the licence could be kept on but it would not be transferred to someone else without substantial work being carried out on it. These were known as “No Transfer Cases” One set of such licences were issued to a number of swing arm cases which delivered petrol over the pavement we had inherited in Harrow and over time these sites closed.

So tell us what was the petrol station market like in those early days you spent in London?

The sites were all attendant serve and self-service was about to be

introduced. Those filling stations seemed to survive quite well compared to today I recall petrol was around 4/6 a gallon (about 23p in today’s money) the margins must have been much better and most had workshops and lubrication bays attached to them. The attendants made extra money selling oil, so most cars had their oil checked. The oil companies had lots of representatives who always seemed to be trying to sign up new customers and visiting their existing ones. There was an abundance of engineers in the oil companies who we had frequent contact with– something that I regret is not in place today. In those early times a lot of sites were developed as the move to Self Service came about. I remember a rather young Gerald Ronson of Heron Service Stations building a self service station in Neasden, one of the first in the area, and advertising quadruple stamps with fuel. The queues on opening went right down the road causing traffic jams.

Can you remember who your Mentor was in those days in the 1960’s and why was he so influential?

We had an excellent Head of Petroleum in those days called George Dicks, then later in 1975 Bill Dale, who was very supportive of the petroleum inspectors and made sure we got good training, but for every day I worked under a senior inspector called George Scales and I also had the fortune to train with all the other Senior Inspectors who each had different skills. I think George had a lot of patience with a number of the younger inspectors and was quite kind when we made mistakes. We rather cheekily called him the “grey haired old gentleman.”

I remember going to one site in my first week alone where a petrol line was being split and two non-return valves were installed in a chamber. I tested the line and then remembering what I thought I had been taught asked for 6 inches of concrete to be placed around the pipe and the valves. The Gilbarco fitter protested but I got my way and after George had put me right I apologised to the fitter and every time I saw him I was asked if I still wanted concrete around the angle check valves! He never forgot.

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This happened in 1974 when a reorganisation within the GLC sent our petroleum section to the London Fire Brigade which was itself a department within the GLC. At first there was little difference we were encouraged to take the IFE exams and I studied and passed both the Graduate and Members papers.

The main changes came when the GLC in 1985 was abolished and the London Fire and Civil Defence Authority was formed, we then became more integrated with the five area commands that the Fire Authority ran at the time.

It must have been early in your career that you became involved with the APEA, can you tell us how that came about and what interested you about this organisation?

I joined the “APAA” as it was then called in 1966 and became a member of the Southern Branch which used to meet in Godalming.

Eventually I joined the Eastern Branch when it was started by John Frid from Cambridgeshire CC and have remained a member of that Branch every since.

There were over 1500 petroleum licensing authorities and only regulators could be members, they later allowed members of industry to become associate members as there became great interest in what the association was doing. In 1984 the new constitution recognised industry having full membership.

My interest in the APEA at that time was the same as for most new members today, to keep abreast of technical information and to see how the market is developing. In London we were dedicated petroleum inspectors and the APEA was our only outlet besides what we learnt talking to our colleagues. The APEA at that time had residential schools where we could go for two or three days learning about petroleum, a little like our training courses we run today. I joined the APEA ruling council 39 years ago

and have been a member of it ever since.

Clearly your role as a Petroleum Inspector saw you rise and go on to become the Principal Petroleum Inspector in the London Fire Brigade.

What was that like?

I think the ability to influence policy and change was a great opportunity, but I quickly learnt that you could not do everything at once and you have to think through policy changes, consult and sometimes realise that the industry are not always prepared for the changes.

One of the greatest assets of the petroleum section are the inspectors themselves, they have all been well trained, have a very good knowledge not only of their specialist subject but also of the premises for which they are responsible for. The feedback from them helped us set the policies which were to have such an effect on the industry. In London, as regulators, in the past we always reacted to situations that industry put towards us but we had a change of policy that I managed to push through due to the large number of leaks we were having in London of around 130-150 a year.

We became much more proactive and decided two major things needed changing - that was the underground storage tanks and the underground steel lines.

We concluded in 1990 that in future we would only accept double wall tanks with leak detection and nonmetallic underground pipework buried in pea shingle. This caused some concerns amongst the industry but after some meaningful contributions from them our new policy was successfully introduced.

At that time the only non-metallic pipe work available was GRP pipe.

Jamie; you have built up an immense network around the world but this must have started somewhere so how did you manage to get beyond the UK, and how did that expand towards what you now globally have today?

I was very fortunate in my position to travel beyond London in our search for answers to our leaking tank and line problems; it soon became

apparent that we needed to look at alternative solutions. I visited the PEI show in Nashville in the late 1980’s and was gratified to see such a different array of equipment that could be used on service stations. I was also encouraged to participate in the European Standards process and remember flying into Berlin to my first meeting there in 1988.

Following our more proactive approach I was often asked to speak of our experiences and managed to travel to many countries and made friends, I still enjoy it today. Apart from many trips into Europe I have visited most continents to speak about petrol stations, Australia, India, Africa, China, Russia, Middle East, USA, Brazil, Argentina and even Outer Mongolia where the temperatures are often -60ºc and they have special problems like having heaters in the dispensers to stop the displays from freezing.

Sometimes solutions that work in some parts of the world do not transfer successfully to other parts for numerous reasons. I also found that I learnt much from these visits, you can easily criticise what people are doing but it is far better that they understand themselves what the problems are and come up with a solution that suits the country and the circumstances they operate under.

I do remember you telling me of your first trip to the Russian capital of Moscow and the remarkable greeting you received from your hosts; please tell us about that one?

I was asked to visit Moscow to talk about filling station construction and how we carried out such work in London and talk about standardisation. The Moscow City council and the Moscow Fire Brigade were the target audience.

The Chief Officer of Moscow Fire Service then invited me to attend their annual memorial service for fallen fire fighters at a cathedral and afterwards to visit the main fire station. My interpreter told me I must be a very important person but I did not understand at the time why she had said this.

When I arrived at the station a band was playing, TV cameras were rolling and I was invited to inspect the guard of honour.

My embarrassment was complete

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London Fire Brigade came along and took on your department to undertake inspections, what differences did you notice when that happened?

when I was introduced as the Chief Officer of the London Fire Brigade and toasted in large glasses of vodka. I said nothing till I got back to London and fortunately my Chief laughed when told of the incident.

We have seen over the last 30 years a substantial change in how we construct and install our modern Petrol Filling Stations. I know in London you were in the forefront of this change and I would like to ask if you can go through some of the more significant changes and the logic behind them.

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I have already mentioned the move from single wall tanks installed in concrete to double wall tanks with leak detection installed in pea shingle. This now meant that we would have security of storage and no leaks from this new arrangement.

That together with non-metallic pipe, secondary containment, leak detection and special conditions on pressurised pumping systems now means we can have a very safe and secure system of storage of fuel. The safety record of these new arrangements is second to none.

The famous “Blue Book” is something you are particularly proud of. How did the APEA get involved with this back in the mid 1990;’s and how has the guidance developed over the last 15 years or so?

The APEA were approached by the HSE who had decided to drop HS (G) 41 and needed an industry standard which they were happy to contribute to but no longer publish.

They felt that the APEA with its broad church of members from all sides of industry were the ideal people to do that work, it was interesting that the Institute of Petroleum was considered as being too representative of the oil industry to be asked. We agreed to start, but as we started we were approached by John Dunk who was then chairman of the Institute of Petroleum service station panel to see if they could work with us and contribute. After much discussion we agreed and Andrew Sangster of the IP became the secretary and Mike Lugg the APEA chairman at the time became the Chairman or “facilitator” of the group.

The first draft took some time with many organisations having an input, the electrical section was really 54

written from scratch and the book became thicker. There was some serious discussion on how wording such as “must” or “should” and “shall” are used and eventually the first publication was in 1999. It is an industry publication that the whole industry has had input into and we should all be proud of it! I have seen it used all over the world including Africa, Mongolia, the Middle East and Europe. The latest 3rd edition which should be on your desks by the time you read this has once again shown the cooperation that exists between both sides of industry.

I am particularly grateful for the good working relationship that now exists between the Energy Institute and the Association, with particular thanks to Andrew Sykes, Phil Lambeth and Erica Scolti As the years have gone by we have become more involved with Europe and its standards. You currently Chair the European Technical Committee on Petrol Stations. How did you find yourself in that position?

