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PRASA To Pay $95,000 For Underground Storage Tank Violations; Undertake Environmental Projects Worth Over $100,000

Release Date: 06/01/1998
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(#98063) San Juan, P.R. -- The Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (PRASA) has agreed to pay $95,000 for violations of federal underground storage tank rules at twelve of its facilities, and will spend an additional $105,000 in environmentally-beneficial projects, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced today.

PRASA was cited by EPA for failing to install leak detection at its facilities in Arecibo, Arellano, Bayamon, Coamo, Humacoa, La Plata, Manati, Miradero, Ponce, Puerto Nuevo, San Sebastian and Trujillo Alto. PRASA has since complied with leak detection requirements at its Arecibo and Trujillo Alto facilities. Under federal law, facilities that own or operate underground storage tanks are required to provide leak detection in order to detect leaks when they occur and take action before the leak gets worse.

In addition, PRASA failed to permanently close underground storage tanks that were no longer being used at its Arellano, Bayamon, La Plata and San Sebastian facilities. PRASA has agreed to permanently close underground storage tanks at these facilities, as well as at six others in Coamo, Humacoa, Manati, Miradero, Ponce, and Puerto Nuevo, before December 22, 1998. The requirement to permanently close tanks that are out of use is designed to substantially reduce the possibility of a release from an old storage tank.

"It is imperative that owners of underground storage tanks follow the regulations, because they are designed to prevent leaks or at least allow facilities to quickly fix leaks that are occurring. Failure to install leak detection equipment and permanently close tanks can result in the contamination of surrounding ground and surface water," said Jeanne M. Fox, EPA Region 2 Administrator.

PRASA has agreed to undertake two supplemental environmental projects valued at $105,000. One project is to clean up a contaminated well in Juana Diaz, using an innovative technology called REGENISIS, which uses microbes to break down volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that have contaminated the well. The second project is designed to improve PRASA's ability to detect sewage pump station malfunctions. For this project, PRASA will install telemetric equipment at the Trujillo Alto Pump Station in Trujillo Alto and the Sabana Llana Pump Station in Rio Piedras. This equipment will give PRASA continuous, real-time information on whether the pumps are functioning and if they are not, when and to what degree they have failed.

"I am very pleased that PRASA has taken this opportunity to agree to a cleanup of a contaminated well and to improve its system of pump stations, which have chronically failed and caused unpleasant and unhealthy contamination in local communities, " added Jeanne Fox.

For more information contact:
Richard Cahill, Press Office
EPA Region 2
290 Broadway
NY, NY 10007-1866
Voice: 212-637-3666 FAX: 212-637-5046 E-Mail: [email protected]