The Bulletin Magazine - March 2007

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The Bulletin Journal of the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration

March 2007

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Editorial

Contents Regulars Chairman’s Report

Brian Baker 4

Editor 52 Milton Grove Bletchley

Editor’s Report

5

Milton Keynes MK3 5BH

Letters to the Editor

Business Manager’s Report

5

6

New APEA Members

8

News

9

tel:

+44 (0) 1908 252332

fax:

+44 (0) 1908 252319

mob:

+44 (0) 7932 785166

e-mail:

brian.baker@miltonkeynes.gov.uk

Jamie Thompson Press Releases

20

Publishing Chairman 70 Wangford Road Reydon

Articles

Southwold

APEA AGM, Conference, Exhibition and Awards Dinner 2007

28

Suffolk

Experience of Stage 2 Vapour Recovery in the UK

32

IP18 6NX

APEA Yearbook 2008 Registration

37

A History of Petrol Filling Stations - Part One The Coming of “Rock Oil”

37

The Monitoring of Light Oil Separators at Petrol Stations

41

email:

Paul Craven - Obituary

45

jamiethompson@ukonline.co.uk

“Testing Times - Ahead?”

46

Application of RIDDOR to Petroleum Spirit and Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG)

50

Edensure revolutionises Wetstock Management in the UK

51

Tel/fax:

+44 (0) 1502 722999

Mobile:

+44 (0) 7770 625851

Jane Mardell Business Manager (including Bulletin Advertising and Production)

Branches Branch reports

52

PO Box 106 Saffron Walden Essex CB11 3XT

Training

United Kingdom

2007 course dates and booking details

55

APEA Delivers Training to the Ministry of Defence

56

Membership Application Form

58

Tel/fax:

+44 (0) 845 603 5507

Mobile:

+44 (0) 7815 055514

email:

admin@apea.org.uk

Front Cover - Petrol Pump in Wales

Published by the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration A company Limited by Guarantee registered in England No. 2261600 Opinions expressed in this Journal are not necessarily the views of the Association.

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believe that we have already made a

Chairman’s Report

good start by raising interest in our

May I wish all of our members and

annual

conference/exhibition/dinner

indeed our wider readership a very

event, but there is more we can do. For

happy and rewarding 2007. No doubt it

example www.apea.org.uk is currently

will be another challenging year for all

under-utilised as a communication tool

of us.

and I would like to encourage members to make more use of the website. Again,

I

thought

my

it does require you to contribute

manifesto now that I am safely in the

technical documents to be uploaded

chair and I hope I can deliver a little at a

and stored in the website’s Resource

time

Centre.

to

I

would

ensure

present

continued

but

sustainable improvements in the way the Association positions itself to serve your needs as members.

We are also re-launching “APEA DISCUSS”,

which

is

an

good ideas and so we look again to you

email

to forward your suggestions. Branches

discussion list to which all members

may wish to add this item to their next

In order for me to understand what

who have provided email addresses will

agenda to generate some healthy

our members want from, and what they

be subscribed. Its purpose is a forum

discussions.

would like to give to, the Association

for posting industry related enquiries,

over the next few years I intend to meet

I feel as though I

and talk with as many of you as

have given you plenty

possible. So I shall be attending

of homework in this

meetings of the active branches during

issue; “think not what

2007 and look forward to speaking with

the APEA can do for

you and hearing your views. I make

you but what you can

reference to the active branches in

do for the APEA”.

particular, because whilst they do an excellent job in providing a regional

I

contact point and focus, many of our

Association

like

the

to

be

members do not enjoy the support of an

requests for advice or information or for

known as

active branch. I feel that the future

initiating discussions on current issues

‘reference point’ for our members to

success of the Association depends to

affecting our members. It is not

head to when you need information. We

some extent on flourishing activity and

intended

based

will either be able to provide the answer

inclusion at ‘grass roots’ level and so I

content and its success will depend on

or point you in the right direction. I hope

intend

the integrity of those members who use

we are moving in the right direction.

working

with

my

council

colleagues to provide branch based geographical

coverage.

for

commercially

THE ‘starting place’ or

it.

Ultimately

In closing I would like to say how Silmon

saddened I have been and how unfair it

volunteering their time and enthusiasm

prepares and presents our annual

is that our secretary Paul Craven has

to make it happen. If you would like to

accounts we are reminded of the

passed away at his youthful age of 58,

become more involved then please

healthy

the

having given so many years to our

email your branch rep or myself.

Association and as a non profit making

industry and to have enjoyed such a

organisation we must continuously

short period of retirement. Thanks to

the

consider ways to use our funds for

Jamie and Steve Rowe for writing

Association, as I see it, is as a readily

members’ benefit. So perhaps it is time

Paul’s obituary later in this issue.

available conduit for information and as

to put in place a programme of

a facilitator to put people in touch with

initiatives which will achieve this. Your

people to share such information. I

council will not be blessed with all the

success will depend on members

One

4

would

of

the

key

roles

of

As

our

treasurer

financial

Mike

status

of

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

Bob

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Editor’s Report Just when I thought there was a chance that I could be put out to pasture, I end up taking on this most responsible post of Editor of the Bulletin Journal, a position that carries one of the largest responsibilities within this Association and one that I look forward to the demanding challenge ahead.

My first task is to congratulate Tony Jenner for his time at the helm who had maintained the high standards set by others and wish him well for the future.

I have had little time to reflect on my period of office as Chairman as already the Conference & Exhibition has long ended and we are now well underway in preparing for the 2007 Conference and given last year’s fantastic response, we eagerly await this next one.

Starting to look at my particular role as Editor, I do have a few ideas on what can go into each issue and perhaps change one or two things but I do need to look at what we have coming in.

Certainly all submissions and presentations will be considered with assurance it remains a technical article as opposed to advertising wares and services I am fast learning that to put this Journal out every 3 months, it totally depends on receiving articles from members no matter how big or small. I am also very conscious that although we are a “petroleum” type organisation we are fast moving away from that product into new alternative fuels that in themselves, present new challenges.

the standard Hazardous Area Classifications of 4 metres for example?

Perhaps some of you Electrical Engineers or project Engineers have a view on this. If so write to me.

How about the people that have served our downstream industry for many years? They have history that personally I would like to know about. I remember my early days as an Inspecting Officer with the Fire & Rescue Service dealing with “Pump Maintenance” While I am on that subject, do you remember those soapy water tests we did on Tanks along all the seams before they went in? As we approach a 50-year life span maybe it is now we turn our attention back and see what it has taught us!

While I am on the subject of people this advert is to call for anyone in our industry that has been appointed to a new position, new company, won an award or recognition or has made a significant contribution. No matter how big or small the news, please send in to me as Editor, preferably with a photograph I am also mindful that we now have 3 times more Petroleum Licensing Authorities than we did in 1974 though we did have 1500 prior to the reorganisation of Local Government that year. The present last count is 190 across the UK. Many of these Authorities have either employed a single person to deliver the enforcement role; most are more likely to be in a multi skilled role. Only the large urban areas and a few county councils retain the services of their Fire & Rescue Service to discharge this function. Maybe through the pages of this Journal we need to redress the balance and put something in specific for those that audit, inspect and regulate. Your shout on that one!

different challenges? I recall receiving a presentation on Hurricane damage earlier this year from the USA which caused me to reflect on something I would not ordinarily think of? How do you deal with such extreme weather conditions whether your installation is above or below ground? To see an above ground tank lifted and scattered across a freeway (motorway) looked even more bizarre! Let us know what news you have. My international dialling codes are listed at the end of this editorial So with scribe in hand (nervously I add) here I go at my first attempt. Keep in touch with me – let me have those articles, news and letters!

Best Wishes and have an enjoyable read.

Brian Baker

Of course we do have many members outside the UK and to those I say that with the web and the internet we are closer together and it is to you I particularly would like to hear from.

What is going on in your Country? Is it the same as the UK or are you facing

At the time of preparing my Editorial, I have just received the very sad news of Paul Craven, our Secretary who passed away on 19th December 2006. I shall leave it to others to bear testimony to Paul’s work and dedication to our industry but could not restrain enough to add my own personal thoughts by saying we have lost a great colleague, friend and a wonderful light. I had known Paul for 10 years and spent times with him delivering APEA Training Courses and it was a delight to have had that pleasure. I know those that new Paul will join with me in expressing our heart felt sympathy for his family and friends and recognise what a lovely guy he was.

Sir,

in the Bulletin and local and national

Editor's Note; Do you share this

The APEA seems almost exclusively

training meetings? This is clearly not

to concentrate on matters relating to

relevant to many members, but is to

petroleum, whilst the objectives of the

those who have involvement in both

Association

subjects, largely regulators.

For example: Is there an issue with the use of alcohol-based fuels when in contact with existing fuel installations?

We still have plenty of steel in the ground let alone any reaction to Plastic based material in the form of tanks or lines. How about the chemical characteristics themselves? Lower Explosive Limits for the ethanol/methanol type fuels differ from petroleum spirit so are dispersion rates different? Do we need to re-consider

Letters to the Editor

clearly

still

relate

to

explosives as well. Would it be possible

Jeremy Kennett

for APEA to include more on explosives

Kent County Council

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

view? Does the APEA offer fair coverage on Explosives as a topic? Can you supply an article? Give me a all or an e-mail 5

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Business Manager’s Report

Bulletin

The last few months have been very busy and I hope that all of you that attended the APEA AGM, Conference, Exhibition and Dinner in November enjoyed yourselves. It certainly was an exciting event that we are to repeat in 2007.

I was very sad to hear the news of the loss of Paul Craven, he was a lovely kind man and I will personally miss him greatly and the contribution he made to helping me with my work and the APEA.

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

Please send me any news items, press releases or articles for the June 2007 issue and I will pass them onto our Editor for approval.

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

2008 Yearbook

Thanks to all of you that renewed your advertising for the 2007 issues of the Bulletin and thanks to new advertisers too.

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

You will also receive a 50% discount on Yearbook advertising too for the 2008 issue.

The advertising rates remain unchanged for 2007 and are listed on our website on the ‘Publications’ page at www.apea.org.uk If you would like to book advertising in the Bulletin for 2007, please call me on 0845 603 5507 or email me at admin@apea.org.uk for a booking form.

With this issue of the Bulletin you will find a form that shows the contact details that we currently hold for you on the APEA Membership database and a table of ‘Trade Directories’. If you wish to be included in the 2008 Yearbook please complete the form by ticking the ‘Directories’ box that you wish to be listed under and faxing the form to me on 0845 603 5507 or you can post it to the APEA office.

You receive one free ‘Classified’ entry which is your contact details and one free entry on the ‘Directories’ page. You can tick additional ‘Directory’ boxes but there is an additional charge for these which is detailed on the form.

Even if you do not wish to advertise in the Yearbook you need to complete the form and return it to me to be included in the Yearbook. I will record the details of everyone that has returned their form.

If you wish to have alternative contact details included in the Yearbook to the ones that are detailed on the form then please amend the form and return it to me.

As with every year the forms need to be returned to me by 1st April in order for the diaries to printed and distributed in the Autumn.

2007 Membership Thanks to all of you that renewed your membership by 1st January. If you have not already done this I would be grateful if you can make your payment for 2007 as soon as possible. This will help reduce the number of reminders that I send out each year.

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

Unfortunately we have been unable to continue with the Direct Debit facility, however, if you wish to set up a standing order please let me know I will forward the APEA bank details.

Please contact me on 0845 603 5507 or by email at admin@apea.org.uk should you need assistance.

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Bulletin Advertising

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

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

We also publish the Code of Practice for Ground floor, multi storey and underground car parks. This can be purchased directly from our website or by calling me at the office.

APEA Members £10.00 plus p+p Non APEA Members £20.00 plus p+p Training Thanks to all of you that have booked on the APEA training courses.

The 2007 dates are detailed on page 55 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 am arranging bespoke courses for various 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.

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

Thanks go out to all our trainers who often travel long distances to provide their valuable services.

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.

New Members There have been 33 new members joining during October, November and December and details can be found on page 8.

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

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

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

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

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

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New APEA Members Detailed below are new members that have recently joined the APEA during October, November and December 2006.

October Anthony Kay Lawrence Tattersall Yorkshire House Leopold Street Sheffield South Yorkshire S1 3RT Linda Curtis Martindales Architects Ltd 1a Oakington Business Park Oakington Cambs CB24 3DQ Gurdal Orak OPET Petrolculuk A.S. Bulgurulu MH. Sarigazi CD No. 47 Uskudar Istanbul 34696 Turkey Francis McNally Tonagh Electrics Ltd 2 Tonagh Heights Draperstown Co Derry BT45 7DD Clive Kyle Ballymena Borough Council 'Ardeevin' 80 Galgorm Road Ballymena Antrim BT42 1AB Northern Ireland Derek Longbotham 34 Talbot Street Grangemouth FK3 8HU Alan Morris AMGS Electrical Ltd Unit 9, Hanham Business Park Memorial Road Hanham Bristol BS15 3JE Mark Thomas ABB limited The Technology Centre Scottish Enterprise Technology Park East Kilbride G75 0QD Steve Gain 18 Mead Hatchgate Reading Road Hook Hants RG27 9PU Andrew Evans Egnitest Penyfron Serth Tabor Road Dolgellau Gwynedd LL40 2PR

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Nick Heirons Buckinghamshire County Council Trading Standards Division 5/7 Walton Street Aylesbury Bucks HP20 1UP Neil Tynan Jacobs Fairbairn House Ashton Lane, Sale Manchester M33 6WP

Ian Maclachlan IKM Consulting Ltd Park House 39 Bo'ness Road Grangemouth Stirlingshire FK3 8AN Kevin Rust Rust & Kemp Builders Limited Unit 13 The Quadrangle Centre The Drift, Nacton Road Ipswich IP3 9QR December

Barry Hughes 21 Brancaster Close Amington Tamworth Staffs B77 3QD Joseph Graham Maxol Limited 3 Custom House Plaza International Financial Services Centre Dublin 1 Ireland Jane White 127 Abbey Road Torry Aberdeen AB11 9QB Mike Usher-Clark 23 Clarence Grove Road Weston super Mare Somerset BS23 4AG November Tony Davis Maskell Productions Ltd P.O. Box 11 185 Ellerslie Auckland 1542 New Zealand Craig Cooper Moto Hospitality Ltd PO Box 218 Toddington Bedfordshire LU5 6QG Robert Ravenscroft 1 Rushbrooke Drive Sutton Coldfield Birmingham West Midlands B73 6QS Chris Haritou ABFAD Limited Unit 93, Business & Innovation Centre Enterprise Park East Wearfield Sunderland Tyne and Wear SR5 2TQ Ian Blandin Forecourt Services La Collette St Helier JE2 3NX Jersey

Geordie Chisholm 14 Raymond Close Verwood Dorset BH31 6DL Jason Donnachie 39 Manor Lane Verwood Dorset BH31 6HX Iain JonesCalves Hill Ltd Unit 3 Park Close Ampney Crucis Cirencester Gloucestershire GL7 5RY John Ackerley Fuelmasters Ltd 28 Brookfield Drive Littleborough Lancashire 0L15 8RH Stephen Hannan MIS Fuel Monitoring Ltd Merridale Works Lower Walsall Street, Horseley Fields Wolverhampton West Midlands WV1 2EU Tariq Majid Majid and Sons (Service Stations) Ltd Basildon Service Station Reading Road Lower Basildon Berkshire RG8 9NL Conor Lucey Coteba Ireland Limited Block F6 Nutgrove Office Park, Rathfarnham Dublin 14 Ireland Karl Waeschle DUERR GmbH & Co. KG Pleidelsheimer Strasse 30 Bietigheim-Bissingen 74321 Germany Leeanne Taylor 76 Windrows Skelmersdale Lancashire WN8 8NW Graham Oxley Aberdeenshire Council 10 Commerce Street Fraserburgh Aberdeenshire AB43 9AQ

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News

UK, Climate Change Bill The UK Government has recently announced measures to limit carbon emissions to meet the government's goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 (including an independent advisory body and stronger monitoring and reporting arrangements) A range of policy statements are expected to follow over the coming months as briefings are taking place throughout public sector organisations including Local Authorities.