I made my first contribution to European Standards (CEN) as a BSI representative in the late 1980’s when writing the Separator standards, I then became involved in the tank standards and eventually the equipment standards in TC221 which I managed to get CEN to adopt. I was proposed as chairman probably due to my long service in standard writing and I am pleased that cooperation between European Countries has produced a large number of standards involving the petrol station. The people involved are all trying to work to the same ends and there is now a greater understanding of where we want to be as an industry. I would also like to mention the work carried out by Axel Luttke the secretary of this committee. Axel works in Berlin for the German standardisation committee DIN and has done much to make sure that standards work is finished on time and published. A good secretary is essential to complete this work.

Let us turn to the Bulletin and your long 23 years as Editor. You still head the Publications Committee, what was it like getting that journal out all those years ago and how do you see it now given you still regularly contribute?

I was persuaded to take over the

editorship in 1979 and the APEA was at a low point with recent local government reorganisation having decimated the membership to below 200.

Stuart Crewe who had been editor was moving on and I took over. The budget at that time was quite small it cost around £200 to print it and it was put together as cheaply as possible due to budget restraints much of it was put together on a typewriter (we had no computers) and those early editions look very poor compared to todays. The printed paper arrived in columns from the printer and I had to create a paste up with spaces for the photographs, to make things worse this had to be done in pages of 4.

Once the Bulletin was printed they arrived at my home and the address labels also arrived, they were put on envelopes and the Bulletins put inside. My younger son was often prevailed upon to stuff the envelopes for some extra pocket money. I took these down the post office with the cash for postage and off they went.

A far cry from today, when fortunately for us Jane is able to place the copy on the computer and send the finished product along with the adverts and photos direct to the printer.

The early cover designs were based on some drawings my son did for me and eventually the first photo covers were started in 1990. They soon became the norm and provide a good talking point and I am glad

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that you as the current editor have carried this tradition on.

Now over the years there must have been something that has stood out, what would you say that was – and why?

I can think many of the changes that have happened in my time but one or two stand out and have been reported in the Bulletin which perhaps people today may not realise the significance.

The development of the Fibrelite manhole cover was quite a revolution in its time bearing in mind that all manhole covers would have been steel or cast iron and very heavy to lift and inspect. Trevor Pardoe and Mike Jennings did a great job in producing the first ones in the late 1970’s many I notice are still in use today. It is something that most inspectors now take for granted, but making the access to tank chambers easy has important Health & Safety implications.

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Double wall tanks with leak detection, non-metallic pipe work have also made a considerable contribution to public and environmental safety.

OK we have had some funny moments over the years can you share one or two stories as there must be loads to tell?

I visited a derelict petrol station in Texas and was about to take some photographs when the owner came out and I asked him why his site was closed. “Bloody regulators closed me” he said then he asked me what I did and why was I interested. I lied and said that I was an oil company representative from Europe. He

seemed a nice man but the Texans have a reputation which I decided not to risk!

While carrying out some surveys at a site in Malta a road tanker arrived to deliver some fuel to the site. The owner said he must do something before the delivery commenced, as I watched he went into the building and picked up a vent pipe, walked over to the garden and screwed in the vent pipe into the tank top and then told the driver he could deliver.

It took me some time to explain the dangers but this man had been using this process for many years and did not seem convinced there could be a problem.

You are still there – presenting on Training Courses and have been to South Africa carrying the APEA Banner. Why do you think you still enjoy your involvement after such a long time in this career?

I am not sure why but I do still enjoy participating in the training courses and being able to pass on some of my experiences, and also travelling to talk to like minded people. The sharing of information in this field is important and I know how grateful I was as a young inspector learning from others.

I still get a buzz out of completing an inspection of a filling station, during my recent trip to Johannesburg we visited an Engen site and while most people went into the shop I and a few others spent their time on the forecourt looking at the equipment.

Coming towards the end now, you can be a bit sad by taking photos when on holiday of petrol stations, but what would you say are your favourite pastimes and how you relax?

ObituaryJack Gall Thomson

By Jamie Thompson The Association is sad to announce that Jack Gall Thomson passed away shortly after submitting the article opposite, about his life in the petroleum industry.

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His specialism in later years was break couplings, and many of his designs from forecourts to ships hoses are still in use.

Jack was a character and I am

Apart from taking photos of filling stations! I enjoy sailing and have sailed for most of my life, my voyages are a lot shorter than they used to be but living as I do in Southwold on the East Coast it is an ideal spot to sail from but is now normally restricted to the summer months. I also have a rather large garden to keep me busy.

The final question is probably on everyone’s lips. When are you ever going to retire?

My wife asks the same thing – but I guess while I still have my health, and can share my experiences and still enjoy training work I will continue for a bit longer. I do however intend to stop the CEN work when the current review of standards has been completed.

Thanks Jamie, a very interesting time talking to you and add my own personal thanks to you as over the years I have learned many things from that emporium of knowledge (and still do) and recognise you broke the mould as there could be two of you around!

sure some of the older members of the APEA will remember him at one AGM, giving a live demonstration of what would happen to a pump hose without a break coupling!

At 88 his age defied his activities and he was always interested in the Association and asking questions about what we were doing. Jack leaves 3 daughters and his long term partner Cynthia to whom we send our condolences.

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By Jack Gall Thomson In 1951, just at the demise of the dyeing diesel and gas oil for tax free Pool Petroleum Board, I joined the non-road use. I figured this was a newly named Esso Petroleum good opportunity and I set up on my Company Ltd (formerly Anglo- own, to become involved in the American Oil Co), as District design and installation of additive Manager’s Clerk, in their Landor injectors which automatically put Street, Birmingham District Office. this ‘red dye X’ in to diesel and gas The old office block is still there, oil via the meters on tanker loading along with my window that gantries. A larger unit for adding overlooked the Foden steam driven alcohol to Cleveland Discol was also road tankers’ garage, complete designed. A busy and successful with the smoke flue. One of my period saw the installation of these duties was to attend the pump and units at Esso, Petrofina and tank fitter’s maintenance visits to the elsewhere throughout the U.K., but, dealer sites throughout the area alas, there was, of course, a limit to covering Birmingham, Worcester, the number of loading arms which Coventry, Stratford-on-Avon and required this facility.

Blackheath depots. It also covered At the same time I was pottering involvement in the EDCP. This was on a micro-meter to meet the “oil Esso’s 100% marketing plan, preparing for the return of brands, which, of course, meant that every site had to be up to standard with as big a sign as was permitted to erect, lots of shiny oil dispensing cabinets, new paint and the all-important removal of the Pool Petroleum grey, and fitting ’Esso Extra’ and ‘Esso Mixture’globes on the pumps. I was expected to have a particular interest in what was going on at the competitors like Shell-Mex & BP, Regent, National Positive displacement mini-flow meter Benzol and Cleveland. This went on for three years until, in 1954, I was meter in every home” euphoria, appointed Pump and Tank which never came to pass, because Supervisor, responsible for the the idea of a central oil storage tank engineering of old and new Esso on housing estates serving many petrol stations in The Potteries and homes via meters was dashed by Nottingham districts, transferring to the Suez Crisis heaving up the price Cambridge and Norwich districts of oil. One or two of the first after a year. Three years later I production meters are still under my transferred to Stemco Ltd (soon to bench - all just a waste of effort. be Gilbarco) where my job was to Nevertheless, I pressed on and sell Brodie-Kent flow meters in the found an opportunity to set up Midlands and South Wales until, in Rockwell Flow Controls Ltd to handle 1961, I finally left the Standard Oil Rockwell’s range of USA-built Group to do my own thing in flowmeters. Sadly, when the Ralph N. Brodie Company was bought by petroleum-handling equipment.

My involvement in pumps and Rockwell these particular meters meters had led me to believe there were withdrawn from me, as a was an immediate need for bigger and better company called equipment to handle the newly Gilbarco was successfully handling introduced legal requirement of Brodie meters in the U.K.

Ah well!! What now?

On the 21st February, 1968, my first provisional patent application was filed at the Patent Office in London for a fee of one pound sterling, and a bill for the grand sum of seven pounds and seven shillings from my patent solicitors to cover their costs.

This patent covered a design for an unloading valve for railcars which prevented cavitation at the pumps.

I hawked the prototype around some of the oil companies’ fuel oil depots who all showed interest, but with no positive moves. Shell-Mex and B.P. Ltd, however, agreed there was an excess air problem, but they would prefer to have a visual indication that a railcar had emptied, and could I come up with a suitable idea?

