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Parker Oil Co. Settles EPA Complaint Over Inadequate Oil Spill Precautions at Keysville, Va. Plant

Release Date: 11/6/2001
Contact Information: Donna Heron, (215) 814-5113

Donna Heron, (215) 814-5113

     PHILADELPHIA – Parker Oil Co. of South Hill, Va. has agreed to pay a $30,000 penalty for alleged violations of oil spill prevention regulations at its oil storage facility in Keysville, Va.

EPA cited the company for violating spill prevention, control and countermeasure (SPCC) requirements under the federal Clean Water Act. The law requires oil storage and transport facilities to develop and implement SPCC plans to prevent or reduce fuel spills, which threaten America’s land and water resources. Parker’s 69,800-gallon oil storage facility, on Highway 360 in Keysville, is located within a half mile of the North Meherrin River.

According to EPA’s complaint, an April 2000 inspection revealed that the company’s SPCC plan was deficient in several respects, including failure to predict the direction, rate of flow and total quantity of potential oil discharges; inadequate information about secondary containment of oil spills; inadequate spill prevention precautions in the truck loading/unloading area; and inadequate security fencing.

The company has submitted a revised plan correcting the cited violations. A part of the settlement, the company neither admitted nor denied liability for the alleged violations.