It is hoped to keep all APEA Members briefed on any government statements issued as they are received

UK, New Approved Document B of the UK’s Building Regulations In December 2006, the new Approved Document Part B (Fire Safety) under the UK’s Building Regulations was published after an extensive 2 year consultation period.

The main changes are:

alternative means, particularly for Health Care Premises and Schools 6. Fire Detection and Alarms are updated to take account of BS 5839 Part 1 2002 7. Certain clarification on what is acceptable to aid means of escape ion case of fire is listed under Part B1 8. Notional Boundaries allow for space separation between buildings 9. Various minor changes in respect of Part B5 in terms of Access for Fire Fighting.

Copies of the new document can be obtained from the following link; http://www.planningportal.gov.uk/engla nd/professionals/en/4000000000084.ht

UK, Pipeline failure in Cambridgeshire Recently, a pipeline failure was detected at a US Air Force base in Cambridgeshire. This has posed concerns for the Ministry of Defence's construction agent Defence Estates.

1. The Approved Document is now split into 2 volumes, Volume 1 is concerned with Domestic Dwellings whilst Volume 2 (and therefore relevant to Service Stations) applies to Non Domestic Premises.

2. Fire Safety information on how to comply is a new requirement for the Authorities to make provision for to meet the duties on Employer’s/Landlords/Owners in terms of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2004.

3. New guidance is given to Management to ensure management regimes are realistic 4. Suitable Certification Schemes can now be accepted by Building Control Bodies as evidence of compliance 5. Provision is made for compliance by

The pipe work, known as Enviroflex, was discovered to have been subject to a corrosive attack causing with severe failure of the outer wall through cracking and distortion with crazing occurring on the inner.

The failure was discovered whilst a re-pumping project was carried out on the site and it is believed to have been installed in 1993. In other words, failure is thought to have occurred within 13

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

years of the original installation.

The discovery prompted a study by Defence Estates into the extent of pipework installed in USF bases across the UK and a more detailed investigation into the cause of the attack on the integrity of the pipe.

Editor; Interesting to note that non UK standards and specifications can be used in such establishments, which in this case is a Military Base.

UK, Shell admits polluting groundwater supply Oil giant Shell has been successfully prosecuted after up to 3,500 litres of fuel leaked from a tank, polluting groundwater supplies.

The leak from an underground storage tank at Shell’s Oakland’s Park petrol station in Hertfordshire polluted a major aquifer, which was a potential source of drinking water.

“As soon as this leak was discovered we began a groundwater sampling programme with Shell to determine the extent of the pollution”, said Andrew Pynn from the Environment Agency.

“The early results have shown minimal risk to existing drinking water supplies but Shell had put groundwater – a valuable underground resource – at risk of severe contamination” Shell pleaded guilty after it admitted it was unable to account for an estimated 3,500 litres of unleaded petrol. The firm was fined £30,000 and ordered to pay £5,608 in costs at St Albans Crown Court.

The Oakland’s Park site had been identified by Shell for re-tanking work in 2004. The leak came to light following a series of tests on the tank.

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News Shell reported the incident to the local fire authority and the Environment Agency because stock records for January 2004 to January 2005 showed a variance in the tank levels of 3,498 litres.

It said that some of this could have been due to various matters, including fuel temperature changes but accepted that there had been a leak of mixed hydrocarbons into the groundwater.

Samples taken from boreholes at the scene by Environment Agency Officers confirmed that groundwater at the site had become contaminated.

The samples included an additive usually found in unleaded petrol and levels of benzene, a chemical with carcinogenic properties, thousands of times above the UK standard for safe drinking water.

Shell informed the Environment Agency of a second leak at the same petrol station, although there was no separate charge for this offence, it was taken into account by the Court when sentencing the company.

UK, Marlie Farm incident inquest opens The inquests into the deaths of two East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service staff members have been opened and adjourned in Eastbourne. Brian Wembridge, 63, and Geoff Wicker, 49, both lost their lives in an explosion at a fireworks factory in Shortgate, near Ringmer, on December 3. The two inquests were opened and adjourned until a further date when police have completed their investigation.

It has also been confirmed that the

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funeral of Mr Wembridge, a retired Watch Manager and Service Photographer, will be held on Tuesday, December 19. East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service has not yet been made aware of a date for firefighter Geoff Wicker's funeral.

Members of the public have come out in force to show their support and sympathy, contributing to the East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service Memorial Fund and signing books of condolence, which are available online at www.esfrs.org, at all East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service Stations, County Hall, Lewes and town halls in Brighton, Hove and Portslade.

Two minutes silence was privately held by most fire service personnel across East Sussex on Sunday at the time of the blast (14.44) a week earlier.

Fire officers also collected memorial funds from the crowd at Brighton & Hove Albion's Saturday evening match.

Geoff Wicker and Brian Wembridge were among 60 members of the service in attendance during the initial stages of the Ringmer incident. Mr Wembridge was a retired firefighter but his family have requested a full brigade funeral.

East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service would ask members of the media to respect the family's privacy.

UK, Yorkshire, Leeds.

Fireworks stored among lighters and fuel November 5 2006 - Trading Standards officers in North Yorkshire say they were appalled to find fireworks alongside barbecue lighting fuel, firelighters, cigarette lighters and refill canisters, as well as spirits such as brandy. After this week's inspections, N o r t h Yo r k s h i r e ' s executive member with responsibility for Trading

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

Standards, John Fort, said: "The requirements of the rules for storage expect businesses to apply common sense. "Traders need to appreciate that fireworks are explosives and storing them incorrectly could mean that a small fire wouldn't be contained. "It could mean the difference between having to close for a couple of days after a fire and losing the business completely.

"We suspect that insurance companies would not pay out on a claim if they found out that the fire involved fireworks and lighter fuel being stored together. "The added factor is that most of these premises are in residential areas and a fire could lead to loss of life as well as badly damaging neighbouring homes and businesses."

North Yorkshire's Trading Standards officers will have visited 88 stores in this firework selling season. Many premises will be revisited to make sure they are complying with advice. Other problems found on the inspections include fireworks stored in the open on shop floors, storage cupboards in such poor condition that the doors would not stay closed, locked fire exits, unlocked display cupboards and poor supervision of sales areas, allowing fireworks to be stolen. The county's assistant director of business and environment services, Graham Venn, said: "Businesses are required to complete a separate risk assessment for fireworks. "This sounds like an administrative task but if these businesses had followed this process, they would have thought through how they are going to store and sell fireworks and what they need to do to protect their staff and the public. "If you are selling fireworks and haven't carried out a risk assessment, I would urge you to do so now."

UK, Warfield. Tesco sells diesel to petrol customers November 22 2006 - A Warfield petrol station left motorists stranded - and fuming -after diesel was put in an unleaded fuel tank. Motorists at the Tesco petrol station in County Lane filled up with what they thought was unleaded petrol only to find that it was contaminated with diesel. The massive hiccup happened two weeks previous but was only confirmed by Tesco,

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News following a barrage of complaints. Many people found that their cars wouldn't start the next day.

Mike Kitson, of Oaklands Drive, Ascot, received a letter from Tesco admitting that their petrol was contaminated and they would pay all his repair costs. He said: "We took our car to the garage after it was not running well and the mechanics said that they thought there was something wrong with the fuel. "When we called Tesco they said that there was nothing wrong with their fuel and they had not had any other complaints." The fuel in the Mercedes had to be taken out, then fresh petrol was put in and new filters were installed into the car.They are still waiting for their bill from the garage. Mr Kitson added: "I am not happy with the amount of time they have taken to sort this out and admit it was their fault. "I have spoken to at least five people who have had to take their cars to the garage after filling up there and had complained to Tesco." Alan Powell, 45, filled up his BMW with £40 of petrol at Tesco on the same day and when he got into his car the next morning it would not start. Mr Powell, of Julius Hill, Warfield said: "Tesco were fobbing me off for ages. They have finally admitted they are to blame and said that they will pay all the bills."I cannot believe that they are not offering us any compensation for all the trouble that we have had. Even some shopping vouchers would have been good."

Despite repeated requests for a comment, Tesco failed to respond.

UK, Peckham.

Gunpower Leak in shop November 4 2006 - A cache of illegal fireworks has been seized. The potentially deadly explosives were being sold by a shopkeeper in Peckham. More than 800 of the rogue fireworks were found when police and trading standards officers raided Nancy,a shop in Peckham High Street.

As well as the illegal fireworks,officers found more than 4,000 bangers and rockets being stored unsafely. Some were even kept above electrical light fittings and next to electric cabling.The recovered fireworks were also leaking gunpowder. The shop is still being investigated. Councillor Lisa Rajan,

Southwark council's executive member for environment and transport, said: "The utmost care must be taken in the storage, handling and use of fireworks.We will take firm action against any retailers who disregard the law and by doing so put the safety of members of the public at risk. "Of course we want people to enjoy the celebrations, but the safety of our residents is our prime concern.

"Examples of initiatives we are involved in this year include giving lessons on firework safety in schools, removing fire hazards on streets and estates, carrying out mystery shopper exercises on retailers registered to store fireworks and issuing fixed penalty notices for firework misuse."

UK, Preston. Man fined for firework haul November 25 2006 - Some of the fireworks stored in the conservatory A man risked the safety of his family and neighbours after storing a stockpile of fireworks at his home.

South Ribble Magistrates' Court were told 44-year-old Anthony Paul Dolan had stored crate-loads of fireworks in the conservatory of his semi-detached home in Stanley Avenue, Leyland, which he shares with his partner and three children. Police and Lancashire Trading Standards officers raided the house in October 2004. Nick McNamara, prosecuting on behalf of Trading Standards, said: "Fireworks come under the definition of gunpowder and premises where they are stored are required to be registered with the local authority, on grounds of public safety.

"Officers were concerned about the levels of heat that could be generated in that area and, because of the glass windows, had there been an explosion the consequences are only too obvious." David Thompson, defending, said: "The defendant admits that he made a foolish decision to store the fireworks at his home." Magistrates fined Dolan £250 and ordered him to pay £250 towards prosecution costs.

UK, Dr Jim Jeacock Dr Jim Jeacock OBE an honorary member of the Association passed away on November 9th 2006.

Jim was an Inspector of Explosives and worked for the Home Office for

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

many years, in the days before 1974 when petroleum came under the Home Office. He was a great supporter of the Association in its early days and those who worked with him will remember him as one who worked hard and enjoyed life. He led a delegation to Hamburg in the 1960’s when the UK regulators was first considering if self service should be allowed.

He chaired one of our first conferences in Cambridge on the new petrol tanker Regs, which really started the interest in the successful APEA conferences that we see today.

UK, London. HSE The Buncefield investigation board focuses on recommendations for the future December 9 2006 - Buncefield Major Incident Investigation Chair: Lord Newton of Braintree.

The Major Incident Investigation Board is now focusing its work on developing conclusions and recommendations for future action. The Board continues to monitor the progress of the complex on-going work and criminal investigation, but any decisions on legal proceedings are solely for HSE and EA. In all its activities and conduct the Board is very conscious of the need to avoid any risk of legal prejudice.

Lord Newton of Braintree, the Chairman of the Buncefield Major Incident Investigation Board said: "In the year since the Buncefield incident, local residents and businesses have continually demonstrated strength and determination to overcome the devastation and changes to daily life which have been caused by the explosion. The Dacorum Borough Council, Business Leaders and many others have worked impressively together, not only for recovery, but also for new opportunities, renewal and growth." He continued: "The Board is aware that great uncertainty remains and continues to work extremely hard on reaching its own conclusions and recommendations. Nothing can change what happened a year ago, but the Board knows that the right lessons must 11

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News be learnt to prevent any repetition of such events."

The publication of the Board's Initial Report in mid July 2006 and the completion of evidence gathering on the site marked a transition point in terms of identifying issues and key areas of ongoing work. Since then the Board has focused on three main work streams comprising the lessons to be learned from Buncefield, namely design and operation of storage sites; emergency response to incidents and advice to planning authorities. It has been looking ahead at developing conclusions and recommendations for future action. The board has decided that understanding the violence of the explosions at Buncefield, which remains unexplained, should be the subject of a separate programme of research for which the Board is currently examining suitable arrangements. A review of regulatory policy and procedures of the HSE and Environment Agency (the joint Competent Authority, or CA) associated with Buncefield is also underway.

Finally the primary investigation into possible breaches of the law continues to make good progress. A decision on whether to recommend proceedings will be taken by the CA once all reasonable lines of inquiry are concluded.

Notes Further update on the Buncefield Major Investigation Board's work.

1. The Board's 5th term of reference is to make recommendations for future action to ensure the effective management and regulation of major accident risk at COMAH sites. This should include consideration of offsite as well as on-site risks and consider prevention of incidents, preparations for response to incidents, and mitigation of their effects. In its initial report published in July 2006, the board set out three main areas of concern to be addressed under this TOR. On design and operations the Board has met with the Chair of the regulator/industry task group and had a number of its own detailed discussions. The development of interim recommendations is well advanced. We hope to be in a position to publish these in late January or early February, but it is the area where legal considerations 12

impact most forcefully.

2. On emergency response, reports continue to be published and the Board is monitoring them as they emerge.

In our own recommendations we do not want to repeat what they contain, but rather to add value, offering the wider perspective that our remit permits.

Consequently, our work in this area is less advanced, but we hope to publish our interim recommendations in the first quarter of next year.