Fortunately, the co-operation with this major oil company gave me the opportunity to design the Gall Thomson Discharge Indicators Marks I & II, for off-loading railcars of the heavier fuel oils at their depots.

Industrial users and power stations worldwide became a very regular outlet for these units, which eliminated the need for operators to climb on top of railcars to assess when a car was empty and pulling air. They were listed in the Shell-Mex “bible” of specified equipment to help their customers in setting up a fuel oil rail siding, thus, as this was like a “large unpaid sales force”, railcar discharge indicators became my regular source of bread and butter for many years. Servicing on site and the supply of spare parts followed. Only recently, I personally restored some units on sidings, most of which were over forty years old.

Now! During my early days at Esso Landor Street, I seem to recall hearing about an explosion in a road tanker which was loading diesel at a depot somewhere down near the River Severn. This was puzzling, because similar incidents had occurred elsewhere in the diesel-loading of tankers. Why high flashpoint diesel or gas oil? I am not going in to the chemical plus and minuses, but the industry research soon realised that the commercial practice at the time was that you used your tankers as the orders demanded, and this meant “switch

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The Ups And Downs Of Self - Employed Inventing

The author at work on seventy-two of his railcar discharge indicators installed on lines for overburn oil at Aberthau Power Station, South Wales, circa 1968

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loading” - i.e. no dedicated tankers or even compartments between petrol or diesel. You filled them to suit the delivery round. One could splash-load diesel with its frothy release of oxygen, in to a compartment which had previously contained petrol with its too-rich-toexplode vapour. Eventually the fifteen-to-one by weight ratio of vapour to oxygen will be reached, and passed. You only trust that a thermal release spark or static spark is not generated just when the easy ignition ratio is present.

I relate all the technical data tale above, because somewhere in the sixties engineers at Esso asked me to have a look at this problem, and what did I think might help to eliminate the bangs. The industry had already set a code of practice which cut out “switch loading”, leaving the problem of the spark.

Top loading of road tankers was the only practice at that time, so one had to look at the fill pipes on the gantries. Good practice instructions insisted that the fill pipes should always reach the bottom of the compartment before slow rate loading was started. This was not always easy, and with such a wide variety of tanker sizes, a juggling back or forward under the gantries was a regular operation: very time consuming and tempting to avoid.

All this led to finding an automatic 58

means of keeping the static generation at a low level until the bottom of the fill pipe was submerged. It could then allow full flow of petrol until the compartment was full. My first easiest design was a clumsy ‘elephant’s foot’ on the bottom of the pipe, but this tended to jam in the manhole and was unpopular with the tanker drivers, so a high level unit appeared which did the job and, although it was never liked, it helped to eliminate the bad practice of splash loading.

Design and sales of these antistatic fill pipes to several oil companies for top loading of petrol tankers occupied a fair part of my 1960’s and early 1970‘s, but once again, the industry moved forward and began looking at bottom loading of road tankers. It was not long before I realised that any further work on top of the gantries such as anti-overspill attachments on the anti-static fill pipes was not on, and that possible market closed.

The move towards bottom loading with their I.P. couplers also signalled that my work on the ‘Frangible Faucet’ idea was no longer of interest, even though I had successfully demonstrated the safety addition to Emco Wheaton and other tanker unloading valves.

Once again!! What’s next? I did not have to wait long, because “it’s an ill wind that blows nobody any good!”

In 1973, a locomotive reversed in to the Total Oil depot at Langley and, in error, started to pull out a train of tankers which were still

discharging petrol. Hoses were ruptured and there was ignition. The flow from the cars was unrestricted, and there was a huge fire. Now, this incident occurred just when I was building prototypes of my new coil core breakaway couplings in 4” aluminium bodies designed particularly for use on rail car hoses, and it happened that I had sought permission to demonstrate them at the nearby oil terminal at Earley near Reading. This permission was now eagerly given, and, with water as the medium, cars were pulled out whilst still connected to the headers.

A large and important attendance of observers were suitably impressed with the resulting small and manageable dribbles that came from the open car faucets.

Employment of the coiled-wire conical valves in fast-flowing lines gave a huge head loss advantage over the clumsy face-to-face poppet valves currently used elsewhere. Another boost for my coil core couplings was when the BBC featured them on a road tanker in their “Tomorrow’s World” programme sometime around 1970.

Safety breakaway couplings were now on their way for high volatile liquid handling, and were also site tested by various industries on liquid oxygen, liquid petroleum gas and other high pressure products. I had these manufactured in many sizes and materials to suit the market demands.

Naturally, all this raised interest from many sources, and one evening, at the conclusion of a talk I had given to members of the Institute of Petroleum in London, I was approached by some members from the off-shore oil industry to look at the problems involved with a safety breakaway coupling to operate in the hostile environment of the North Sea. A couple of visits to Aberdeen assured me that I was now looking at a different league in the breakaway business. Design parameters covering large sizes, high velocities at high pressure, supportable between two floating hoses, pig-able, and immune to sand and other foreign materials, were the main considerations which

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were new to me, as well as the draughtsman, engineer, machine through product flow, with the marine environment. I worked out operator, salesman, accountant, resultant low head loss and a 100% some designs and prepared a secretary and ‘chief cook and shut-off. This facility, on both halves model prototype which seemed to bottle washer‘, just as expected in a of the coupling, is achieved by be going in the right direction, and, one-man business. I retired from poppet-type flat valves being held after consulting some of the oil men active participation in Gall Thomson over at ninety degrees to the flow when the coupling is intact. These in Aberdeen, I was introduced to the Maritime Ltd. in 1988.

For a long time, industrial-size valves hold each other in position government-operated off-shore office in Glasgow. They were breakaway couplings came with until the two halves of the coupling obviously impressed, and I was one idea; give them a 100% shut-off. move apart, which allows them to swing through 90%, offered a six figure and then slide forward ‘pound for pound’ on to their designated grant to develop my seats, giving a full shutideas in to a fully off.

I had these manufactured and produced in several tested product, fit for sizes and materials, use in the North Sea and marketed them and elsewhere. successfully for many Needless to say, I did years as the Gall not have the matching Thomson 'Flip Flap' six figures in pounds Coupling. tucked away in my In the late 1980s, I back pocket, but was now long enough fortunately, with the in the tooth with the good financial and breakaway coupling factory support offered 16” Gall Thomson marine breakaway coupling in a floating hose system business to be not a bit from a company called Drilling Tools North Sea Ltd, I This meant employment of some surprised when I began to get noises was able to set up Gall Thomson form of twin poppet valves with their from a few places that even smaller Maritime Ltd in Great Yarmouth. massive head loss at high flow rates. sizes were being asked for, while still They were also able to help me with To overcome this, one had to apply maintaining the very low pressure excellent core management and bigger pumps, or install oversize drop. A ‘slicker’ internal design was office/design space for the new couplings with their excessive bulk on the cards to keep my mind company.

Their associated and weight. The arrival of the ‘coil occupied, and I came up with the company, Steel Services Ltd, was core’ design coupling meant low ‘Snap Over’ design. Sadly, during this period, I think that I our main contractor, had taken my eye off and what a wonderful the ball, and my ‘Flip job they did in Flap’ name was being converting my ideas used elsewhere on from paper and wild couplings and was last-minute thoughts, quite out of my control. through prototypes I may also add that in and testing, to an this period I was excellent product kidding myself that I which now dominates had retired, so I really the marine breakaway can’t blame anyone coupling market world but myself. Never mind wide. It comes in a that - let’s get back to variety of sizes, can be the ‘Snap Over’! It fully stabilised when turned out to be a required to cope with better design all round random pressure 2” Gall Thomson stainless steel couplings on LPG tanker surges, and the ‘petal valve’ design head loss, but not 100% shut-off and than its predecessor, and it was over by the Dover allows full bore flow at all times. It just allowing a small dribble. Some taken installations, particularly on nonwas the subject of a ‘Queen’s Corporation for production in their Award for Technology’ in 1986. corrosive liquids, could tolerate this, OPW Engineered Systems factory in Because of the sheer scale of the either on the grounds of infrequent Lebanon, Ohio, for world markets. I operation, the work on the marine incidents of pull-out or easy reach did have earlier dealings with OPW coupling is the only time I had the manual shut-off.

