The Bulletin Magazine - December 2009

The Bulletin

Journal of the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration

December 2009

Chairman’s Report

4

Editor’s Report

7

Business Manager’s Report

7

Brian Baker Editor 52 Milton Grove Bletchley Milton Keynes

Letters to the Editor New APEA Members

8 12

MK3 5BH tel:

+44 (0) 1908 252332

fax:

+44 (0) 1908 252319

mob:

+44 (0) 7932 785166

email: Bakerb4@sky.com

News

15

Press Releases

33

Jamie Thompson Publishing Chairman

Articles 35

Reydon Southwold

A Way to Safer Fuel Delivery Life as we know it

37

Interview with David Sommers

44

APEA 2009 Conference, Exhibition and Awards Dinner

46

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

Risk Management and Regulation in the age of retail divestment and fragmentation 72

Jamiethompson@ukonline.co.uk

Jane Mardell Business Manager

Branches Branch reports

74

PO Box 106 Saffron Walden Essex CB11 3XT United Kingdom

Training 2009/2010 course dates and booking details

77

Enforcement Procedures - An Update

78

Tel/fax: +44 (0) 845 603 5507 Mobile: +44 (0) 7815 055514 email: admin@apea.org.uk

Front Cover - Gareth Bourhill opening APEA 2009 Conference and Exhibition, at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry Published by the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration A company Limited by Guarantee registered in England No. 2261600Opinions expressed in this Journal are not necessarily the views of the Association.

3

CONTENTS AND EDITORIAL

History of Petrol Stations Part 12 - The Early Hand Pumps

70 Wangford Road

Panel at the Energy Institute as we co – chair the revision of the “Blue Book” and would hope that this new publication will be available last quarter 2010.

The industry as always is “changing” and part of this years conference took up that topic particularly over the safe use and storage of fuels containing Ethanol or from a Bio source and we all have much to learn from the good housekeeping and suitable storage for these fuels. Unfortunately history has told us that despite the warning signs being there and that there are “competent” engineers and companies out there that will provide expert advice and services to the retailers others will charge in with no thought and I’m sure future issues of the “Bulletin” will carry stories of the “disasters” as they unfold.

We are now entering 2010 and despite all the standards available and best working practices, our members in the enforcement and regulatory side are reporting and taking more people to court over disregard for procedures Hannah, Fiona and Emma from OpenRoom Events etc this is all very But more importantly many thanks disappointing given the advice and to you, the member of the competent companies available in Association, who supported us by the market. I thought things were attending on the day either for meant to get better with time and everything on offer or perhaps just technical advances not get worse. attending the dinner, if you brought The Association will have a very a friend or a guest then even better, busy year in 2010 and in particular if just all our members turned up for the training service we offer our the event we would need members which grows every year somewhere twice as large! and already we have a number of From the initial feedback I have active enquiries from other countries had so far it has all been positive so in the world along with an extended helps us build on this for next year. list of dates for our courses here in At the AGM, it was an honour for the UK for 2010. me to be elected again as your As you read this edition of the Chairman for the coming twelve Bulletin we should have awarded months and I hope that I can the organising of APEA 2010 to a continue to serve the Association to new events company, but you have the best of my abilities. In particular I confidence that your National look forward with working with Phil Council will have appointed Lambeth Chair of the Service Station somebody that can take on our Welcome to this the “Christmas” edition of The Bulletin which I hope you will find packed full of interesting stories and articles in particular all the stories and pictures from APEA 2009 including the details of our worthy APEA Award winners.

As I write this report just a couple of days after the event at the RICOH Arena, the amount of space I have in the “Chairman’s” column would not go anywhere to doing justice to the event so please read through the pages to get more detail.

What I must say is a great big thanks to everybody in our Event’s Committee which is of course chaired by the latest “Fellow” of the Association, Bob Conlin, our event organisers regrettably for the last time “OpenRoom” and all our sponsors for their financial support and Award judges who give up a lot of their free time for the Association.

CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

4

event and build on the reputation we already have in the industry.

Dates, venue and details of APEA 2010 will be issued on the website and by email circulation to our members as soon as we can confirm the details to allow people to make early bookings and arrangements.

I hope you enjoy reading this edition and on looking through the stories and pictures, you may read or see something that you don’t particularly agree with or think is correct? So what can you do? Well our editor will always welcome letters of correspondence especially if it opens up “debate”. Going back to APEA 2009 I had a few people that came up to me and asked why something was arranged a particular way or was included or omitted, it is very easy to criticise when seeing things from the “one side” so often my answer was just volunteer and help us out!