3. The situation with planning is different. In our public statement that accompanied publication of the third progress report (on 9 May) we urged HSE to review the advice it gives to planning authorities in relation to sites such as Buncefield. As a result HSE is developing a consultative document which we understand they hope to publish in January. We have met with the HSE team responsible and have indicated the key issues that we would like to see covered in it.

We will await publication of the document and consider whether it is appropriate for us to respond formally.4. Regarding the violence of the explosion, the Board published a statement on 9 May stating, "More work is needed to fully understand the explosion mechanism and how it generated such extreme overpressures, thereby causing so much damage." It is now clear that such work will take years and should therefore be detached from the three main areas of concern described above. The Board has been instrumental in bringing together a working group, drawn from experts in industry and academia, to formulate a research project, and consider how such a project can be funded and managed.

5. The Board's third term of reference is to examine the Health and Safety Executive's and the Environment Agency's role in regulating the activities on the Buncefield site under the COMAH Regulations considering relevant policy guidance and intervention activity. Separate teams acting on behalf of the Board have been reviewing the regulatory systems applying to Buncefield, which the Board expects to make public in its final report. 6. The

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Board's first term of reference is to ensure the thorough investigation of the incident, the factors leading up to it, its impact on and off site, and to establish its causation including root causes. This investigation has determined what happened and how, and this information has been made public in the four reports that have been published by the Board, and which have been acted upon by the joint Competent Authority.

The investigation is continuing to follow all reasonable lines of inquiry and in particular is focusing on why control of the fuel in tank 912 was lost and whether there have been breaches of the law. For more information visit http://www.buncefieldinvestigation.gov. uk

UK, Scotland.

Highland garages told to improve lax pollution control November 18 2006 - The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) is blitzing garages in the Highlands to ensure they have adequate spill protection measures in place. Those found to be storing or disposing of waste incorrectly could find themselves liable for prosecution.

SEPA's team leader for Dingwall, Colin Craig, who will be co-ordinating the spot checks, said: "Vehicles contain many environmental contaminants such as oil, battery acid and antifreeze, which can cause pollution of the ground and have an adverse impact on water if not handled properly. As Scotland's environmental regulator we are tasked with ensuring that environmental laws are complied with. "Garage checks of this nature are extremely important in identifying problems and promoting good practices among businesses in terms of what they do with their waste."

UK, Carbon savings Virtually all biofuels offer some carbon savings, because the CO2 that is emitted into the atmosphere when they are burned is offset by the amount the crop has absorbed as it grows. In this sense they are different from fossil fuels, which emit into the atmosphere

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News carbon which has been safely locked away under the earth's surface for millions of years.

The carbon savings from biofuels is, however, offset by the energy that is needed for cultivation, harvesting, processing and transportation.

The best biofuels are those which are produced using the least energy (eg low inputs of fertiliser, processed in an energy-efficient way and transported short distances).

The worst biofuels can result in greater lifecycle carbon emissions than fossil fuels (ie more energy is needed to produce them than is saved by using them). As a rule of thumb, most biofuels offer a carbon saving of something like 50 per cent compared to fossil fuels.

So, if we were to achieve five per cent biofuel sales in the UK, we would deliver a carbon saving from road transport of 2.5 per cent - equivalent to about 1 million tonnes of carbon, which is much the same thing (in carbon terms) as taking a million cars off the road.

Diversity of energy supply Biofuels get us away from 100 per cent dependency on fossil fuels. In the longer term, it is possible that biofuels might make up as much as 20-30 per cent of total fuel sales, although estimates of the total global capacity for biofuels vary widely.

Benefits for the rural economy This is why biofuels are so popular in the US, Brazil and much of the rest of the EU. However UK feedstocks generally cost more (especially compared to Brazilian bioethanol), so UK farmers may only benefit when/if cheaper imports become less available owing to growing global demand. Some countries' support is carefully targeted at domestic production.

For a free download version go to; http://www.dft.gov.uk/stellent/groups/dft _roads/documents/page/dft_roads_613 859.hcsp

UK, Fatal Fire involving Fireworks and Cylinders

By Des Prichard, Chief Fire & Rescue

Officer, East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service.

“It is my very sad duty to inform you that two members of East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service lost their lives during a severe fire within East Sussex.”

“A fire call was received for Festival Fireworks, Marlie Farm, The Broyle, Shortgate, Near Ringmer, East Sussex on the 3 December 2006 at 13:49 hours.”

“Crews were faced with a large developing fire involving a range of outbuildings containing fire works and cylinders.”

“The number of attending fire engines was quickly increased to help bring the fire under control.”

“A large explosion is reported to have occurred less than an hour from the first call being received and a number of casualties were reported.”

“In addition to the two fatal casualties nine Firefighters were also injured along with a police sergeant and two members of the public. All the Firefighters have now been discharged from hospital although some treatment will continue for weeks to come.”

“The next of kin have been informed although formal identification of the bodies has not taken place and this is part of the formal investigation process.

The names that have been released by the media have not been communicated or confirmed by ESFRS. I would like to confirm that Dick Broady is not one of our members who lost their lives or became injured at the scene.”

“I would like to convey my personal condolences and on behalf of my staff, to the families of our colleagues. Our thoughts are with them at this difficult time. Thank you to everyone who has made offers of support and forwarded kind messages, which is very much appreciated at this time.”

“Arrangements have been put in place to provide support and look after the welfare of those affected by this incident and the police have also provided assistance through their family liaison team.”

“We are cooperating fully with the police and the Health and Safety Executive during this investigation to establish the facts surrounding the situation, which led to this tragic incident. This is a complex situation requiring careful coordination.”

“An on-line condolence facility is available on our website. If you would like to make a donation to the Memorial

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Fund, bank details are available below.”

“Funeral arrangements will be communicated in due course when the wishes of the two families are known.”

“Thank you for your continued support during this difficult and testing time.”

UK, Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service launches Buncefield report A report which could help shape the emergency response to national and international major incidents has been launched.

Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service’s report into the Buncefield Oil Depot fire - the largest fire in peacetime Europe contains 30 recommendations, which will now be shared worldwide with emergency services and other agencies responsible for responding to major incidents.

Hertfordshire’s Chief Fire Officer, Roy Wilsher, launched the report on November 8 at the Fire Conference 2006 in Telford, where he gave a keynote speech and shared the stage with Fire Minister, Angela Smith.

The massive explosion on December 11, 2005, in Hemel Hempstead, saw an unprecedented emergency response.

Control rooms across the south east handled more than 220 emergency calls to the incident. In total, 786,000 litres of foam was used to extinguish the fire in 22 tanks.

“This report follows months of investigation, debriefs and interviews with those involved in the response to Buncefield,” said Chief Fire Officer Roy Wilsher. “There has obviously been a great deal of interest in our response to the fire and the lessons we learned.

“This in-depth report examines the incident response step by step. We are very proud of our response to Buncefield but there are recommendations in the report which we have been looking at since the incident and which will now be shared with many organisations.”

Some of the recommendations include: • A national system needs to be established to maintain an accurate 15

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News record of all fire responders at the scene to enable a rapid head count if required.

• Early consideration needs to be given to the type, quantity and duration of deployment of national resources.

• Earpieces for radios should be introduced to enable communication while wearing a helmet.

• Consideration should be given to a national system of incident command support teams that could be deployed during a catastrophic or protracted incident.

A copy of the report, A Review of the Fire Response, which costs £45, can be purchased from The Stationery Office By Post to: TSO, PO Box 29, Norwich NR3 1GN - Telephone +44 (0) 870 600 5522 or visit your local TSO shop or agent.

UK, Ireland, Co Down.

Homes evacuated over station fire December 20 2006 - The cause of a blaze at a Co Down petrol station was probed by police. As bosses of the Maxol Filling Station in Saintfield, which burnt down, extended their sympathies to nearby residents, a spokesman confirmed that detectives are treating the fire as suspicious. The petrol station in went up in flames around 1.30am, causing residents to leave nearby properties. No-one was injured.

Around 50 people had to spend several hours in a church hall while the authorities brought the situation under control. "We are very sorry that residents were both distressed and inconvenienced by this incident," said Brian Donaldson, Maxol's general manager of marketing and retail. One resident of 40 years, Reggie Gibson told how he was evacuated when the alarm was raised slightly before 2am.

"To see the height of the fire and the flames, " he said. It was very, very scary for a while. There was a massive bang at the start - it sounded like a bomb had gone off."

Mr Gibson, who lives 200 yards from the filling station, described the scene as "scary". "There was powerful heat and flames that all had to be contained.

16

It was unbelievable."

Station Commander Mark Gunning from the Fire and Rescue Service said the fire involved propane gas and running fuel.

"When we arrived it was a dangerous situation as the fire was very developed," he said. "It was difficult for fire fighters because of the explosive risk and from what we can see it started off outside the premises." Mr Donaldson said: "Maxol will make every effort to insure that the service station re-opens for business as soon as possible." http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/ne ws/local-national/article2087693.ece

Europe preparing for fuel cell vehicles An increasing number of hydrogen refuelling stations are appearing across Europe as the continent begins to prepare for more fuel cell vehicles Recent developments have seen a number of new hydrogen refuelling stations cropping up across the continent, which will provide the infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles to become a viable form of transport.

Italy´s Agip has announced the launch of a MultiEnergy service station at the Infraserv Höchst Industrial Park, in Germany, which will be able to supply fuel to vehicles such as hydrogen fuel cell cars. The official unveiling of the new refuelling station was attended by Alois Rhiel, minister of economics, transport and territorial development for the region of Assia. Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) at Petten has unveiled a hydrogen filling station to serve ECN´s hydrogenpowered HydroGEM vehicle. The station will also provide refuelling options for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, as Europe continues to prepare for the widescale use of fuel cell cars and trucks in the future.

PetrolPlaza GreenEnergyNewsPosted / Last update 28-11-2006

Biofuels are gaining in popularity and are made from crops like wheat, and are often blended with petrol or diesel.

One of the current debates for biodiesel is the use of crops for food or for fuel.

It added that the drop in emissions was the equivalent to removing "over 20,000 medium sized cars from the road" when calculated over the full span of the delivery fleet's working life.

Many of the UK's largest companies are having to look at how they affect the environment and are facing pressure from consumers to become greener in how they do business.

Demand for organic, locally produced foods and lower emission fuels has been on the increase, and while sales still account for a fraction of annual revenues it is seen as a growing and profitable market by retail analysts and executives.

"We're experiencing a huge demand for more environmentally friendly fuels and are committed to driving down carbon dioxide emissions," said Laurie McIIwee, director of distribution at Tesco.

UK, DEFRA Publish Revised Process Guidance Note PG 1/14 October 2006 The UK’s governmental department, DEFRA has published revised guidance on the application of Vapour Recovery that embraces the new requirements for Stage 2 Controls. The document was released in late October 2006 and sets out Outline Permits for Stage 1b only sites as well as those exceeding an annual throughput of 3.5 million litres of petroleum spirit per annum for existing sites and for 500,000 litres per annum for new sites that attract the new requirements.

UK, Tesco UK to Run Fleet on Biofuels

Each Stage 2 system must be certified and have a European “Type” approval. Automatic systems must be able to detect a fault and that faults are measured over 10 transactions each lasting not less than 20 seconds each

Tesco UK has announced plans to run three quarters of its delivery fleet on biodiesel from January 2007. Tesco said it will run its 2,000 trucks and vans on a 50% biodiesel mix.

Additional controls require that between 85% -115% of dispensed vapour must be collected and returned to the site storage tank. Compliance to Stage 2 requirements are to be

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News completed by 31st December 2009.

For a free download of the Guidance Document go to www.defra.gsi.gov.uk/search/vapourrec overy

Nigeria, Fuel Pipeline Tapping Ends with Fire Killing 265 Residents & red cross officials have confirmed that an organised gang of fuel thieves had been illegally tapping the pipeline for months using road fuel tankers for distribution before the disastrous fire killed 256 on Tuesday which is the latest official count.

Pipeline tapping is a common practice in Nigeria, where a majority of the country's 130 million people live in poverty despite their country's role as Africa's leading crude producer.

However Nigeria depends on imports of petrol for its domestic use. The country's four refineries produce less than 30 percent of their installed capacity, creating a shortfall in supply.

UP Secretary-General Kofi Annan expressed his condolences and called "for a review of the country's fuel supply management, as well as a thorough regional review of risks that could lead to other environmental or technological disasters in West Africa," UP spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Massive corruption and mismanagement has left the country's refineries unable to meet demand, and fuel shortages are common as reported

by PetrolWorld only last week for the Xmas holiday period.

Christians heading home for Christmas, and Muslims preparing for an upcoming feast day, have jammed service stations for days across Lagos, a massive city of 13 million people.

Malta, Improvement of service and safety standards at petrol stations November 19 2006 - The Malta Resources Authority (MRA), within the Resources and Infrastructure Ministry, and in collaboration with the Employment Training Corporation (ETC), the UK Association for

Petroleum and Explosives Administration (APEA) and the General Retailers and Traders Union (GRTU), organised seminars and or courses for petrol station licence holders, site operators and attendants.

The courses were held on four consecutive days between the 21 and 24 November. The first course, held on Tuesday 21 November, was intended for licence holders and site-operators or managers. On the following days a oneday course for petrol station attendants, repeated each day on 22, 23 and 24 November, will be held. Topics covered included general issues related to safety at petrol stations, safe dispensing of petroleum, improvements to be made to petrol stations, petrol station operating and emergency procedures, and wet-stock management. This course is a further output of the technical assistance arrangements and collaboration between MRA and APEA, which has been on going for over a year.

APEA, established in the UK since 1958, acts as an authoritative consulting body to governments and public bodies in matters of public, professional and scientific interest concerning petroleum, explosives and the associated environmental law. The MRA is now a member of this international association.

Collaboration between MRA and APEA started over a year ago when a technical team from APEA made an exploratory short visit to Malta following an invitation by MRA. They visited some petrol stations, and discussed issues related to the retail of petroleum fuel with various operators and the GRTU, the body representing most of the participants in the retail fuel market. A follow-up mission was undertaken in April 2006, when MRA and APEA, with the cooperation of the operators and the GRTU conducted an “Audit and Inspection Exercise” of the 81 operating petrol stations and kerbside pumps on the islands. A report was compiled on each station. The results have been forwarded to the respective petrol station owner, with a time-schedule within which any discovered deficiencies are to be addressed. This exercise is complementary to the liberalisation of the fuels market in a holistic effort to improve the service to the public, and to improve health and safety standards at petrol stations.