Fuelling Components, Cincinnati, in There was a gap in the breakaway the design of their nozzle-borne pleasure of working closely with a team of engineers for a number of coupling market. safety break coupling for use on Enter the ‘Flip-Flap’ coupling! years. Most of my other product gasoline hoses at service stations, so I designed this to have a straight- I had some good contacts. work had to suffer me as thinker, 60

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

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

61

ARTICLES

Advancing years saw my interest needed to operate petrol pump to extensive questioning by a turn to whatever crossed my path, nozzles. Test pieces came from all government security department? such as buying a Range Rover and over the world, and there were Or why was a breakaway coupling sawing through the roof from side to some remarkable figures. A bit later, specified by a factory inspector at a side and making the whole thing this test rig became invaluable point where a foul liquid was being slide open at the touch of a button. during my recent successful work on loaded in to the works tanker, but We enjoyed it, but the only real the adapter spouts for nozzles which not where it was being pumped off interest shown from elsewhere was prevent petrol being accidentally to another storage from the same at a rally, when a Middle East Sheikh tanker in the same factory? (P.S: an put in to diesel tanks on the thought it was just the job for falcon incident had occurred at the forecourt. hunting in the desert. My loading point.) Which brings retractable steps for Range me to my longest running Rovers were doomed when mystery. Organisations who the new vehicle models have operated road or rail offered a ‘rise and fall’ facility tankers for decades without to make it easier to get in and an incident sometimes out. Also I did not progress far decide to install safety with a rigid step for caravans, breakaway couplings. because, as this was my first Great!! But why do they attempt to sell direct to the often expect that, in the public and they all wanted event of a pull-out, the something different or couplings should be instantly modified, I gave it up through A variety of petrol pump nozzles under my bench awaiting trigger rebuildable, and necessary load testing sheer frustration. tools and spare seals etc. are Back again to the oil industry with all part of the deal? This demand What is now on top of my bench? something special to look at, and seems to be prevalent across the Well, tucked away at one side is a once again it was in familiar territory.

Atlantic, and the coupling industry new system for forecourt dispensing The suggestion was: “what about a may be at fault by offering these kits of Ad-blue to smaller diesel cars and coupling on a vapour recovery hose vans. Very simple and tidy, and just and fancy tools as a sales lever. The which releases and separates on a waiting to see if the environment customer has probably never low pull, rather than flying apart on lobby will give it a future. At the incurred an incident, but now he a breakaway as currently front, however, is a reintroduction of expects one to be imminent. In all happens?" I created and tested my classic coil core valves of yore. I my years directly selling these units, such a unit, and tentatively now offer these fitted in standard the only spares I can recall sending arranged its manufacture if and cam and groove couplings which, out were: three sets of replacement when the vapour recovery changewith a few ‘tweaks,’ become low break studs, and the recommended over became imminent. Also under cost safety release couplings. The tool of a length of string and a my bench is my LPG nozzle for use sizes and materials of these units go matchstick to hold the inner flap on the forecourt. This unit does along with what is currently open whilst the two halves were reeverything that is needed for safe available in the wide range of cam assembled with their new studs. and easy refuelling but has the extra I have met some of the most and groove couplings. They can all facility that, in an emergency, it be modified to become either interesting people, both friends and shuts everything off, including the safety break or release couplings. competitors, and am acutely aware remote pump, and disengages itself I now seem to have time, in my of the great help and from the vehicle. Sadly, as I have no sixtieth year in the oil industry, to sit encouragement I have been given longer got the urge to travel the back and reflect a little on some of by these fellow travellers. I am sure world ’selling’, I think these two the good (and a bit of the bad) that some of my readers will recall markets crept up from somewhere, work which has come my way. I their involvement in one or two of and I missed them. used to say that “I spend my time my efforts in the past, and I thank But lo-and-behold, a phone call working on ideas to make life safer them very much for their cofrom an old contact suddenly for people who are handling nasty operation and understanding. All in changed everything again. “Have liquids”. Basically, this was true, you still got some of those different despite the small diversions from the all, I cannot complain at the sixty nozzles under your bench? We are oil industry which caught my years of livelihood that I have seeking to help the 'Little Old Ladies' attention from time to time such as scratched out of a business which by having an easy-to-hold-open electronic organs, bag net salmon was easy to treat as a hobby, and I nozzle on our service stations.” Of fishing, vintage cars, electric steps, get the greatest pleasure in knowing course I had several nozzles of etc. I sometimes ponder on why did that some of my products reached different designs around, and I set a device to shut down a pipe line in the market. Indeed many of them up a small test rig which quickly the event of an explosion are still involved in current product displayed how many Newtons were somewhere along its length lead me handling systems.

Ask The Experts Q; I have received drawings and proposals for a 3 x 1 tonne LPG Installation to be sited on one of my petrol filling stations. What guidance exists for me to check the installation will be safe to operate and where can such guidance be obtained?

ARTICLES

A; The installation should be prepared in accordance with all relevant Regulations and Codes of Practice applicable at the time of installation. These include; • Pressure Systems Safety Regulations (PSSR) • Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations (PUWER) • Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (COSHH) • Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order (RRFSO) • Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmosphere Regulations (DSEAR).

• UKLPG Codes of Practice and in particular Code 1 part 1 and Code 20.

The main points are summarised in the “Blue Book”; the revised edition is at present being edited. Ensuring the layout meets the Codes is always a good start.

As with all liquid fuels the Regulations place a variety of duties on employers, the self-employed and occupiers to ensure safety and to: • Carry out a risk assessment of any work activities involving dangerous substances (which include substances such as petrol and LPG); • Provide measures to eliminate or reduce risks as far as is reasonably practicable; • Provide equipment and have procedures to deal with accidents and emergencies; • Provide information and training to employees/users; • Maintain and inspect work equipment; • Classify places where explosive atmospheres may occur during normal operations into zones; the zones depending on the expected frequency of explosive atmospheres under NORMAL operating conditions.

62

DSEAR has reinforced the requirements of the Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations and requires “every employer to ensure that where work equipment is likely to involve a specific risk, the use of that equipment is restricted to those persons given the task of using it and repairs, modifications maintenance or servicing that work equipment is restricted to specifically designated persons whom the employer must ensure have received adequate related training.”

Whilst the installation may be owned by more than one organisation the final and overall responsibility is that of the occupier.

Richard Wigful, Design Engineer, John Wigfull & Sons Q; I have a proposal for an LPG (Autogas) installation for a retail petrol filling station in my area. What additional controls can be placed legally by the Petroleum Licensing Authority?

A; The first thing to recognise that in the UK, LPG as a dangerous substance within the meaning of the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR) and is directly controlled by the local Petroleum Licensing Authority on retail Petrol Stations that have a petroleum licence.

However, actual controls have two options. The Operator offers a risk assessment under Regulation 5 of DSEAR which can be acceptable if the all risks of LPG including any deliveries have been identified, have suitable control measures and any significant findings are made known to all person employed.

Alternatively the Petroleum Licensing Authority (PLA) may append any additional conditions to the Licence they deem fit (under Section 1 of the Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928. These “additional” or “special” conditions usually are as follows; (i) Restricting simultaneous deliveries of Petroleum and LPG

(ii) Ensuring that Staff are trained in the hazards and safety procedures when handling, authorising or the delivery of LPG (iii) Any local arrangements where for example then site closes when a delivery takes place of LPG if the site is small or confined It is customary however to discuss these conditions at planning stage with the Developer so the understanding for any additional conditions are understood by all parties Brian Baker, Fire Safety & Petroleum Officer Milton Keynes Council Q; I am new to Petroleum Licensing and understand that to transfer a petroleum Licence from one owner to another is a legal process. Can you explain where this comes from?

A; The transfer of a petroleum licence is a legal requirement as set

by Petroleum licence condition 2.2 as shown below, it asks for 28 days notice prior to the transfer, an Authority can also refuse a transfer or make conditions as to the transfer, normally when a site is deemed to require work, introduction of procedure(s) or is considered sub standard.

“Where the licensee wishes to have the licence transferred to some other person or body, he shall notify the Petroleum Licensing Authority of the name and address of the proposed transferee at least 28 days before the occupation or ownership of the licensed premises is transferred to that other person or body.”

The power to carry out the transfer comes from the Petroleum (Transfer of Licences) Act 1936. This act sets out where the two main legislations can be cited together as the Petroleum (Regulation) Acts 1928 & 1936.