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Regulator’s News Model Conditions of Petroleum Licence Following extensive consultation with the petrol retail industry and the enforcing authorities, the Petroleum Enforcement Liaison Group (PELG) has published a set of model licensing conditions. The model conditions are intended to apply to all petrol filling stations where one or more persons are employed to work; this includes the selfemployed. The model conditions have been circulated to all PLAs through the regional licensing groups; they are also available for viewing or downloading by members of the public on the H S E ’ s w e b s i t e . http://www.hse.gov.uk/lau/lacs/6561.htm The rationale for revising the LACoRS standard conditions of licence was PELG’s response to the outcome of the ‘Hampton Report’ which had been commissioned by the Government to review regulations and reduce burden on industry. A small group of PLA and industry representatives working under the auspices of PELG were given the task of analysing and identifying any of the LACoRS conditions that replicated any statutory duties under extant health and safety regulations to control the risk of fire or explosion. The working group identified replication of some of the licensee’s duties under the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989, the Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations 1999, the Dangerous Substances & Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 and the Manufacture & Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005.

One of the main changes brought about by the model conditions, that will be noticed by the site operators, is the absence of the requirement to produce a current electrical test certificate when the licence is renewed. With the exception of a (new) prohibition on selling petrol to children under 16, the model conditions are mainly notification requirements.

Although it is not compulsory for PLAs to adopt the model conditions, PELG is hopeful that all PLAs will do so; this will then achieve consistency throughout the UK. The 19

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News Model Conditions supersede and replace the LACoRS Standard Conditions of Licence.

Portable Fire Extinguishers What Types for a Forecourt?

the BAFE (British Approvals for Fire Equipment) or IFEDA (Independent Fire Equipment Distributor’s Association) scheme to ST104 standard, that is an examination by a Third party to test competence

Many Inspecting Officers often are confused about the selection and type of portable fire extinguishers that can be sited and used of a Petrol Filling Station forecourt. Whilst there is guidance available, we tend to use the APEA/EI joint publication entitled “Design, Construction, Modification, Maintenance and Decommissioning of Filling Stations” Edition2 April 2005.

On page 27, paragraph 4.4.12, reference is made to the application and use of fire fighting equipment and Table 4.1 relates to the number of fire extinguishers that should b provided.

When reference is made it is relative to pump islands and NOT nozzles or individual pumps. Hence, up to 4 Multi Product Dispensers - at least 2 and for each additional two Dispensers (MPD’s), one more The standards that are applied to portable fire fighting equipment are;

and

is

consequently

refreshed every three years.

Interceptor Cleaning – How Often?

In

previous

years,

a

licensing

condition had called for an inspection of the site interceptor and drainage system once every 6 months that soon became an automatic demand to uplift and clean twice a year. This originated in the very first set of Licensing Conditions published by the Home Office in 1958 and was retained in the days of LACOTS and their revised set of conditions first published in 1992.

We

now

have

Substances

the

Dangerous

and

Explosive

Atmospheres Regulations 2002 under which there is an Approved Code of Practice

known

as

L137

“Safe

Maintenance, Repair and Cleaning Procedures” ISBN 0-7176-2202-9 that

BS 5306 Part 3 2003 “Fire Extinguishing Installations and Equipment on Premises – Part 3 Code of Practice for the Inspection and Maintenance of Portable Fire Extinguishers. This covers the extent and type of servicing that should be applied including the minimum frequency of an annual service

allows for a risk assessment approach.

For

example,

there

is

a

vast

difference between a rural site serving 2 million litres a year in an isolated location than a site in an urban area that does 20 million litres a year. In other words a build up of vapour in the drainage system would potentially have catastrophic results.

BS 5306 Part 8 200 “Fire Extinguishing Installation and Equipment on Premises – Part 8 Selection and Installation of Portable Fire Extinguishers.

This covers the type of extinguisher and how and where it is to be sited

A simple means of checking the extent

of

contamination

of

an

interceptor or separator is to use a piece of lightweight tissue and drop into the first chamber – if it sinks straight away then you know you have severe product build up, if it happens again in

Another issue is the type. Dry powder and foam types are common place BUT they should never be used together as the medium breaks each of the other down rendering such extinguishing media useless, Either foam OR dry powder must therefore be used to cover forecourt areas.

both the second and third chambers then the Inspecting Officer should be asking for an uplift and a clean out The Inspecting

Officer

should

not

necessarily be fooled by documentation as what is supposed to be happening is the due process of audit and inspection is verifying those same documents.

Finally, the Fire Protection Supply Industry should be quality assured and as part of that process, Service Engineers who maintain portable fire extinguishers should be certified under 20

Therefore drainage systems should be cleaned as and when necessary and not as a matter of course, as was required

under

former

standard

licensing conditions.

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Press Releases The Garage Watch Campaign joins FPS The Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (FPS) is delighted to announce that the Garage Watch Campaign has joined the FPS. This exciting change will enable the Campaign to take advantage of the FPS’s resources to provide the membership with better and extended benefits and services.

Mark Bradshaw, who has been so effective in raising the profile of independent filling stations with Government, will continue to head the Campaign, which aims to promote and support the independent forecourt industry.

Mark said, “We are also delighted with this development as we feel it will boost the resources we can offer to our membership whilst strengthening our lobbying voice. The FPS were very instrumental in the early days of the Campaign so it makes perfect sense now for us to join them in this way. It is true to say that without their help in the beginning, the Garage Watch Campaign could not have happened.

Since then, we have regularly worked together to highlight issues to Government with noted results. We are excited at the opportunities joining the FPS brings and look forward to a robust, active and effective future.”

The FPS is the trade association for the oil distribution industry in the UK and the Republic of Ireland and many of its members have direct or indirect interests in forecourts, so that the synergy from amalgamating the two bodies in one organisation is substantial.

Susan Hancock, Chief Executive of the FPS, said, “We are delighted to have the opportunity to work with Mark in supporting the independent forecourt industry. The FPS has much to offer the Garage Watch Campaign and its members, who will benefit from the increased resources now available to them. Many of the issues on which we lobby Government affect the retail market in the same way, so our combined resources should provide a more effective voice for the oil supply industry.”

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News NOTES The Garage Watch Campaign was started by Mark Bradshaw in 2000, in response to the pressures of ‘two-tier’ pricing that happened in the wake of the fuel blockades.

What began as a protest group developed into an effective trade body representing the independent garage in negotiations with both Government departments and other trade bodies.

Recently described by the DTI in a press release as the “voice of the independent”, Garage Watch strives to highlight the difficulties faced by independent petrol retailers. Through regular communication with its members, it aims to inform them of current legislation and offer straight forward practical advice, as well as information on business opportunities to help them not only remain open but on a profitable basis.

For more information about the Federation, please contact the office at the address given below, or visit its website www.fpsonline.co.uk

FPS issues warning on further duty rise on red diesel The Federation of Petroleum Suppliers (FPS) has warned the Treasury of the consequences of any plans to make further disproportionately high increases on the duty on gas oil (commonly known as red diesel).

The March 2006 Budget announced that red diesel duty would increase by a further 19%. FPS has been a lone voice in a campaign to prevent any further excessive rises in duty on red diesel and we were pleased when the Chancellor decided to suspend this latest increase. However, with the recent fall in the price of oil, we are concerned that the increase will be brought into effect in the Pre Budget Report next month.

Rises in red diesel duty impact particularly harshly on the agricultural community and on rural communities in general, where there is no access to the natural gas network. It also affects plant hire, construction and train companies – and hence to costs of rail travel.

Since July 1997, duty on red diesel has risen by a massive 150% compared

with a rise on road diesel duty over the same period of only 2fi%.

The September increase, had it not been suspended, would have taken the rise in red diesel duty since 1997 to a mammoth 198%.

These disproportionate increases have occurred since the Treasury singled out gas oil for a duty increase of the same monetary value as for road fuels, rather than the same percentage increase.

FPS is convinced that this disproportionate rise is because the Chancellor views it as an easy target and unlikely to result in public protests, even though the amount of revenue it raises is minuscule compared with revenue from road fuels.

Susan Hancock, Chief Executive of the Federation of Petroleum Suppliers, said, “Our members have noticed a trend towards the use of kerosene from red diesel by many users and any further duty hikes will exacerbate this trend. The Federation of Petroleum Suppliers will be continuing its campaign for future red diesel duty increases to revert to the same percentage as those on road fuels.

“In terms of the Government’s pollution reduction targets, red diesel consumption is insignificant compared with road fuels and so has relatively little overall environmental impact."

NOTES Note 1 The duty on red diesel has increased from 2.58p per litre in July 1997 to 6.44p per litre in December 2005. The March 2006 Budget announced a further increase to 7.69p from 1 September 2006, which is currently suspended.

For more information about the Federation, please contact the office at the address given below, or visit its website www.fpsonline.co.uk

Emergency service launched for Petrol Retailers A 24/7 helpline providing round the clock support to petrol retailers has been launched this month by Edensure.

The service, for Edensure’s customers, was introduced after recognising that many retailers need the after hours’ lifeline in case of any incidents on their forecourts.

Edensure’s wetstock experts will be on hand for retailers requiring urgent assistance and advice following on-site incidents such as sudden leaks, or equipment issues.

Hundreds of retailers nationwide will benefit from this new service, which is unprecedented and will assist in the safety of many of the country’s petrol forecourts.

Edensure and its ES3 system provides retailers with the ability to monitor and audit the wet stock they are managing, faster and more accurately than any other solution.

This identifies leaks and locates pumps that are over and under dispensing, helping retailers make instant savings. The new helpline is an extention of benefits the company provides to its customers, according to its Business Development Manager, Linda Cash.

As she said: “Our research and knowledge of the market identified that

Note 2 In addition to excise duty, VAT is charged on red diesel.

VAT is also charged on the excise duty element.

Note 3 Red diesel, also termed ‘gas oil’, is a vital fuel for the agricultural industry. It is also used in industry, construction and commerce and powers diesel rail traffic. DTI’s figure for UK inland consumption of red diesel for 2005 is 6.568 million tonnes, compared with 38.168 million tonnes of road fuel.

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

many leaks and problems with petrol pumps occur at times when office hours support in unavailable. This, coupled with demand from our customer base, led to us introduce this service.”

She continued: “Edensure is 23

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News committed to continuingly providing customers with a service level above expectation. By offering a 24/7 service we will be giving a helping hand whenever it is needed so customers have the peace of mind of knowing expertise is always available—no matter what time of day it is.”

Brian Tew, Owner of The Simon Smith Group, said: “This service is very important for retailers. As a customer of Edensure it ensures I have the peace of mind to know that I have their advice at any time of day.

“Leaks and spillages can be extremely damaging and to have experts on hand is reassuring.”

The number to call if Edensure’s customers experience any incidents on site is 0191 516 6248.

GVR means Guaranteed Vapour Recovery As implementation of Vapour Recovery II becomes ever more topical Gilbarco Veeder-Root has announced its comprehensive offering and the creation of a cross-company project team which is committed to providing expert advice and delivering an end-toend solution to fuel retailers.

“We are ready to go with new pump products, retrofit kits and monitoring systems supported by a nationwide team of over 200 fully-trained engineers”, says Peter Dilnot, European Managing Director Gilbarco Veeder-Root. “Our guaranteed Vapour Recovery II package is designed to take all the hassle out of compliance with the

December 2009.”

Gilbarco Veeder-Root has adopted the slogan ‘GVR means Guaranteed Vapour Recovery’ for its marketing campaign which is reflected in its comprehensive offering to fuel retailers.

Fundamental to Gilbarco Veeder-Root’s approach is its capability to provide end-to-end solutions – a complete turnkey service that covers everything from programme management and investment decision support right through to execution of upgrades and the provision of service and maintenance contracts. At the core of the company’s solution are marketleading dispensers, the broadest range of Stage II retro fit kits and the most accurate and reliable monitoring systems.

“There are many aspects to Vapour Recovery implementation” comments Marc Braun, Marketing Director.

“Contracting one supplier to handle the whole project is the most cost-effective and efficient way to ensure a smooth delivery with minimum disruption to your business. On the face of it, piecemeal upgrades may seem attractive but there may be hidden costs that don’t surface until further down the line. We can provide a structured programme fully-costed to enable budget planning.”

With over 50 years’ experience, Gilbarco Veeder-Root is a UK’s leading supplier of fuel management products and services. The company played a leading role in the development of the FEF Code of Practice – the Health and Safety Executive’s endorsed reference for all matters relating to Stage II Vapour Recovery. Gilbarco VeederRoot Vapour Recovery equipment and systems are field-proven and thousands are already installed around the world.

For enquiries please contact Gilbarco Veeder-Root Tel: 0870 3891245 E: uksales@gilbarco.com

Turnkey specialist moves up a gear

new legislation which will see most high-volume service stations required to implement Stage II by the end of 24

Gilbarco Veeder-Root has confirmed its commitment to the Commercial fuelling sector with the appointment of Martyn Gent, former Business Development Director at VBi/Meggitt Petroleum Systems, to spear-head its expansion plans. As the UK Manager

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

of Gilbarco Veeder-Root’s Commercial Fuelling Solutions, Gent heads up a dedicated and professional Commercial team comprising Adrian Asson, Major Account Manager and Steve Gain, Installation and Project Manager – the three of them have a combined total of more than 60 years experience in the sector. Gent is supported by a new product development team and around 220 field service and installation engineers, 14 of which are commercial specialists.

Commercial Fuelling Solutions is already the largest specialist in its field providing complete turnkey solutions to the commercial fuelling market. It is the broad scope of its expertise which is so impressive. Best known for its world leader status for fuel dispense equipment, tank gauging and environmental monitoring systems, Gilbarco Veeder-Root also supplies the Commercial sector with FMS, PPG2 compliant bunded tanks, environmental, legislative and HSE site compliance surveys. The company is also uniquely positioned to provide comprehensive, nationwide installation and maintenance services plus expert project management.

Gilbarco Veeder-Root dates back to 1865 and has sales, manufacturing, research, development and service operations in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States. The company employs about 4,000 employees and has distributors in 100 countries. The company is part of the Danaher Corporation which is a World Class organisation with over 40,000 employees worldwide and a global turnover of around $8 billion (2005).

For all Commercial enquiries contact Martyn Gent T: 0870 010 1136 E:martyn.gent@gilbarco.com F: 0870 010 1137.

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News

Stage II Vapour Recovery Your questions answered

The company’s equipment and systems are field-proven and thousands are already installed around the world.

Stage II Vapour Recovery came into force in the UK on 1 October 2006.

Those existing sites dispensing more than 3.5 million litres of petrol per annum need to have Vapour Recovery Stage II installed by the end of 2009. It

Hytek Launch New Range of Road Tanker Fittings

For enquiries please contact Gilbarco Veeder-Root Tel: 0870 3891245 E:uksales@gilbarco.com

on an ageing install base of dispensers means less immediate outlay but greater total cost of ownership long-term.