The is a charge or fee for a transfer of a licence which is currently running at £8.

Brian Humm Head of Petroleum London Fire Brigade

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

Total UK Ltd – 2010 Retail Contractor Health and Safety Awards

ARTICLES

All TOTAL Contractors are prequalified via a rigorous audit process for both medium and high risk works, this involves a visit to their office premises to complete the medium risk audit and administration check and a visit to a high risk project on site.

Once approved each contractor is re-audited and evaluated every 3 Years.

Prior to 2005 no formal auditing of individual construction projects took place on a regular basis in Retail Property Services.

However, in 2005 Property Services commissioned a Consultant to assist them in the auditing of contractors working on sites on CDM (Construction Design Management Regulation) projects.

Every contractor is now audited on each CDM project by either the Consultant or the Network Engineer.

In 2006 TOTAL initiated the contractor award scheme for contractors working on CDM projects.

The awards were presented to the best performing contactors. Defined criteria must be achieved in order for contractors to be considered for the award. In 2006 & 7 awards were presented for 1st, 2nd & 3rd place to contractors working on these projects.

In 2008, small works audits were introduced to cover maintenance works, but mainly small project works. Each Network Engineer has an objective to complete a minimum of 5 small works audit per quarter.

The audits for both CDM and small works were sent to our Consultant who collated all of the data and provided TOTAL with a quarterly report on all matters relating to health and safety on construction and maintenance projects.

An additional frontline, work control system, H&S audit, is now also undertaken by Vinci’s MRT’s, these are being used as an additional spot check compliance 64

County Maintenance: Average of 100% for 5 H&S Audits Premier Group: Average of 96% for 6 H&S Audits Clovemead: Average of 92% for 12 H&S Audits 16 other contractors achieved over 95% during the year. Overall 90% of our contractors improved YOY.

of our visiting maintenance contractors. These started in 2009, with around 450 carried out per year and these have played a large part in deciding on a new maintenance award winner.

A league table of contractor Small Works Contractor performance is updated each Award for 2010 quarter. The results of the audits are communicated to the contractors and any trends are discussed directly with the contractors.

Below standard performance and any non-compliances are discussed directly with the contractors and in the event that a contractors performance does not improve they can be removed from the approved list of contractors.

We have awards, in two Categories, however due to the lack of CDM projects, we will be presenting a new award; Best Maintenance contractor, as well as an existing category of Best Richard Laden (Retail Director) presenting to Matt performing contractor in small Daglish of A J Bayliss Petroleum Engineers works.

Small Works Awards 2010 Summary A total of 106 Health & Safety Audits have been carried out by Total Network Engineers on 38 small works contractors.

For 2010 the YTD mean compliance achieved was 92% which is an improvement on 2009 (90%) and 2008 (88%), we are constantly getting closer to our new target of 100%.

Highlights for the year are the performance of the following contractors who have consistently performed well in 2010, with no near misses or incidents (more than 5 audits):-

A J Bayliss are a family run business, based in the heart of England. We are celebrating 50 years in the industry and cover all aspects of petroleum installations and servicing, ranging from replacing a grade tag to site redevelopments.

A J Bayliss is well established within the petroleum industry and is currently involved in contracts with Total UK and Johnson Control providing a maintenance and service contract on Shell stations.

We offer a complete in-house package, as we carry all of our own staff and rarely sub-contract.

Maintenance Works Award for 2010 Summary

AJ Bayliss: Average of 97% for 15 H&S Audits (2010 WINNER)

The scoring is based on 2 key elements. 106 Small works audits, carried

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

out

by

the

Network

engineers and also the 486 Vinci, MRT audits.

Clovemead: Average of 96% for 12 Engineer Audits, 61 Vinci audits. (2010 WINNER) Washtec: Average 94% for 5 Engineer audits, 72 Vinci Audits.

15 other maintenance contractors achieved above 95%, however the suppliers above had many more audits undertaken in 2010.

Maintenance Contractor Awards for 2010 Clovemead has been in the Industry for over 30 years.

There have a number of different divisions ranging from Construction works to Image Works to even H&S training.

They carry out a large volume

Richard Laden presenting to Paul Rava at Clovemead Ltd

of work for Total UK’s, circa 2000

valeting

calls/visits per year. Typical works are

maintenance, as well as pipework

Image

maintenance and forecourt repairs.

installation

and

repair,

Technical Challenges with Biofuels – Retailer’s Perspective

By Aubrey Burrows, Senior Technical Manager Fuels, Tesco Stores Ltd Introduction

Tesco first introduced biofuels to the UK fuels retail market in 2005.

The company offers regular and

A combination of rising crude oil costs, restricted supplies, and concerns about emissions and climate change are spurring the increased use of biofuels to meet our transport energy needs.

In addition, the UK Government through its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) and the EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED) are also key drivers for biofuels. It has created a strong demand for Tesco Forecourt transport fuels derived from super unleaded (Momentum99) sustainable, renewable sources. petrol grades which contain up to Biofuels, however, present some 5% ethanol and diesel fuel with now significant technical and up to 7% biodiesel at its filling operational challenges to fuel stations. Tesco is very close to its retailers. The objective of this article customers and has a strong is to highlight these challenges and commitment to protect them by provide some solutions. offering quality fuels that are truly fit

of

sites

and

Polesign

for purpose. It has therefore played a leading role to better understand the problems with biofuels and develop solutions.

Most of the petrol in the UK contains bio-ethanol. It is produced by fermentation of sugar and Brazil is one of the leading supply sources.

Diesel on the other hand contains FAME (fatty acid methyl esters) based on wide variety of different vegetable oils and animal fats as well as used cooking oil. These bioderived fuels are completely different from conventional petrol and diesel. They have quite different physical attributes and analytical characteristics which impact their handling and storage properties.

The key challenges with biofuels are to keep water out, prevent bugs growing, stop filters clogging, and protect hardware.

It is

critical to address these problems because a fuel must do more than just meet the BS EN 228 (petrol) and BS EN 590 (diesel) specifications.

It must be

good quality at the point of sale and not lead to any problems at filling stations or in customer vehicles. In short, it must be fit for purpose.

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

65

ARTICLES

Mitie: Average of 92% for 1 Engineer Audit, 48 Vinci audits.

Clovemead have been consistently above the 90% mark, even with a larger volume of audits carried out on them in 2010.

ARTICLES

Petrol Containing Bio-ethanol

case of doing things right, it is about

It is critical with petrol-ethanol blends to follow simple housekeeping guidelines. In other words, it’s all about doing things right. Petrol containing 5% ethanol is generally referred to as E5. The presence of ethanol in the fuel blend presents some major challenges. Ethanol readily absorbs water, just like mixing ice cubes & water into whisky. This can lead to serious operational problems which can impact on fuel quality. It can also have a negative impact on seals, metal components and other hardware at the filling station. In addition, it can cause driveability problems for customers.

It is difficult to keep water completely out of petrol containing ethanol. Water can enter by a variety of routes. For example, water in the bottoms of refinery and terminal tanks, water condensed from humid air, condensation of water in vapour recovery systems, ingress water collecting in manhole chambers at filling stations, and leaking seals in storage tanks. An E5 blend can tolerate up to about 1,000 ppm (0.1%) water without any significant problems but at higher levels there is an increasing risk of phase separation. This occurs when the water content goes beyond the saturation point for the threecomponent mixture of water/ethanol/petrol. At this stage, most of the ethanol and water will separate from the bulk fuel and drop to the bottom of the tank, leaving petrol with a significantly reduced level of ethanol in the upper phase. If the lower phase of water and ethanol is large enough to reach the fuel suction point, it could be pumped directly to a customer’s fuel tank and cause significant problems. Even if the ethanol-water phase at the bottom of the tank is not drawn into the dispenser, the reduced ethanol level of the fuel reduces the octane rating, which could result in engine problems. The current types of tank gauges used across the industry are not effective in detecting phase separation. It can suddenly occur without warning and disrupt

doing things better. Handling B5 or

66

B7 diesel blends is a completely different kettle of fish compared to conventional

Phase separation

diesel.

New

housekeeping guidelines have to be forecourts. It is a serious problem and a real headache for fuel retailers.

Ethanol can also cause other problems in filling station storage tanks and pumping systems. It can attack painted surfaces in storage systems. It can also deteriorate seals in the fuel delivery system which can lead to leaks, water ingress etc. In addition, ethanol can cause corrosion of metal components and storage tanks. This can create rust particles which may lead to further problems.

The good news is there are some recommended preventative measures which can help to mitigate the problems with ethanol in petrol. The first step is to carry out a thorough review of all the filling station hardware and components to ensure it is all compatible. It is also very important to prepare a filling station in advance before the first ethanol-petrol delivery. This involves dewatering the tanks and cleaning. These guidelines are well documented in the Energy Institute’s Guidance note for filling station operators on the introduction of E5 petrol. After the first delivery, it is important to have an ongoing testing programme to monitor fuel quality. Tesco has a comprehensive surveillance programme in place to sample & test fuel from a large number of filling stations across the UK to monitor the quality of fuels we receive from our suppliers as well as confirm quality at the point of sale for our customers. In addition, Tesco has a routine tank maintenance programme to ensure the storage tanks and associated hardware is in good order and fuel quality is not being compromised. This includes checks on possible corrosion in storage tanks.

Diesel Containing FAME The operational problems with diesel containing FAME are much more challenging.

It is not just a

adopted to prevent difficulties. The two

critical

growth waxing.

and

problems low

are

bug

temperature

Microbes proliferate in

diesel containing FAME when water is present. This can lead to reduced diesel pumping rates at dispensers due to filter blocking in the fuel delivery system. FAME can contain a number of different contaminants which have poor fuel solubility at low temperatures and cause fuel filter blocking which will disable customer vehicles.

Microbial contamination has become a more significant issue since the introduction of biodiesel.

Bugs can readily enter the diesel supply chain because the fuel storage systems are open to the air and non-sterile. FAME also attracts water which is crucial to bug growth. In addition, FAME is a rich food source for bugs. As a result, there is vigorous microbial growth and millions of live and dead bugs accumulate at various points in the fuel delivery system. It appears as brown gelatinous deposits. Biofilm has been found on tank walls, pipes and filters at filling stations. It has been established that microbes actually grow on filter surfaces causing rapid blocking, see picture.

This type of problem can occur is just a few weeks in severe cases. On the positive side, the various filters in filling station delivery systems stop the biofilm deposits getting into customer vehicles. Tesco has done extensive tests on a range of car types and found no evidence of bug related problems.

This is evidenced by the fact that Tesco has successfully provided 50 million car refills of diesel fuel in 2010.

Blocked dispenser filters means that pumps have to be shutdown to carry out maintenance. This causes customer disruption on filling station forecourts. This results in unhappy customers which is unacceptable

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

and hurts customer loyalty. Tesco has carried out extensive investigations into the microbial growth problems to understand the root cause and develop remedial procedures.

Samples were collected for bug testing from all the critical points in the fuel terminals, road tankers and through the filling station to the pump nozzle. The problem was found to be a regionally specific issue not affecting the whole country. High levels of water and bugs were found in some fuel terminal diesel storage tanks. No clear interface between water and fuel was found. There was typically a large hazy layer of fuel with very high water content.

High bug counts and high water contents were also found in filling station tanks supplied from these terminals.

A direct link was established between filling stations filter blocking incidents and high bug/water content fuel at terminals.

The conclusion was that filter blocking is a terminal and a filling station issue. It appears that the water in diesel blends containing FAME is present as micro droplets which are very slow to settle out.

These water droplets are attached to active bugs. There is microscopic evidence for the existence of these water micro droplets and bug growth in the fuel layer. Turbulence in terminal tanks transfers these water droplets & bugs through the fuel distribution system to filling stations and infect the sites. The bugs then proliferate in filling station tanks.

Tesco has developed successful methods to keep the filter blocking problem under control. The key is a

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

67

ARTICLES

Blocked nozzle filter

cooperative and been reported across Europe and in collaborative effort the United Sates. with fuel suppliers. It is The 2009/10 and 2010/11 winters critical to address the have been unusually cold and there problems at terminals have been various reports of and filling stations to filterability problems. There have achieve a complete also been cases of lines and filters solution. The keys are being blocked in diesel pump to control microbial dispensers leading to them being contamination and shutdown. The industry has been biofilm growth as well working to revise the EN 14214 FAME as carry out effective specification to reduce water management. monoglyceride contaminants and The remedial actions tighten the cloud point and CFPP include regular (cold filter plugging point) limits to draining of water and hazy fuel from help minimise field problems. The diesel terminal storage tanks.

It is also important to rigorously remove biofilm deposits from all tanks and lines at filling stations.

In addition, it is essential to implement a preventative tank cleaning programme at retail sites as well as routine monitoring of water & microbial activity throughout. There is no silver bullet; it requires hard work and attention to detail. Just because you don’t see a problem doesn’t mean you don’t have a problem. It is all about proactive preventative action. Tesco is committed to building awareness about this problem across the industry and promoting the sharing of best practices as well as Blocked fuel filter helping to update operating guidelines. industry is also working on a cold soak filterability test procedure to Diesel Cold Weather simulate the impact of cold weather Problems and help to identify poor quality Many different types of FAME are fuels. It is hoped this type of test will used in UK diesel fuels. This includes be included in future revisions of the not only vegetable oils but also BS EN 590 diesel fuel specification. animal fats and more recently there is increased use of used cooking oils. Driving Up Fuel Quality FAME can contain contaminants Standards Tesco is committed to work closely and impurities due to the feedstocks used and the manufacturing with its fuel suppliers to address fuel process. Some of these materials quality issues and drive up have poor fuel solubility at low standards. It has a comprehensive temperatures. Precipitates can form test programme to regularly monitor at temperatures well above those fuel quality. This is combined with a housekeeping and when conventional paraffin waxing proactive programme to normally occurs.

The sediment maintenance produced can clog or plug fuel prevent operational problems. The filters on cars and disable customer company is dedicated to delivering vehicles. This problem is not unique fit for purpose fuels and protect to the UK. Similar issues have also customers.

After a Year of TVS

By Rodney Carter Petroman Environmental Services Ltd A year has passed and much has happened in the industry, none more noticeable than the rising price of a litre of petrol.

Since our last article in the September 2010 issue, we have been kept the data monitoring of our two trial sites on a rolling year, to give us a better spread of data for both sites. This has highlighted the advantages for using this data as an early warning system for the sites protection, as well as an environmental aid.

With more measuring equipment on site it is now possible to be more accurate in proportioning losses to a site.

Then there is the collection and processing of the vapour during the delivery, as well as that collected by the stage 2 systems whilst retailing the product. Collectively this has a great impact on the sites wet stock reconciliation reporting making it possible to reduce the “Gap”, this being the volume of unaccountable product lost during the daily operation of a retail petrol filling station.

ARTICLES

1. The retail pump sales with a small variation relative to the metering units.

2. Tank gauges being more sophisticated and supplying more detailed information.

The allocation is made up by the

3. Stage 2 operating between 95% 105% of retail dispensing.

following: • Operational Loss/Gain

4. Temperature compensation (A T C) continually adjusting the volume relative to the temperature passing through the pump meter.

68

• Meter Variance • Stage 2 (indirect delivery) • Stage 1 b Retainment • Natural Venting

Operational losses are those mainly due to loading the tanker and off-loading at the site during delivery.

Meter Variance being the tolerances of the meters in the retail pumps as laid down in legislation.

Stage 2 is the volume of displaced vapour from the vehicles being refueled and referred to as an indirect delivery.

Stage 1 b retained vapour is relative to the volume of product off-loaded and the ullage space available within the petrol storage tanks.

Natural venting, which is a property of the product, is happening all the time but is more noticeable during quieter periods of sales as it over comes the volume normally displaced by sales and builds up its own pressure.

From the above issues only Meter Variances are an actual loss. Stage 1B retained vapour, the natural venting and the Stage 2 vapour are all recoverable and by collecting and processing these we are well on the way to reducing the “GAP”.

There is a further issue that has to be seriously taken into account that is Standard Temperature Accounting (STA) and Automatic Temperature Compensation (ATC). The gains and losses will have a substantial effect on the overall system and therefore this also has to be accounted for as part of the closing the GAP.

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

spotted sooner but more importantly it focuses the attention on a situation that needs addressing.

From an operators point of view this is becoming so important with all of its associated risks and responsibilities.

We have produced a chart which will enable a site to be quantified The whole point of this “GAP” reduction is to highlight shortages very quickly and therefore heighten awareness of these shortages. If a site can operate at 0.05% loss, a 150 litre shortage will be far more outstanding than on a site operating at a loss of 0.35 or more. Taking ATC into account or not together with all the other factors could result in a substantial loss or large leak not being detected for months or more until it is all to late.