3. How much will it cost to fit Vapour Recovery onto my dispensers?

is proving to be a complex issue for forecourt owners. Here are a few of the most commonly asked questions answered by industry experts Mike Jennings, Engineering Director of Gilbarco Veeder-Root, who participated in the development of the FEF Code of Practice for all matters relating to Stage II Vapour Recovery, and Lynda Lightowlers responsible for Business Development at GVR. 1.Are there any Weights & Measures implications during installation?

Mike Jennings: Yes, the dispenser modification must comply with an issued W & M certificate and the local Trading Standards must be advised of the modification. The modification also requires inspection by Trading Standards. Alternatively, Gilbarco Veeder-Root dispensers can be selfverified by our engineers.

2. How do I decide whether to replace my existing dispensers or retrofit them with Stage II? Lynda Lightowlers: the current age of the dispensers, the existing pipe work layout and service maintenance costs over the next few years are all factors to be considered. Retrofitting Stage II

Lynda Lightowlers: This will vary depending on the model of dispenser and whether the dispenser is being retrofitted or built new in the factory.

Current models such as the SK700 dispensers are already available with factory-fitted Stage II VR and can be found in the GVR SK700 price list.

Fuel and lubrication equipment providers, Hytek, have recently launched a series of new editions to their catalogue, joining an already massive range of products, for handling fuels and lubricants.

The new Hytek range of road tanker fittings includes aluminium threaded lugged hose adapters with leather washers, and threaded adapters male x male.

Heavy duty part B cam fittings are available, with or without locking arms and API RP1004 deep throat adapters can also be purchased from Hytek. Both products are fully interchangeable.

Other fittings include hose keys for use with round lugged type products. A

4. What are the responsibilities of site managers should they chose not to take up the automatic monitoring options?

Mike Jennings: Site managers m u s t undertake weekly checks to ensure the VR system is working. These checks must be recorded in a site log to show that they have been carried out. Any calls made to the service company must also be recorded in the log. In addition the VR enforcement body will be required to carry out an annual inspection. Purchasing the automatic monitoring option enables site managers to avoid the inconvenience of these manual checks and annual inspections.

Gilbarco Veeder-Root is a leading supplier of Stage II Vapour Recovery equipment and end-to-end solutions.

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

sight glass for use with reeling hose deliveries, tested to 50 bar is also available.

There is a choice of fuel oil delivery nozzles, with die cast aluminium drain body and anti drain valve available.

Spares for oil delivery nozzles can also be purchased.

Hytek works together with their customers to make life easier. The company will open trade accounts within the hour, and extensive stocks enable them to ship most orders the same day with next day delivery to most of the UK. Hytek aims to deliver where their customers want, and when they want.

Hytek can be found online at www.hytekgb.com 27

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Articles

AGM, Conference, Exhibition and Awards Dinner 11 October 2007 Telford Conference Centre “it's a good event to attend as it's relatively economical, both in terms of time and cost. I think that the amalgamation of the exhibition and conference is definitely the way to go as it makes for a better pace of event.”

“What a great event!

I thought the speakers were great, the topics informative, relevant and certainly extremely useful for helping me fine tune my business strategy for the next few years with our product lines and direction not just in the UK but Europe too. It really was an excellent networking event for me and I met everyone I wanted to meet and more”.

To be part of APEA 2007 Contact info@downstream-events.com New Venue for 2007: • • • • •

Convenient & accessible (even more so with new M6 Toll Road) More Exhibition Space State-of-the-Art Conference Facilities 650 Dinner Places & Memorable Entertainment Quality Hotels Onsite www.apea.org.uk

Organised by Downstream events Ltd 28

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

www.downstream-events.com

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Articles

Experience of Stage 2 Vapour Recovery in the UK

By Phil Lambeth, BP Global Fuels Technology / Global Alliance Stage 2 Vapour recovery has been with us in most countries in Europe and the US since the late 1980’s. The European directive setting a cap on total Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) releases was published in 1992 aiming at total VOC reductions by 2010. As the deadline approaches those countries which have not yet done so are looking to Stage 2 vapour recovery to help meet their declared targets. Most of the early adopting countries created their own regulations around approvals and performance but essentially we have the same systems doing the same job in all existing countries. The good news for the UK is that the regulations published recently by DEFRA here will allow equipment approved to any of the existing European standards to be accepted. There will not be a whole new set of equipment type approvals for manufacturers, users and regulators to work through.

So having been done everywhere else, several times, what more is there to learn for the project in the UK? While the basic principle we all follow is the same there are historic differences in details of how we build, use and regulate our petrol filling stations which affects the end result. This paper shares some of the things BP has found in 6 years of fitting Stage 2 systems in the UK. It covers the operational reliability of components and looks at some of the technical issues we have faced when we started pumping petrol vapour back to the tanks.

The System Stage 2 vapour recovery is all about collecting the vapour displaced while cars are being filled on the forecourt. In the UK we currently release about 30,000 tonnes of petrol vapour into the atmosphere each year from this source.

Petrol vapour contributes to the formation of ground level ozone, a green house gas which can result in health problems for humans and is hazardous to plant life. While vapour lost like this is only about 2% of the total volatile organic releases it is growing in proportion as other areas are controlled and importantly is one we can do something about.

History BP’s implementation in the UK started when the original European VOC Directive was published back in 1992. Like many others we started at that time to fit the underground 32

Pumps need to be fitted with

PVR II will collect the vapour displaced from car fuel tanks as they are filled on the forecourt

• a new nozzle, coaxial hose and splitter adaptor • a vapour pump • a way to match the vapour recovery flow rate to the delivery flow rate which can be:

1. a mechanical proportional valve in a special nozzle 2. an electronically controlled proportional valve in the pump 3. an electronic speed control for the vacuum pump motor

pipework required to transfer the vapour from the pump back to the tank. A number of options for this have been considered and tried. The vapour flow rates and output pressure of the pumps mean that you don’t actually need a big pipe to get the vapour back to the tank.

Having looked at smaller bore pipe systems we have however come back to standard 1.5” or 2” pipes underground, connected into a single return to a tank because these are standard sizes used on the forecourt, easily handled and big enough to avoid being damaged.

We have tried pipe in pipe systems – pulling a 15mm flex pipe back down an existing suction line to avoid any need for digging up forecourts when retrofitting. These have had some success in Germany but the key difference is that the German experience was based on welded pipe systems. In the UK we have screwed joints. At every connection and bend where the pipe is screwed into the fitting there are internal sharp edges.

In our tests we could not get the draw wire past these edges let alone get a pipe through. So that was abandoned.

In late 1999 after publication of proposals for Stage 2 in the UK by the Dept of the Environment we looked at the numbers and given that fitting as new was less than a quarter of the cost of retrofitting decided there was a clear business case to implement stage 2 on all new sites in the UK from them on.

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To date we have 163 sites in the company network operating with Stage 2 vapour recovery.

Reliability Maintenance for Stage 2 has not been a priority. If a problem was found during other works to the dispensers then it would be fixed but we have had no specific regime of call outs or checks to make sure they are working. That noted BP’s maintenance providers advise that the vast majority are all working and when we have had occasion to check we have found that they are operating more or less as originally set up. We are comfortable that the stage 2 systems we have installed are operating reliably.

The selected systems were chosen for reliability based on our operating experience elsewhere in Europe.

Dispensers were supplied by Tokheim and in the last 4 years principally by Wayne.

All use the Elaflex vapour recovery nozzle, Stage 2 hoses with integral swivels and break couplings and these have all proved reliable in operation.

Nozzle issues – spout damage or wear at the venturri tube - are the same as for standard nozzles. There are no additional issues affecting these Stage 2 components in the equipment.

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Articles The vapour recovery pumps we have used are piston pumps from Rietschle Thomas (formerly ASF Thomas) and Durr. Most units are direct driven with a single motor driving the two pumps but we did have belt driven pumps in some of the earlier units.

Direct drive removes the risk of reduced operating speeds or failure caused by belts slackening and slipping.

The vapour flow rate is controlled by Burkert or Asco proportional valves driven by a control system which uses the meter pulse to keep the vapour return flow matched with the fuel delivery rate. The control systems for these valves allow us to simulate the meter pulse rate and thus check on vapour flow rates without the need to be dispensing fuel – the so called “dry test” of the system. These valves are the core of the system and are used in many other critical operations in a range of industries with a high level of reliability. We have not had any issues with these valves to date.

The remaining main component worth noting is the 1” double poppet shear valve we fit at the dispenser base on the connection to the return to the tank.

As an example of the reliability of one these key components, tests of vapour flow rate vs time in a long term running test of the Durr vapour pumps have shown that over 5,500 hours of operation they have stayed within 2.6% of the set level.

5,500 hours of operation is equivalent to having pumped 20 million litres of fuel vapour, ten years of operation on a busy fuelling position.

Our experience gives us confidence in the reliability of these field proven components but ultimately it is a question of how it all works together. Reliability is a function of the sum of parts and how they are put together. In Germany and the US it has been found that a significant proportion of systems have failed to maintain their reliability and deliver the required VOC reductions.

In any comparison however it must be remembered that these markets were early adopters with a significant proportion of early development equipment. Most installations were also field fitted.

With the benefit of this experience, the selection of proven components and, when it comes to retrofitting, rigorous quality assurance the UK should be able to achieve a very high level of compliance without the need for excessive compliance testing.

The Site Experience has however shown that there are some particular effects of running Stage 2 which have caused us problems which are in need of some innovative solutions.

The first thing to note is that Stage 2 is noticeable on the forecourt. The

general smell of petrol vapour when cars are filled is removed giving cleaner air on and around the site.

Pumping vapour back to the tank instead of the tank drawing air in through the vent as fuel is sold means that the vapour in the tank space is much richer, close to saturated. As a result we see increased condensation in the vent and vapour return pipework.

Pressure changes at fittings and bends as well as cooling on cold steel above ground in the winter causes fuel to condense out of the vapour flow. As a result of this higher level of condensation we see increased cases of liquid blow back into connection hoses, or small liquid releases at the vapour poppet connection when the tanker is being connected or disconnected and in extreme cases blocked Stage 1a vapour return lines.

Each of these problems can present a hazard to the delivery driver or the site and can result in aborted deliveries.

The frustrating element is that when we come along to clear out the condensate we find that it has gone.

The condensed liquid over a short period of time simply boils off again into the vapour space in the pipes and tanks.

To avoid problems, associated with saturated vapours, we must make sure we have the right equipment for the vent and vapour lines. Proper fuel grade rated pipe systems connected with low loss bends and fittings to avoid sudden pressure drops. There will be liquid in these lines so falls back to the tank are essential and traps to avoid any blockage on drop lines need to be provided.

Insulated materials on above ground vent manifolds might help and the poppet valve location and design needs to be reviewed to make sure there are no spots where condensate might sit and be blown out when the valve is opened.

Stage 2 also affects tank pressures.

Conventionally tank contents are drawn down as fuel is removed from the tank.

Provided you have a fairly steady sales pattern the pressure in the tank remains just below atmospheric pressure. With Stage 2 however we have found, particularly in cold weather, that tank pressure can rise quite rapidly. The fastest we have seen was in the region of 10mbar/ hour.

Pressure in the tank is controlled by the pressure vacuum valve on the vents. These were designed to help control the vapour flow back to the tanker for Stage 1 and provide a safety relief if things got blocked. On the

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33

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Articles pressure side this valve contains the pressure up to 32 mbar before the valve opens.

Pressure increases in the tanks are caused by three main factors.

• Petrol, left on its own in a closed space, at around 15C, will simply evaporate and build a natural vapour pressure of between 50 and 100 mbar when the vapour above the liquid becomes saturated. In a ventilated space, like our tanks, it will keep evaporating trying to attain that pressure until it has all boiled off. The rate at which it boils of is determined by the air / vapour layer immediately over the fuel. If there is air immediately over the fuel then the rate of evaporation, the rate of pressure rise will be faster.

• Stage 2 returns vapour back to a single tank, which is then balanced between all the tanks through the manifolded vent system. Stage 2 systems are normally set up to return between 95% and 105% of the volume of fuel being taken out of the tank. If the set up is just over 100% you will be adding volume and thus increasing the tank pressure. This effect can also be seen if the tank receiving the vapour is particularly small.

• Temperature however plays the key roll. Tanks remain at a fairly steady temperature around 12 degrees.

When you are pulling back air and vapour at an outside temperature which can be significantly lower than this it expands in the tank causing further increase in pressure.

Temperature seems to be the most

34

significant effect and certainly all the associated incidents we have seen have been over winter periods when this temperature differential is at it greatest.

So Stage 2 does increase the pressure in the tanks and the rate of increase is greater in the winter months.

The consequences of operating the tank at an increasing pressure is nuisance caused by vapour spluttering from vents, concern about rattling pv valves and most seriously, vapours escaping into tank chambers. Modern tank chambers do a very good job of containing escaped vapour. We have found vapour leaks on tank gauge caps, threaded fittings, tank lid bolts and, on one site, a small crack in the submersible pump riser. These tiny leaks were all solvable but very difficult to track down and most were not detectable by normal precision testing methods.

As Stage2 is deployed across the full UK network there is potential for major problems. We need to make sure we avoid problems of hazardous atmospheres in chambers or an increase in ground contamination which would result from vapour leaking out of chambers.

Coping with the natural vapour pressure and hazardous nature of the fuel means that we must ensure a high level of engineering standards on the assembly of tank lid components.

Suitable testing needs to be carried out following any works on the tank lid.

In Germany and the Netherlands however we don’t have this problem of pressure in tanks.

Tanks are maintained at atmospheric pressure with orifice plates. A 10mm hole in the

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vent, which allow air in as the fuel is drawn down, relieves excess pressure as it slowly rises but still acts as a brake on large release during the tanker unloading. A safety release is still required to allow venting in case a blockage in the vapour return to the tanker occurs. Orifice plates are able to control the losses from vents during unloading within the limits currently allowed under the stage 1 regulations.

Having shared these issues with the Environment Agency and DEFRA they have agreed to remove the previous prohibition and allow the use of orifice plates for Stage1 vapour recovery systems in the UK. Orifice plates are, however, not an ideal solution as clearly a routine breathing loss is introduced, releasing some of the vapour we are recovering with the stage 2 system. Our main aim should be to eliminate the core problem of pressure in the tank and eliminate losses to atmosphere. Tank pressure management systems will remove and condense vapour from the tank ullage, reducing the pressure with the aim of ensuring the tank stays at or just under atmospheric pressure. Such systems will be required by new air and water quality laws in California and are required now in Luxembourg.

It is early days for these systems and we have no real extended operating experience of the solutions currently available. We will see further development in the near future but for the time being there remains more work to be done.

Summary Stage 2 vapour recovery in the UK is the same standard process we have used across most of Europe over the last 15 years. From BP’s 6 years of experience with installations in the UK it is clear that changes to some of the accepted standards are required to ensure that we apply it here safely and reliably. We know that with the right equipment and engineering standards the overall aims to have a sustained and reliable reduction in VOC emissions can be achieved.

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Articles

APEA Yearbook 2008 Registration

By Jane Mardell, APEA Business Manager I am writing this article this year to make sure you understand the procedures for inclusion in the 2008 Yearbook.

In order to ensure that your details are included in the Yearbook it is essential that you complete the registration form and return it to the APEA office.

I register all forms received on the membership database against the members’ name.

As shown on the form enclosed with this issue of the Bulletin, your Registration Form must be returned to the APEA office for your details to be included by 1st April. This ensures that the information in the Yearbook is correct.

Even if you do not wish to advertise in the Yearbook, to be included in the

Classified and Directory pages you should complete the form as follows: 1. Check your contact details are correct on the form and that these are the contact details that you wish to be included into the Yearbook. If you wish to change them please amend the form. As an APEA member you receive one free ‘Classified’ entry.

2. Complete the Directory table This contains a list of the Directories that will be included in the Yearbook.

Please tick the box next to the Directory listing that is relevant for your business. You receive one free box. Additional boxes are charged @ £26.00 plus VAT. 3. If

you

have

ticked

additional

‘Directory’ boxes, complete the payment box at the bottom of the form.

4. Fax or post the form to the APEA office by 1st April 2007. This enables the production of the Yearbook in time for Autumn delivery.

I will then record the details from Registration forms received.

If you have any queries or need another form or a advertising booking form please do not hesitate to contact me at the APEA office on 0845 603 5507 or by email at admin@apea.org.uk Additional forms can be downloaded from the APEA website on the Publications page at www.apea.org.uk

A History of Petrol Filling Stations - Part One The Coming of “Rock Oil”

By Brian Baker “Then there was the matter of the

fact it was the Greeks that first

The sum mentioned is referring to an

recognised that the use of Oil could be

unsettled bill for a report conducted by a

the

used in warfare to bring down their

Professor Benjamin Silliman Jr, a

petroleum downstream industry started

enemies in battle by either tipping it hot

chemist from Yale University who

is like asking “When did man first start

or on fire or catapulting it over

undertook private appointments in

to walk?” Simply we do not know but

considerable distances.

between earning his modest salary at

$526.08” To

pinpoint

exactly

when

that

Indeed the word petroleum never

occurred within a few years of each

existed until the middle of the 1850’s

there

are

several

incidents

other to give us some insight as to when

when scientists coined the phrase from

it all started.

the words “Petra” which is Greek for

Oil, it is said, has been with us for at

“Rock” and “Oleum” that is Latin word

least 3,000 years when reports of a

for ‘Oil’. It was applied in the same

black ‘tar-like’ substance oozed its way

sense as a codeword, much like we use

through the rocky areas of the Egyptian

acronyms or letters to identify a

city known as Hit (where the ancient

particular item.

civilisation known as the “Hittites”

You will have noticed the saying at

resided on the banks of the River Nile)

the head of this article “Then there was

They and indeed the other ancient

the matter of the $578” This comes from

civilisations of both the Chinese and

the opening words of book known as

Greek have a black oily substance

“The Prize – The Epic Quest for Oil,

recorded

their

Money and Power” written by Daniel

respective histories and applied the

Yergin in 1991, that tells the story of the

substance to the skin as it seemed at

Oil Companies that dominated the

the time that it had healing properties

world as well as a short history on the

and helped deal with such ailments as

coming of petroleum and its powerful

back

use as a political and aggressive tool for

in

pain,

the

annals

headaches,

of

diarrhoea,

stomach upsets and skin disorders. In

bargaining on the world stage.

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

the University Silliman

(1779-1864)

actually

developed a technique to fractionate

Professor Benjamin Silliman Jr

37

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Articles petroleum. which is a method of

Silliman’s report in 1855, he founded

distillation. Silliman’s report, though

the Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company in

brief was summarised to say that the

1856

sample of “Rock Oil” he had been

Townsend, a Merchant Banker and

handed was indeed valuable and could

began selling oil as a fuel for lamps.

rival the lighting fuels in common use at the time which was Whale Oil.

with

a

colleague,

James

After seeing pictures of a derrick drilling for salt, Bissell conceived the

The Whale Oil used extensively at

idea of drilling for oil, rather than mining

that time smoked considerably and

it. At the time such an idea was thought

offered a poor light. The first petroleum

ludicrous but the technique was used

oils

used

before

fractionalisation/distillation

was

invented offered a brighter light but

Colonel Edwin Drake

were found to be more dangerous and

George Bissell to commence the drilling

caused many fires. It was only after the

process in the search for Rock Oil in

Scientists learned to separate the

1856.

different “fractions” to use the higher

Blacksmith, “Uncle” Billy Smith to assist

flash point oils that petroleum (or

him and they commenced the slow

Kerosene as it became known) as a fuel

process in 1858. Smith also employed

for lamps became successful. The

his 15 year-old son, Samuel and his

same technique was used a generation

daughter, Margaret Jane

later after the combustion engine was

Their pay was just $2.50 per day for all

invented when the lower flash products

three of them.

recruited

a

local

to assist.

After a year there were no signs of oil

were needed. was

and funds were running too low to

supplied with came from an area in

continue drilling. The other director of

North West Pennsylvania in the close

the Pennsylvanian Rock Oil Company,

The

sample

that

Silliman

proximity of a small town known as

James Townsend had written to Drake a

Drake’s Oil Well

few days earlier asking him to stop the

Titusville. The Town itself was very close to a locally named area referred

eventually and on Saturday 27 August

exploration but by the Saturday (27th

to as “Oil Creek” that which was known

1859

Titusville,

August 1859) the letter had not arrived

for the black sticky and odorous liquid

Pennsylvania, oil was struck at a depth

and overnight a gusher from Drake’s

that seeped through the rocks and

of 69 feet (about 21 metres) Bissell

well was met in the morning of the

locals applied rags to soak it up and

invested heavily from this day on and

following day with great jubilation and

squeeze into small wooden barrels.

went onto become known as the father

relief.

We do however have to refer to the

on

a

far

at

Word quickly spread and within 3

of the Oil Industry.

mastermind behind the commissioning

Curiously, the whole sequence of

years there were literally hundreds of

of Sillman’s report, George Bissell, an

events was observed by the local tribe

wells all across Pennsylvania and Ohio

Industrialist (1821-1884) who had

of Indians, known as the “Seneca”

that started the “Black Gold Rush”. A

originally observed the primitive oil

which is why Rock Oil was also known

rival for whale oil had been found and

gathering industry in Titusville. After

as “Seneca Oil” and their Chief’s name?

within a couple of years, markets were

….Chief Red Jacket!

being opened up beyond the USA.

George Bissell

38

Drake

Returning now to a defining moment

So our story begins. We had the fuel

in our history is man called “Colonel”

before its actual longer and established

Edwin Drake (1819-1880), who used

use became known and it was not until

the

the

the discovery of gas, then electricity that

backwoodsmen of the area as he was

its use as a major means of lighting

never in the army but by appearance

ceased.

had a strange bearing and likeness to

combustion engine introduced a new

Abraham Lincoln, the US President of

use for petroleum and from 1880 to the

the

military

title

to

impress

The

invention

of

the

Railroad

beginning of World War 1 would see a

Conductor, suffered poor health and

phenomenal rise in the use and

was unemployed at the time. He

demand for oil, a matter that will; be

bordered on being an eccentric and

progressed in the next edition of the

drank heavily and was appointed by

Bulletin.

day.

Drake

was

a

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Articles

The Monitoring of Light Oil Separators at Petrol Stations

By Dr. rer. nat. Wolfgang Schrittenlacher Surface

Water

found

at

Petrol

Stations can be contaminated by light oils and fuel, therefore this water cannot be discharged directly to a public foul sewer.

It is prescribed that these

water/oil-mixtures are collected and the silt and oil parts are separated from the mixture before the cleaned part can flow to the public foul sewer. The forecourt separators must be 'full retention separators' that means bypass systems are not allowed /1/.

The layout of a forecourt separator is dependent upon the size of the site, the maximum volume of the road tanker compartments and the amount of silt that is to be expected /1,2,3,4/. If high amounts of silt are likely a two-stage system is favourable. In the first stage

Figure 1: Scheme of light oil separator

mainly the silt is separated and in the second stage the light oils. The operating condition for separators can be very different depending on the site condition, the rain fall and the state of spillage. Though it is unpredictable whether the separator is in normal operation prescribed

or an

not.

It

is

automatic

therefore warning

system with optical and audible alarm controlling whether the oil reserve volume comes to its limit. Most separators are equipped with an automatic closure device. A standard layout of a separator is shown in the following figure.

The feed pipe and the discharge pipe are on the same level. So the separator is filled to this level with liquid. The inflowing mixture can come to a relative rest and the heavier parts are sinking to the bottom as sludge and the lighter oil parts rise to the surface. The separation grade is dependent on the flow speed

and on the differences in density and on

and water content lowers. Above the

the size of the oil droplet.

inlet of the discharge tube is a float with

To improve the separation efficiency there

is

a

widespread

use

a density of about 0,9 g/cm3. The float

of

is sinking down in light oils and so

coalescence filters (not shown in figure

closes the discharge pipe if the

1). The buoyancy of small oil droplet is

maximum oil capacity is reached. In

very small so especially the smaller

such event there is no flow out and the

ones remain freely suspended in the

inflowing mixture leads to an increase of

liquid and though flowing into the

the liquid level in the separator. At a

discharge. The coalescence filter is

certain level the oil containing mixture

basically a metallic grid array having

would flow into the surface rainwater

several layers. If water containing oil

sewage.

droplets flows through the grid a portion

To prevent such accidents a two-step

of the droplets become stuck to the grid.

alarm system is commonly in use as is

At the surface of the grid they unify with

exhibited in figure 1. The separation

other droplets out of the liquid until the

layer sensor is immersed in the liquid. If

buoyancy force is sufficient and the

the separation layer comes close to 80

bigger droplets ascend to the light oil

% of the light oil capacity an alarm is

layer.

generated.

The

Oil-Layer

should

Because the inlet of the discharge

therefore be removed by the Contractor

pipe is below the surface level, there is

as soon as possible. If this was

only water flowing into the discharge

overstayed the liquid level will increase

pipe. If the amount of light oil increases,

according to the inflow. If the tolerance

the separation layer between light oil

level is reached there will be a second

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

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Articles for the ethanol blended fuels. Because ethanol is soluble in water the ethanol in the inflowing mixture diffuses out in the water and will flow uncontrolled into the discharge. Therefore the limiting values for the total organic carbon content (TOC value) in the discharge water of 5 mg/l for class I separator and 100 mg/l for class II separator may be difficult or impossible to achieve. This problem is still unsolved.

Bibliography

/1/ Pollution Prevention Guidelines PPG3;

Use

and

design

of

oil

separators in surface waters drainage systems; Environment Agency (April 2006) Figure 2: Separator alarm system; in the middle an overspill alarm sensor is shown; the other two sensors are different versions of separation layer sensors; there is one electronic evaluation unit for both type of sensors yielding audible and optical alarms.

www.environment-

agency.gov.uk

/2/ BS EN 858-1:2002; Separator

alarm. The latter must be served

should be removed if the amount is

systems for light liquids; Principle of

instantaneously otherwise an overspill

more than half of the allowed capacity.

product design, performance and

could happen.

An automatic sensing system for the

testing, marking and quality control.

Thus the structure of the alarm

sludge would be desirable but such

system as shown in figure 1 gives a

systems are not available at acceptable

/3/ BS EN 858-2:2003; Separator

sufficient level of security and fulfils the

costs. So the sludge level must be

systems for light liquids; Selection of

current regulations. An example of a set

tested by hand in appropriate intervals

nominal size, installation, operation

of

but at least twice a year.

and maintenance.

such

sensors

with

evaluation

electronic is shown in the next figure 2.

Because spillage of gasoline fuel can

The evaluation electronic has to be

cause an explosive atmosphere the

/4/ Design, construction, modification,

installed outside of the hazardous zone

separator alarm system must be ATEX

maintenance and decommissioning

f. e. in the station building. It evaluates

approved. The conditions can vary

of

the signal from the separation layer

widely as was investigated in a detailed

085293419X;

sensor and of the overspill alarm

study /5/ but explosive concentrations

Petroleum

sensor.

can occur with certainty.

Administration.

The sensors have to work properly

A

problem

arises

for

light

filling

stations

(2005)

Association and

ISBN for

Explosives

oil

under adverse conditions. Additional to

separators by the increasing use of bio-

/5/ DGMK Research Report 617;

light oil and sludge the mixture can

fuels and their blends. For bio-diesel

Untersuchung zur Zoneneinteilung in

contain grease and leaves especially in

(RME) the density is closer to the

Leichtflüssigkeitsabscheidern (2006);

autumn. So they should be a rugged

density of water and the separation

Investigation of hazardous zones in

construction

efficiency

light oil separators. (www.dgmk.de)

to

withstand

these

environmental conditions.

is

reduced.

This

was

investigated in some detail in a DGMK

Even without any alarm maintenance

study /6/. Here also the temperature

of the separator should be done at least

influence and the role of defrosting salt

Leichtflüssigkeitsabscheider

twice a year or 6 monthly. The level of

was tested.

Biokraftstoffe

sludge must be detected and the sludge 42

see

Other and also difficult problems arise

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

/6/ DGMK Research Report 643;

(2005);

Separators and Biofuels.

Light

und Oil

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Articles

Paul Craven - Obituary It is with great sadness that I have to report on the sudden death of the Associations Hon Secretary Paul Craven.

Paul had been diagnosed as having cancer on November 30th and passed away in hospital on Tuesday December 19th after a very short illness.

He is pictured here enjoying the APEA event, conference and dinner and was in Malta on 25 November taking an APEA training course.

Many members of the Association who have benefited from a training course will remember Paul, his easy manner and dry wit that helped students through the rigours of both legal and technical training.

In 1965 Paul Craven joined East Suffolk County Council, Weights & Measures Dept as a trainee. In 1974 following Local Government reorganisation worked for Suffolk CC under his then Chief Ian Halliday and as a Weights & Measures Inspector, had his first taste of Petroleum work. Paul joined the APEA and his involvement in the Eastern Branch first as committee member, later as Chairman took this multi skilled trading standards officer closer to Petroleum. His contribution was recognised by colleagues when he was elected chairman of SELCOG, and a short tribute by the present chairman Steve Rowe follows. Paul also made a valuable contribution to the Blue Book and led the section on dispensers.

Paul retired from Suffolk CC in March 2006 and his interests were many and varied but he was always a mechanic at heart.