Pump meter variation, delivery variation or gauge difference will be

a station

the

p l a n n i n g

Southern branch took place on

permission

Tuesday

which includes

2011

at

EA requirements,

Marlborough Golf Club.

Phil Monger gave the welcoming

it does not mean

address to the 35 members present,

that the PLA is

plus guests and members from other

bound to give approval for the

branches, and chaired the AGM. David Sommers then chaired the remainder of the meeting, and introduced the first speaker,

Ray

Blake of the London Fire Brigade,

arrangements; PLAs

have

a

duty to ensure that risks associated with

fire

and

explosion

are

addressed, and that unsatisfactory

who gave an enforcer’s update.

Ray advised that the revision of the blue book is due to be published in the first quarter of 2011, in which it is hoped, a revision will include a statement on the unsuitability of placing above ground tanks in any type of building/structure.

features are not included that increase the risks.

Ray also advised the total annual throughput of petrol stations within London is 1,920 million litres, which equates to 48,000 tanker deliveries and 50 million customer dispensing fuel transactions.

Ray also said that they are trying to highlight the fact that just

The second speaker of the day

was Ed Wheeler of Eurotank on new developments in underground tank security, and fuel theft.

Ed advised there has been a huge increase of fuel theft in some areas of the country, due to the price increases; thieves have been taking fuel on a bulk basis, and even weapons have been involved in some instances.

It

appears

that

thieves

are

selecting remote sites, with minimal visibility/exposure, such as retail

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

69

ARTICLES/BRANCHES

has been given

February

2)Makes third party monitoring more meaningful.

All in all a most satisfactory conclusion and a very positive set results to ensure this site works within its proven boundaries.

Tuesday 8th February 2011.

8th

site

6)Stage 2 becomes quantifiable

petrol

of

the

5)Site can be tested for leak tightness after each delivery.

APEA Southern Branch meeting meeting

of

4)A justifiable investment.

because

Winter

1)Awareness performance

3)Environmental benefits to the site

Southern

The

to a certain standard. Irrespective of the factor achieved, everyone will be aware of that factor and the site should endeavor to operate within that framework.

The main benefits to the site and its operator are as follows:

parks, due to the lack of traffic late at night.

The last speaker of the day was Rodney Carter of Petroman on

The most popular method of tank ingress is through gauge entries, and offset fill points.

closed

loop

environmental

from the Scottish Forecourt Show.

Prior to the AGM, the branch committee had a meeting to discuss taking the branch forward in the

accountability.

Rodney ran through two case

coming year. It was decided that

Ed advised several deterrents to

studies using the vapour saver

the current committee were willing

combat this, one being a ‘probe

system on two sites in the North East,

to continue on, however if there

out’ alarm, which can alert site

which have been monitored for the

were other willing volunteers any

security.

last three years, which included :

position on the committee was

Ed also advised that with biofuels,

available. The committee felt it

it is increasingly difficult to monitor

• Basic wetstock reconciliation.

would be beneficial to recruit new

water ingress from chambers, as it

• Site losses during deliveries.

members to provide fresh ideas.

isn’t detected by water floats as

• Operational site losses.

before.

• Closing the gap – reducing stock

Lockable tank gauge risers and fill

It was agreed that we would endeavour to put on an autumn meeting in September with a focus

loss.

caps have also been introduced,

• The processor for gains.

on Fireworks and changes to the

which need a special key to open.

• Gap closed – spotting the risk.

Blue book as the main topics for the

Eurotank have now launched a lockable

lightweight

composite

manhole cover, that requires a

The vapour saver system reclaims stage 1b vapour and returns it to the

day.

AGM

officers

special manhole lifter; the bolt that

Rodney advised that each site

secures the cover fits into the lifting

should be evaluated and have an

Chairman

key.

environmental performance done.

Gareth Bourhill

The third speaker of the day was

BRANCHES

thanking

their European Standard approved

attendance,

tank lining system (Try-line system),

contributed

which is fully certified to BS EN

meeting.

everyone

for

which to

an

their greatly

Paul Devine Branch Secretary

excellent Ian Hillier

Thanks were again extended to

Branch Representative

It is 100% guaranteed to monitor

Martin Window for his auditor’s role;

the tank interstitial space, and the

we all hope to see him at future

Peter Lennon

tank is inspected following lining, by

meetings.

Treasurer

an independent body.

David

also

advised

that

the

The try-line system is inspected

Summer branch meeting is to be

Committee Members

annually, and tested every five

held on Thursday 7th July at Haynes

Jim Haston

years.

Motor Museum near Yeovil, and

John Lafferty

asked everyone for suggestions for

Alan Hamilton

that all materials used are teed to

future

Gary Weymss

TUV Nord standards, which involves

presentations.

A key issue to accreditation was

as

David then closed the meeting by

Jon Best of Tanks & Pipework Ltd. on

13160/7.

appointed

follows:

tank, instead of the tanker.

meeting

venues

and

Paul Devine

12 week destruction testing.

The system also includes built-in protection against static electricity,

Sue Meadowcroft Branch Secretary

Eastern

and has a unique detection system

Scotland

for cable failure.

Branch Secretary

The next Eastern Branch meeting

Jon showed stage installation

The Branch held its AGM at the

and AGM will take place on June

photographs of the whole lining

Inchyra Grange Hotel on the 31st

29th and will at poplar demand, be

process.

March 2011. As with our previous

held at The Imperial War Museum

A two course lunch was then

AGM we incorporated our meeting

Duxford Airport. Please note the

enjoyed by all, at which everyone

with the Scottish Forecourt Show. This

date in your diary and let me know

took the opportunity to discuss the

proved to be popular with members

soonest your interest in attending.

topics covered in the morning

as it allowed those attending to

Other Branch members are most

session.

enjoy the exhibition and speakers

welcome to attend too. There is

70

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

charge to cover our costs. Details to be advised later and posted on the website.

As this is our AGM we will be electing officers to stand, those who currently are serving have expressed a wish to continue. We are always looking for new members so please let me know if you would like to be included or a particular post you would like to be considered for.

The Eastern Branch is a great place for getting up to speed with everything that is new for the industry as well as for networking so don't miss out by not signing up.

Anton Martiniussen

Compensation

Clive Drake

Wetstock Variances.

when

Beeby

assessing introduced

Standard Temperature Accounting (STA) at the pump that allows fuel to

Annual General Meeting Technical Session

be dispensed at 15 degrees. Adrian

Geoff Lee, Cookson and Zinn

explained the benefits of STA and

AGM and technical session was held on Thursday 24th March 2011 at Racecourse,

Branch

Jo

Chairman

Closed Loop Reconciliation

this option should collate in tank

Rodney Carter, Petroman

temperatures for twelve months in order to make an informed decision.

Standard Temperature Accounting

innovation for creating entries into

Adrian Beeby, Tokheim

tanks to enable potential off set fill

welcomed 40 members to the meeting.

Lawrie Smail presented a new

at the Pump

entries or tank gauge entries to be New Entries for Old Tanks

introduced where there is no room

Lawrie Smail, Eurotank

available on the tank lid.

Election of Officers -

This

method allows the work to take

Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer.

Nominations were received from

Fuel Theft Alarms

place whilst the tank is still in use

Gareth Jenkins, Fairbanks

minimising potential down time.

those already in post and they were re-elected unopposed.

New

Fairbanks,

Gareth

Discussion post ethanol introduction

Jenkins introduced the topic of fuel

Louise Morgan, APEA

theft alarms which is an extension of

Jo Bradley was voted in as Branch Chairman.

from

the existing ibank service.

In brief, Geoff Lee provided an

This

prompted some good debate and

Bob Conlin was voted in as Branch

informative presentation on the

ideas

Secretary.

manufacture of underground steel

incorporated and expanded onto

Jean Algie was voted in as Branch

double skin tanks and the innovation

site to deter thieves.