In 1965 he started riding scramble bikes most weekends and reached a sufficient standard to be sponsored by AJS for a couple of seasons. However he never lost his interest in bikes and was still riding his own Miaco 490 Moto-cross on occasion and his Honda Fireblade up until the last. He had just started sharing his interest with his young grandson Ben, who at just over 2 years old has became the proud owner of a mini bike from Grand Pa, and in later years had enjoyed rallying vintage sports car with a friend.

He always claimed his move onto the APEA Council was generated in the “Sole Bay” one of his favourite Pubs in Southwold when he was persuaded to put in for election as The Hon Secretary. He made an application and was duly elected; his touch has been light and friendly during his period of office, and he made many friends.

As a remark of his respect in the Association 9 members of council attended his funeral on 3rd January at Kessingland in Suffolk along with his many friends from all walks of life.

On a personal note I have lost a friend and valued colleague who it was a pleasure to work with. Our sympathies go to Paul’s wife Greta, his three daughters Clare, Lisa and Kim, his Grandson Ben and Paul’s parents.

Jamie Thompson It was my great pleasure to know Paul personally and professionally over a 13-year period. As a long-term member of the South East Licensing Co-ordinating Group (SELCOG), Paul always gave unstinting support to both the group and me personally as Chairman.

Paul was always perceptive and his many contributions to the group helped develop policy at both regional and National levels.

Paul was a fantastic communicator and it was a pleasure to observe Paul talking and exchanging views with other Local Authority representatives from around the country.

Paul was universally popular with everyone he met and it was his honesty, his passion and his marvellous humour that always made it a joy to work and talk to Paul.

As the Chairman of the group I would like to say on behalf of the 32 members a huge thank you to Paul, not only for his professional contribution but for just being his engaging self and promoting those characteristics of pragmatism and humour so missing in today’s sterile working environment.

Steve Rowe Chairman SELCOG

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Articles

“Testing Times – Ahead?”

By Gareth Bourhill, IEng, MIET,MEI, MFB, GCGI I would like to generate some further correspondence and debate from your readers about the requirement to ensure that there is a “safe” electrical installation on the UK’s filling station network.

Firstly I must assume that all the readers of The Bulletin and members of the APEA are committed like me to ensure a safe environment as far as practicable for the public and for those that the filling station is their place of work, either as a member of site staff, visiting contractor or maintenance operative.

Over the last few months I have had a number of petroleum officers contact me with regard giving advice to their authority over what time period they should expect the periodic electrical inspection of the Installation and equipment associated with the sites potentially explosive atmospheres to be cycled over. This is because the PLA must be satisfied that the frequency of inspection can be relied upon not to affect safety.

This has come about as the current recommended licence conditions are being reviewed presumably by each authority to it’s own local timescale to remove the duplication of detail as requested by central government to remove red tape and assist business and that the detail for an “Annual” inspection is removed as it is covered already by the Electricity At Work Regulations 1989 (EAWA) in particular Regulation 4(2) (more of which later) also of course by the duties imposed by DSEAR 2003.

The problem I foresee to the detriment of the electrical safety of the sites and therefore those that work and use our remaining forecourts is that the time scale for the periodic inspection is now based on a “risk assessment”. I have already had suggested to me that a number of major site operators will now move immediately to two or possibly three years between inspections! In fact it has been mentioned to me that one operator will only inspect after a visit by the local authority who then issues an improvement notice due to the age of the current certificate (that is of course if it can ever be found). This way they will minimise the amount of money spent on the inspection regime!

I’m sure some will suggest that we have not had any major accidents or incidents in the UK and as such we 46

be undertaken by those who have the need to relax the criteria? It will of course also be argued that it is because necessary training and experience”. we have had the time period of one year So to comply with this regulation at present we have not indeed had any surely the specialist approved electrical incidents. contractor would be the best party to So it would appear that some site determine the timescales for inspection operators may be tempted to save other than the facilities Management some money on an inspection, Company or accountant for the duty particularly in today’s climate when holder? Or at very least both parties sit margins are tight and/or non existent together to determine what may be and unless you have a thriving correct for each particular site based on convenience store alongside to its own merits? compensate the fuel business, may This assessment would have to take inadvertently be putting safety at risk to into account, the age of the core save further on site operating cost. installation which could be circa thirty May I clearly suggest that the plus years old, but just because it got a requirement has been removed simply new brand image last year does not because of duplication NOT because it mean the electrics are now only twelve is no longer required? The debate and months old. main issue will be the timescale The standards to which the site was involved as until all other existing originally installed to, the quality and appropriate guidance is updated i.e. frequency of maintenance, quality and “The Blue Book”, BS7671 and its detail of record keeping and equipment guidance notes these documents will manufacturers recommendation for refer to an annual inspection because it periods between inspection and quality came of course from the previous of site staff and day to day operation will license conditions. all play a factor in determining the time Regulation 4(2) of the EAWA states period between inspections. that the electrical installation and its A single site operator who watched equipment must be regularly the site being built, knows every maintained. The need to maintain being upgrade, can tell you when different determined by the fact that danger things broke down and has detailed would result if it was not maintained. historical records will be better placed That is maintained in a safe condition perhaps to go for a longer period and not the process of doing between inspections simply because maintenance i.e. changing a failed they live and breath the site and will act lamp. That the installation is inspected upon their instinct when something on a regular basis, that records be kept does not appear or operate correctly. for the life of the installation so together They will know and trust their service with this monitoring the Duty holder can companies who will also have detailed satisfy themselves that the requirement knowledge of the premises. for maintenance has been complied On the other hand a major oil with. company or hypermarket chain or one Because of this risk assessment of the larger dealer groups may require approach suddenly the industry or parts of it indicate we suddenly double the time between inspections?

I would also suggest that those that may be thinking along these lines.

Under Regulation 6(19) of the EAWA regarding electricity in potentially e x p l o s i v e atmospheres, indicates that “The maintenance and repair of explosion protected equipment is a specialised area of Certified electrical junction box was found with hole in it making it a possible work and should only ignition source

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Articles various timescales depending on the individual site unless they adopt the approach that timescales between inspections are based on the one site in their portfolio with the greatest risk. If not, they may have sites built to the second edition of The Blue Book and sites that are pre HS(G) 41 and combinations in between. The persons The original cable would not reach so has been extended in an unacceptable responsible at head and dangerous manner office may never have inspection, the emergency stop set foot on the site in question and with device within the cabinet would not a high turnover of site staff on larger operate. Of these 62, 41 were networks how would they notice repaired at time of the inspection and degradation on the sites equipment or the rest needed a specialist installation, they may also employ equipment contractor to attend and various electrical contractors all doing fix. little bits of work or projects.

For those that are about to embark on 21 sites at the time of inspection had this assessment or PLA who will inspect one or more of the console or audit sites let’s look at a few facts. emergency stops or public Currently I’m able to review or see emergency switches inoperative, all some 1400 to 1500 electrical periodic were repaired before leaving site. certificates each year so with the latest information about the UK retail estate 14% of self service operated sites this represents almost 15% of the had an inoperable public address network. These certificates covering the system at the time of inspection, only wide spectrum of ownership and trading 10% could be corrected at the time of environments across the UK. inspection the remainder being repaired at a later date.

The facts are; 92% of sites inspected either do not have any or are missing two or more of the essential electrical maintenance records required to allow the electrical inspector at his time of visit to spot degradation on certain parts of the installation.

62 sites with DCD controlled delivery arrangements at the time of

11% of sites had issues with regard the internal electrical junction boxes of either two or more dispensers with fixing bolts for lids missing/ poor cable entries or non certified equipment used.

2% of sites had a dispenser leaking fuel within the dispenser housing which had gone unreported.

2fi% of sites had serious defects with regards power cables in a potentially explosive atmosphere.

9% of sites had either non operational or reduced delivery or dispenser area lighting.

“Is this dispenser electrically safe?”

So this is the condition of our network on an annual regime, do we think this would improve or remain the same on a

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

risk assessment basis? It should certainly not get worse!!

The industry needs some standardisation and it would certainly help all the PLA’s across the country to be applying their audits fairly and universally. We at this present time in the electrical industry have the specific CompEx 07 and 08 training modules for those carrying out electrical work on our forecourts, a training scheme endorsed by the HSE that would go a long way to ensure that those that pass this training are competent in this field of work and if duty holders insisted on these individuals and companies or accredited by the NICEIC hazardous area scheme we should start to see these defect figures go down. The uptake of this training or registration scheme has been poor simply because duty holders are not insisting on it or are not aware of it or think it comes at a heavy price. If all those carrying out inspections or were embarking on the writing of these future risk assessments for testing cycles all go through the same training, would also help greatly in having an equal playing field.

Unless all stakeholders discuss this through, there will be no “standard”. At present we have an annual inspection for all. Tomorrow we may have potentially something different for each site based on it’s own merits. Tomorrow we could have hypothetically speaking nearly ten thousand individual test regimes!

Is this really progress? Makes things clearer? and most importantly safer for the public?

So perhaps we should address the standards of our current sites and improve on some of the figures above before we start relaxing the risk assessment criteria from one year.

The incident at Buncefield is fresh in all our memories and the final report as to its cause and the circumstances behind it are still far off. Can we all please imagine for a moment the impact and the media headlines if a member(s) of the public were electrocuted, seriously burnt, injured or killed because of the condition of the electrical installation on the forecourt, or there was an explosion caused by an faulty electrical fitting during a tanker delivery.

I’m sure it would be implied that recently the sites were inspected every year and that this recently had been changed (not because of duplication) and that the suggestion on saving money would appear somewhere.

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Articles

Application of RIDDOR to Petroleum Spirit and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)

By Brian Baker, Milton Keynes County Council Recently a cold burn occurred on a

employer’s report certain work related

away from their work. This may include

modern Filling Station that caused an

accidents, diseases and dangerous

a customer who has used a Forecourt

injury on the back of the hand to a

occurrences

customer. Subsequently a report was made to the Local Authority under the

Is there a Central Reporting Why is Report needed?

Telephone Number inside and

Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and

It is a requirement that all accidents

Dangerous Occurrences Regulations

and ill health at work are reported.

1996 (RIDDOR)

However, a customer at a self service

Contrary to popular belief, there

filling station is regarded as NOT at

appears to be a loophole to these

work

and

regulations that sees a rising number of

circumstances,

LPG Cold Burns going unreported

necessary

therefore a

in

report

outside of normal Working Hours?

Yes, there is: Tel: 0845 300 9923 (Day Time 08.30 –5.30)

these is

not

Fax: 0845 300 9924 (Anytime)

centrally at the Health & Safety Internet: www.riddor.gov.uk Executive (HSE) that calls for some

When is a Report Required?

clarification on behalf of the Licensee

If there is a death in a workplace, a

where LPG itself is controlled by the

member of the public is killed OR taken

Dangerous Substances & Explosive

to hospital (or goes to hospital in their

Atmospheres Regulations 2002.

own right after the event) and it is

e-mail: riddor@natbrit.com

or alternatively, the local Environmental Health

Department

of

the

Local

expected that the report be made Authority.

When Did RIDDOR come into effect?

1st April 1996 for which is enforced

initially by telephone followed by a written report.

Does this apply to petrol spillages &

and monitored by local authorities, usually

by

Environmental

Health

Departments

“Over Three Day Injury” If an accident occurs on a Filling Station (including physical violence)

50

LPG Cold Burns?

Yes it could do but depends on the size of the spillage or cold burn and if it

Why do Licensees and Petroleum

and any employee or self-employed

has created injury to member of the

Officers need to know about

person suffers an “over three day injury”

public (which it can). Best to check in

RIDDOR?

must inform the enforcing authority

any instance with the local EHO or if in

Licensees are generally employers or

within 10 days in writing. An “Over

doubt , report the incident anyway

self-employed or in control of “work” on

Three day Injury” is one that is not

rather that potentially non comply with

the premises. RIDDOR requires that

major but results inn the person being

the Regulations.

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Articles

Edensure Revolutionises Wetstock Management in the UK

By Michelle Rowntree of Karol Group Leakage and poor wet stock management can sound the death knell for a petrol retailer, which is why the launch of a new analysis system has been hailed by some as a revolution analysis system has been launched.

The ES3 system, by Edensure launched in February 2006 has celebrated significant success in the last 12months and continues to cause much interest amongst petrol retailers keen to find out if the companies claim to provide accuracy in the monitoring and management of their wet stock is true.

The intelligent system promises a one stop solution to all wet stock losses and effectively locates the exact point of loss using the most sophisticated analytical techniques and statistical expertise available.

ES3 has been researched and developed by Edensure, in partnership with US analysts Warren Rogers Associates (WRA), inventors of Statistical Inventory Management and renowned world experts in wet stock analysis. The WRA system, well known in the UK. Edensure Managing Director Martin McTague explains, “We were aware of the success of the WRA scheme in the states and after meeting with the team and actually looking at it in practice we felt this was a tried and tested system, which delivered the kind of results we felt were essential in the UK. “Improvements to the scheme weren’t necessary however we developed new methods of data collection which are

exclusive to the UK and to Edensure, but the actual analysis of this data is carried out using the system developed by WRA which we felt needed improving in the UK “The results of this analysis are interpreted and/or investigated by our UK based staff, to help our customers take the most appropriate action, quickly.”

Close up shot of petrol leak

ES3 has already been taken on by some of the UK’s leading forecourt traders, but what do they really think of the system?

Westbridge Motors in Northampton, currently Forecourt Trader’s retailer of the year, was one of the first forecourts in the UK to invest in the new system.

The key objective for this company was to keep tight control of its wet stock – leak detection was a primary concern given the company’s location in the centre of the city.

Nick Brocklehurst, Managing Director of Westbridge Motors commented; “Prior to the installation of ES3 we didn’t have a specific system in place that accurately measured our wet stock loss. We had a POS system, which had analysis as part of it, but did not provide specific details as to our exact percentage of loss or where it was coming from.

“From the beginning we were able to access highly accurate data… bringing our attention to the biggest problem areas on our forecourt. It tracks what is essentially invisible wet stock loss and provides information we can actually use.

“The installation was straightforward it very quickly identified over-metering on five unleaded hoses. With this information to hand we recalibrated the affected pumps immediately to prevent further loss.”

Martin McTague at the Petrol Pump

The system has continuous monitoring analysis, from locating leakages to identifying pumps which are over dispensing as well as under deliveries; all critical information directly affecting the profitability of a retailer like Westbridge.

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

Researched and developed by Edensure, ES3 was a result of a project launched to investigate the issue of wet stock loss and why these losses could often not be accurately defined.

At the time of its development the third party analysis and monitoring tools available were notoriously inaccurate and information generated was often unreliable. The results were poor leak detection and insufficient control of losses, leaving businesses vulnerable.

ES3 was several years in development in the UK, and analysing other systems used globally, a team, led

by Managing Director Martin McTague, launched it with the primary objectives to provide the data needed to enable retailers to make decisions that impact directly on profitability and their environmental image.

It is these core benefits that are still appealing to retailers. Park Foot Garage, a BP dealership with an annual turnover of seven million litres, installed ES3 to provide continuous monitoring.

“ES3 is far more up to date than anything else on the market” said Managing Director David Charman “and offers a much quicker response.

“Previously our wet stock monitoring system carried out checks on a daily basis, as opposed to second by second, which is what we get with Edensure.

“We know instantly when we have a pump that is over dispensing and can take action to correct it. ES3 also gives us wholly accurate information about our deliveries, so we know when they are short.

“Wet stock monitoring is a vital part of 51

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Articles the company’s move to establish ES3 as the new benchmark for the industry.

Wet stock loss is a widespread problem which, up to now, retailers have accounted for using daily reconciliation methods.

out more including a quick analysis of how much the system could save you.

To speak to the Business Development Manager call 07960 199 608, for more general enquiries contact the sales team on 0845 226 8332.

“ES3 is now helping to level the playing field for small independents by giving them the information they need to deal with their oil suppliers on an equitable

Pump data image

the business, even more so as profit margins are reducing.”

basis.

Echoing the positive endorsements coming from the retailers themselves is the Petrol Retailers Association.

Director Ray Holloway said,

“The increased accuracy brings greater knowledge and ultimately greater control for petrol retailers, and is also raising standards in the industry as a whole.”

“Edensure’s ES3 service is a monumental breakthrough for the petrol retail industry and the PRA is supporting

The ES3 system is available exclusively from Edensure, visit the website at www.edensure.com to find

Single Pump

Branches Southern The Southern Branch recently held another excellent meeting at the Compass Inn at Tormarton just off junction 18 of the M4 in South Gloucestershire.

The meeting took the specific theme of Developing and Redeveloping Petrol Filling Stations, and with an attendance of over 50 this was obviously a popular theme.

Speakers for the day included a very interesting presentation from Nick Brocklehurst of Westbridge Motors in Northampton.

Nick was the winner of the Forecourt Retailer of the year award 2006. He spoke about his site and the decisions leading to redevelopments and progress over the years, and the difference that can be made to retailing by embracing innovative thinking and modern ideas.

Alec Cornish -Trestrail of ACT Design

The Chairman thanks Nick Brocklehurst

52

(who designed the current Westbridge Motors) ably followed Nick, and gave an insight into developing modern filling stations. Alec is well known for his longstanding service to the petrol industry, and solid engineering background in

Craig Hampton in full flow

Brian Humm casually answering questions

Fire Brigade kept the members awake and amused with his view of what the Petroleum Officer should look at when dealing with the development of a petrol station. Brian has a wealth of experience in dealing with sites in London, and his presentation complete with video clips was appreciated by all present.

The branch has another meeting booked for the 17th April at the BEN home in Ascot. This meeting will

aviation in the USA and with Esso in the UK. Craig Hampton of the Environment Agency enabled the members to understand the thinking behind some of the decisions made by the Environment Agency with regard to safe petrol storage, and the risk associated with ignoring problem sites.

After an excellent Compass Inn lunch Brian Humm of London Tom Hocking asking a question from the floor

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discuss energy management and control, and site electrical testing. It is also the branch AGM, and I would therefore urge all branch members to keep the date clear and join us in Ascot for what promises to be another superb meeting.

David Sommers Southern Branch Secretary North West The NW Branch AGM and Technical Meeting is to take place on March 15th at The Court House, Worsley, Manchester M28 2PB. In the absence of an active Yorkshire and Humber branch we have relocated our venue to Manchester and it is hoped that the Y&H members will join the North West branch members at this more central venue. The meeting will start with the AGM, at 9.50am, to include voting in of branch officers and committee members. (Branch members only)

Branch met a the Rhodes Centre, Bishops Stortford on December 15th for its workshop and Early Christmas lunch which has become something of a tradition. The meeting was chaired by Jamie Thompson who stood in for the current Chairman John Boudry. It was a well attended event. The Dinner was held at a local restaurant in a festive atmosphere.

The Eastern Branch aims to provide its members with quality speakers on a wide range of topics and providing a forum for stimulating debate and discussion. We appreciate the time given by the speakers to come and talk to us about their specialist subjects. At this event Nick Daniels, the General Manager of Exchem Additives talked

The technical session will follow the AGM at 10.30. The following are the confirmed topics to date.

•The Manufacture and Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005 Dr Colin Hutchinson, H.S.E. • Tank Cleaning, a detailed insight Clive Drake, LIS (NW) Ltd • Commercial Fuel MonitoringSystems, Pumps and Gauging Sadie Clarke, Drillsafe A buffet lunch, which must be prebooked, will be provided after the technical session. If you have not received your booking form or voting form please contact Bob Conlin, NW Branch Secretary bobconlin@fairbanks.co.uk Bob Conlin North West Branch Secretary Eastern The Eastern branch has received the very sad news that Paul Craven had passed away after a short illness. Paul had been an active member of the branch for many years always engaging in debate and sharing with us his extensive experience and knowledge.

Paul was a member of the Eastern branch executive as well as serving as hon. Secretary on the APEA National council. We shall all miss him and remember his enthusiasm and engaging personality……….

Our thoughts are with his family.

At the last meeting The Eastern

Nick Daniels talking about Cetane

basically adds to the fuel product package.

Helene Ziese is the Global Key Account & Product Sales Manager for TOKHEIM and holds a Master Degree in Science, Business Administration and Economics from the University of Lund, Sweden. She has worked in the Petroleum Industry since 1991 and has extensive “hands on” experience in the implementation of Stage II Vapour Recovery solutions having managed turnkey retrofit projects in more than 10 European countries. As Stage II VR is now law in the UK with a program outlined by DEFRA that forecourts selling petrol need to have upgraded their stations by Jan 1st 2010, Helene shared with us some of her practical field implementation experiences of Vapour Recovery Stage II and clarified some common questions concerning Stage II. She also presented some of the key factors to consider for a successful project including installation guidance, field testing and monitoring and on Tokheim’s unique Monitoring and Self-calibrating Vapour Recovery System. An important piece of advice if you are one of the stations that fall within the scope of the regulations is to plan early and discuss implementation with your equipment providers Terry Barker the Managing Director of Terence Barker Ltd based in Braintree, Essex. Talked about his family based business which has been established

about Cetane Improver for diesel fuel which they produce. Exchem is the UK arm of a privately owned French company specialising in explosives and employing over 1700 worldwide and work with all the major oil and fuel additive companies.

The presentation talked about how this relatively new product grew out of the production of dynamite, and why Cetane Improver is used and what the Terry Barker being introduced by Jamie Thompson future is likely to hold.

There is a growing market during the for over thirty years, specialising in the last 20 years for this product which manufacture of fuel storage tanks.

These are also exported worldwide. Their Steel fabricated oil storage tanks and more recently the Convault Tank, aboveground storage for petroleum based products have seen substantial interest from industry. Terry gave a fascinating history of how the company grew out of the office at his kitchen, manufacturing heating oil tanks to the sizable company they are today. He talked about their specialist products and manufacturing including the new unmanned aboveground modular fuel station which is Helene talking about vapour recovery

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Branches

John, Joe and Mike in festive mood

environmentally friendly and cost effective and can be delivered to site and erected in a matter of hours (onto a customer’s prepared base).

The next Eastern bran meeting is expected to be scheduled for April when we will also have our AGM. Post are up for elections so if you are interested in becoming involved in its running or you are interested in joining the APEA or the Eastern branch or coming to any of its meeting please just contact us on the below address alternatively the APEA’s National Branch administrator. We are always looking for subjects and news of interest to our members so if you feel you would like to tell us about it then do contact us.

Branch Secretary - Michael O’Kane

Midlands Nothing to report at present

Branch Treasurer Mark Elmore

North East Nothing to report at present

Branch Representative Branch Committee

Yorkshire & Humberside Nothing to report at present

After this meeting 4 APEA Council Members delivered presentations to the Branch on the following topics;

Branch Representative Contact Details

The Buncefield Fire – Brian Baker Stage 2 Vapour Recovery – Jamie Thompson Accidents, Leaks, Fires & Explosions – Brian Humm Metrology – Tips of the Trade – Paul Craven Each presentation was appreciated by those who had attended from both North and South of the Irish Border and we look forward to hearing from our colleagues across the sea.

Ireland Irish Branch Re-Launched After several years of inactivity, the Irish Branch was re-launched on 25 September 2006 when a meeting was held at the Red Cow Hotel outside Dublin. Some 25 members of the APEA attended and after information was given on Model Branch Rules, Constitutional matters and the Election of Officers.

Geoff Oldham - North West Suresite Ltd 3 Eastway Business Village Olivers Place, Fulwood Preston Lancashire PR2 9WT Tel: 01772 790901 Fax: 01772 790902 jgo@suresite.co.uk

Des Kavanagh

Officers elected were: This is a photo of Des Kavanagh now 78 years of age who recently announced his retirement at the Irish Branch AGM in Dublin last September.

Des Kavanagh is an Honorary Member of the Association and was recognised in 1993 by the Association for all the good work he did in Ireland on promoting safe standards on filling station construction in Ireland.

Scotland

The Chairman and committee of the Irish Branch

54

Tom Hocking - Midlands D Berry & Co (PFS) Ltd Unit 130 Middlemore Ind Estate Kentish Road, Birmingham B21 0AY Tel: 0121 558 4411 Fax: 0121 555 5546 enquiries@dberryandco.co.uk Mike Silmon - North East W O Silmon Ltd Industry Road, Heaton Newcastle upon Tyne Tyne & Wear NE6 5XB. Tel: 0191 224 0777 Fax: 0191 224 0707 associationtreasurer@apea.org.uk

Branch Secretary Anton Martiniussen (elaflex@aol.com)

Branch Chairman - Thomas Daly (Dublin Fire Brigade)

Ian Taylor - Eastern Fenstanton Manor, Cambridge Road Fenstanton, Cambridge PE28 9HS Tel: 01480 463 739 Mob: 07768 552072 iantaylor@enterprise.net

Nothing to report at present

New APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

Ian Hillier - Scottish Inverclyde Council Municipal Buildings, Clyde Square, Greenock PA15 1LY Tel: 01475 717171 Fax: 01475 712747 ian.hiller@inverclyde.gov.uk Philip Monger - Southern Petrol Retailers Association Meadowside, West End, Sherbourne St John, Basingstoke, Hants. RG24 9LE. Tel: 01256 850164 Fax: 01256 851273 phil.monger@ukonline.co.uk TBC - Yorkshire & Humberside

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Training

2007 Course Dates Petrol Filling Stations Construction, Safety and Environmental Protection 18/19 April

Glasgow

20/21 June

Luton

7/8 Nov

Luton

12/13Dec

Manchester

Wetstock Management

LPG Installations

16th May

Luton

14th Mar

Glasgow

31st Oct

Glasgow

30th May

Luton

7th Nov

Cardiff

Electrical Installations An Awareness Fireworks and Explosives 7th Mar

Petrol Filling Stations Risk Assessment, Audit and Inspection 27/28 Feb

Manchester

25/26 April

Luton

6/7 June

Glasgow

26/27 Sept

Manchester

5/6 Dec

Luton

4 day combining both the above courses to be held in Dublin on 10th to 13th September inclusive.

Manchester

6th June

Glasgow

10th Oct

Luton

26th Sept

Luton

17th Oct

Manchester

Vapour control Emission systems will be available Autumn 2007 – date to be confirmed.

DSEAR All courses are being run in close proximity of major airports to facilitate overseas delegates.

18th April

Glasgow

13th June

Luton

5th Sept

Manchester

14th Nov

Luton

Bespoke courses – if your company or organisation has 6 delegates or more, and can provide a training venue then substantial savings can be made.

Please contact the APEA business manager or the training chairman for a quote

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

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

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

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

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

For details of this and any other training enquiry, please contact: Jane Mardell - Training Coordinator, (contact details on page 3) or Brian Humm, Training Chairman 84 Dunblane Road, Eltham, London SE9 6RT

Mobile: 07818 097141

e-mail: brian.humm@london-fire.gov.uk

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Training

APEA Delivers Training to the Ministry of Defence

By Brian Baker In

December

2006,

the

APEA

received a request to deliver a two bespoke training course for the Defence Fuels Group of the Ministry of Defence at their extensive site at West Moors in Dorset.

A total of 13 Officers attended ranging from two of the three military services with each course adapted to suit their particular

needs.

In

other

words

references to retail aspect of Service Stations.

Each course was well received and with

some

400

fuel

sites

and

installations around the world, the course proved a useful approach to a consistent approach.

It is hoped that the Defence Fuels Group can submit a feature article this year for our readers.

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Training

STOP PRESS – STOP PRESS – STOP PRESS – STOP PRESS At the time of going to print, final touches to a new one day training course on VAPOUR RECOVERY are being made and from September 2007 it will be available. Dates and location details for this course will be published on the APEA website by March 2007 on the Training page at www.apea.org.uk Topic includes include; Directives and Laws governing Emissions and Controls, Stage 1a Vapour Recovery from Tanker to Storage Tanks, Process Guidance Note PG1/14 October 2006, Authorisations and Permits, Stage 1b Systems – types and how they work, Deliveries and the Road Tanker, Stage 2 and its controls, site visit to a modern installation Price (as per usual one day rates) – bespoke courses price on request and application.

Photos from the recent training courses held in Malta

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Membership To join the APEA simply complete the form below and forward to the APEA office with a cheque or your credit card details completed below or fax on +44 (0) 845 603 5507 or complete the online application form at www.apea.org.uk APEA, PO Box 106, Saffron Walden, Essex. CB11 3XT. United Kingdom Membership Types Individual membership: £30.00 includes one copy of the Bulletin per quarter and one copy of Yearbook Corporate membership: £130.00 includes five copies of the Bulletin per quarter and five copies of Yearbook (one representative per company) Full Name Company/Authority Position Membership type

Individual £30.00 pa

Corporate £130.00 pa

Send correspondance to

Company address

Personal Address

Branch Membership

Eastern

Overseas

Midlands

Scottish

North East

Southern

North West

Yorkshire and Humberside

Ireland Do you wish to offer your expertise in any particular area

Comments

Company or Authority

Personal

Address

Address

Town/City

Town/City

County

County

Postcode

Postcode

Country

Country

Telephone

Telephone

Fax

Fax

email

email

Web site

Web site

I wish to apply for membership of the APEA by cheque (attached)/credit card (delete as applicable) Type of card *issue no - switch only Name on card Card no.

Expiry Date 58

*Switch / Access / Visa / Barclaycard / Delta / Connect (NOT AMEX / DINERS)