Treasurer.

of

Election of Committee Members Nominations were received from those already in post and they were re-elected unopposed.

for

how

this

could

be

an

The post ethanol discussion for

underground tank installed on a

spirit fuels hosted by Louise Morgan

cradle at a slight gradient to allow

sought feedback from Retailers,

for

Regulators

the

the

Biobase

easy

that

is

extraction

of

Closed Loop Reconciliation from Rodney

Carter

highlighted

and

Contractors

regarding experiences post the

water/ethanol mixture. the

introduction of ethanol into spirit fuel. The number of occurrences of

Committee Members

importance of taking into account

phase

Louise Morgan

various factors including Stage II

relatively few however the main

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

separation

has

been

71

BRANCHES

North West Branch Meeting

Park

Introducing the new CZ Biobase

stressed that Retailers considering

24th March 2011

Bradley,

John Crouchley

The technical sessions included:

North West

Haydock

Vapour Recovery and Temperature

Adrian

Branch Secretary

The

Branch Representative

point of interest was that Retailers

was

need to be vigilant in terms of

double act being

in

fact

a

ethanol potentially breaking down

Mike Marston and

the jointing compounds that have

Pete Haslock both

historically been used and attacking

from OHES about

gaskets on flanged joints as this will

the Environmental

create a potential pathway for

Damage

water ingress and vapour egress.

which

Regs

came

in

The Committee would like to

2009 but have still

thank all guest speakers for taking

to be tested in

the time out of their busy schedules

Court

to attend the day and would like to

Assessments. Both

extend

were well received.

an

invitation

to

any

and

Risk it. By recycling all the vapour from a

prospective speakers who would like

The third speaker was John Best

site, both from the tanker delivery

to be included in future events to

from Tanks and Pipework Ltd., who

and from cars refuelling significant

spoke about their lining system for

savings could be made benefitting

tanks which is a Class 1 system and

the environment and the station

how it conformed to the latest

operator and his figures

European standard which came in

impressive!

contact Louise Morgan, Branch representative

at:

louisemorgan@petrocom.co.uk.

Rachel concluded

Louise Morgan

the

Branch Secretary

by the

i n f o r m a t i v e

BRANCHES

presentations,

of 2011 was held at the Morgan

all

Factory in Malvern on 17 March Chairman,

Rachel

and for the

branch as well as the

4 guest speakers.

company

for

having us for the

The first speaker of the day was Wenham

delegates

supporting

Hallam, welcomed 38 members and

Steve

all

speakers for the very

The first Midlands branch meeting

the

meeting

thanking

Midlands

where

were

from

day.

the

Environment Agency who spoke about the new guidance that the

A buffet lunch was 2003 and that no doubt all enforcers

then served, over which a lot of

would follow London’s lead on

discussion

Agency were about to publish new

ensuring that this standard was

presentations was done.

of

the

guidance on their website including

complied with.

first

two

Then we had a most informative

a new PPG7 and talked briefly on

The last speaker of the day was

history of the Morgan Company

above ground storage of fuel.

Rodney Carter from Petroman and

where we learnt of the fine ethos of

Several questions were put which he

he spoke passionately about vapour

the company before we went for

answered well.

loss on forecourts and how to avoid

the tour of the factory which was

The second speaker of the day

72

most interesting and made the

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

writer wish he had some spare

Tunstall

Tel: 01256 850164

change to buy a new Morgan!

Stoke on Trent ST6 6DX

Fax: 01256 851273

Tel: 07815 069846

email: phil.psac@gmail.com

Rob Tunnicliff

email: rob.tunnicliff@stoke.gov.uk

Branch Representative

Sue Meadowcroft - Sec North West

Yorkshire & Humberside Nothing to report

Ireland Nothing to report

North East Nothing to report

Branch Representative and Secretary Contact Details

Louise Morgan - Rep Petrocom Ltd Wash Farm (Office) Rainford Road, Bickerstaffe Lancashire L39 0HG

1 Rock Cottage South Cornelly Bridgend CF33 4RN Tel: 07795 841891 email: sue@high-cross.com

Tel: +44 (0) 845 678 0790 Fax: +44 (0) 845 678 7820

Ireland

Mobile: +44 (0) 7789 744281

Killian Tallon - Rep

email:

Topaz Energy Ltd

louisemorgan@petrocom.co.uk

Topaz House Beech Hill, Clonskeagh

Bob Conlin - Sec

Dublin 4, Ireland

Fairbanks Environmental Ltd

Tel: + 353 1202 8705

Eastern

The Technology Management

email: killian.tallon@topazenergy.ie

Adrian Holyomes - Rep

Centre

HYTEK GB LTD

Moss Lane View, Skelmersdale

Delta House

Lancs WN8 9TN

Green Street, Elsenham

Tel: 01695 51775

Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire

email: bobconlin@fairbanks.co.uk

email: adrian@hytekgb.com

Scotland Ian Hillier - Rep

McArdle Doyle Limited

BRANCHES

Tel: 01279 815600

Ronnie McArdle - Sec

Unit A8, Santry Business Park Swords Road Santry, Dublin 9 Ireland Tel: 00353 1 8423404

Anton Martiniussen - Sec

North Ayrshire Council

ELAFLEX Ltd

Bridgegate House,Irvine KA12 8BD

Fax: 00353 1 8423416

Riverside House, Hoddesdon

Tel: 01294 324969

email: mail@mcardle-doyle.ie

Herts EN11 0PA

email: ihillier@north-ayrshire.gov.uk Yorkshire & Humberside

Tel: 01992 452 950 Mob: 07831 595620

Paul Devine - Sec

Craig Brocklehurst - Rep

email: elaflex@aol.com

South Lanarkshire Council

Brulines Fuel Solutions

Consumer and Trading Standards

The Former Post office

North East

North Stand, Cadzow Avenue

Station Road, Sowerby Bridge

Mike Silmon - Rep and Sec

Hamilton ML3 0LU

Halifax

W O Silmon Ltd

Tel: 01698 476170

Industry Road, Heaton

Fax: 01698 476180

Newcastle upon Tyne

Mobile: 07795 090903

Tyne & Wear NE6 5XB

email:

Tel: 0191 224 0777

paul.devine@southlanarkshire.gov.uk

West Yorkshire HX6 3AA Tel: 07703336264 email: craig@lbiinstallations.com

Michelle Brocklehurst - Sec

Fax: 0191 224 0707

Brulines Fuel Solutions

email:

Southern

associationtreasurer@apea.org.uk

Philip Monger - Rep

The Former Post Office

Petrol Retailers Association

Station Road, Sowerby Bridge

Midlands

Meadowside

Halifax HX6 3AA

Rob Tunnicliff - Rep/Acting Sec

West EndSherbourne St John

Tel: 01422 833122

37 Victoria Park Road

Basingstoke, Hants RG24 9LE

email: michelle@lbiinstallations.com

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

73

2011 Training Course Dates Petrol Filling Stations Construction, Safety and Environmental Protection

Wetstock Management 14 June

Cardiff

Petrol Filling Stations – Enforcement Procedures An Awareness

21/22 June

Manchester

13 Sept

Glasgow

6 June

Luton

13/14 Sept

Solihull

15 Nov

Manchester

12 Sept

Cardiff

1/2 Nov

Glasgow

14 Nov

Manchester

Explosives and Fireworks Petrol Filling Stations Risk Assessment, Audit and Inspection 14/15 June

Glasgow

5/6 Sept

Solihull

TRAINING

Electrical Installations An Awareness

7 Sept

Manchester

13 Sept

Luton

5 Oct

Solihull

12 Oct

Derby

DSEAR 25 May

Solihull

Forecourt LPG Installations 9 June

Belfast

14 Sept

Glasgow

10 Nov

Solihull

Petrol Filling Stations; Vapour Recovery Installations

24 May

Solihull

28 Sept

Luton

27 June

Belfast

13 Sept

Glasgow

9 Nov

Glasgow

29 Sept

Luton

29 Nov

Luton

7 Dec

Cardiff

7 Nov

Cardiff

Courses will be designed around the new (3rd edition) Blue Book Guidance for the Design, Construction, Modification, Maintenance and Decommissioning of Filling Stations May 2011.

You can purchase a copy directly from the Publications page of the APEA website at www.apea.org.uk or contact the APEA Business Manager on 0845 603 5507 or at admin@apea.org.uk (the 3rd edition is scheduled for publication at the end of May).

APEA members can purchase a hard copy at the discounted rate of £70 (non member rate £140).

A PDF download from the APEA web site www.apea.org.uk may be purchased with a licence for individual use only by members for £84.00 including vat or by non members for £168.00 including vat.

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 - APEA Business Manager, (contact details on page 3) or Brian Baker, Training Chairman Tel: +44 (0) 7541 039 686 email: bakerb4@sky.com 74

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