Everybody on Council gives up their own free time to run the Association as well as their professional career obligations.

It is disappointing at the AGM we do not get more volunteers for Council but we would very much like to have more people join us, so if you do wish to help change things for the better then please contact myself or any other Council member and we would be more than happy to tell you what is involved, it is your Association after all.

All that remains for me to write is my sincere best wishes for the forthcoming Christmas holiday period and that you and your families all have a healthy, safe and long overdue prosperous New Year.

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

tearful goodbye to OpenRoom Events who have been with us for four years and elevated our annual pageant to the level it now is. This is down to the principals of that business – Emma & Fiona – who worked very hard on the Association’s behalf. Thank you so much for what you have done for us and wish you well in your new adventures which, given their total professionalism, will be a success I am sure.

Now a pulse check – It has come to my attention recently that a number of fires (flashbacks) around the country have occurred (including one in my own area), involving numerous contractors that are giving us all a “wake up” call. I am currently conducting an investigation but vigilance and understanding must be with us all in avoiding errors that can be very costly if we do not follow proper safety procedures. There will be more on this subject later in the next issue.

The History series will soon be drawing to a close in 2010 and I have come up with an alternative that I hope you find interesting, – “Ask the Experts” pages will be

I hope that all of you that attended the APEA AGM, Conference, Exhibition and Awards Dinner in October, enjoyed yourselves.

There is a comprehensive article on the event and this can be found on page 46 together with photographs covering the day and evening events. Preparations are underway for the 2010 event and details will follow in the next issue.

return your form if you wish to be included. Only members registering their details with me will be included in the Yearbook. The form can also be downloaded from the APEA website on the Publications page.

You can also benefit from the following if you wish to advertise in the Yearbook:

introduced producing a new theme in the pages of this Journal that should bring much needed technical information for those who read it.

As it is still October I have to project forwards and wish everyone compliments of the Festive Season as that is fast approaching and hope I keep the formula right for The Bulletin as this has been my thirteenth issue as Editor!

Now let’s return to getting on with pickling those onions for Christmas Until next time Brian

• All existing ‘Bulletin’ advertisers receive a 50% discount off the 2010 Yearbook rates

Yearbook You should have all received your 2010 Yearbooks at the beginning of October. Please let me know if you have not received your delivery and I will follow this up. All UK deliveries were delivered by recorded delivery.

I will be posting out the 2011 Yearbook registration forms to you in February with the March issue of the Bulletin, so please ensure that you

• Any advertiser taking out a full page advert in the 2010 Yearbook is entitled to a Website banner free of charge for the year 2009 on the APEA Website • All APEA members are for one free entry Classified listings and Trade Directory, please

eligible in the in the tick the

relevant Trade Directory heading on the booking form If you wish to advertise please contact me for a booking form or you can download one from the Publications page on the APEA website.

2010 Membership You will find your 2010 renewal notice letter with this copy of the

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

7

EDITOR’S REPORT/BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT

It seems a strange thing to do before the year is ended but looking back over the last 12 months has been one of the hardest we all have had to negotiate in terms of the global recession. Thankfully we are seeing incipient signs that the worst maybe over but we are still fragile and it is likely we will be a while yet until we return to a more healthy climate.

Despite that your Association is in good shape as we have increased the membership slightly, maintained a very good annual conference and demands for training continue to be steady if not more in number.

This is remarkable given the difficulties of many other small to medium sized organisations.

As you will see again in the conference issue, we regard the event as a resounding success.

There were some issues that need addressing but overall our first time at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry appears to have been a good one.

I had to dash off to Devon for a wedding so missed our awards dinner but the record shows that this continues to be well received.

Before leaving the subject of our conference I have to say quite a

Bulletin, if you have not received it please let me know.

Anyone joining the APEA between October and December 2009 will already have had their membership period extended to include 2010.

I would be grateful if you can make your payments before 1st January as this cuts down the amount of follow up reminder mailings that I do each year.

As usual you can pay via the APEA website at www.apea.org.uk or by cheque or credit card.

Bulletin

BUSINESS MANAGER’S REPORT/LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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 March 2010 issue and I will pass them onto our Editor for approval. We are always pleased to receive contributions from our members and it ensures that the Bulletin remains and interesting and informative read.

Bulletin Advertising Advertising renewal letters were sent out in October to all existing advertisers. I have taken a number of bookings for 2010 so if you wish to secure the best position for your advertisement, please return the booking form as soon as possible, as all bookings are on a first come first served basis.

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 2010 issue.

To the Awards Committee My I offer my sincere thanks for selecting me to receive the award sponsored by Elaflex. I am extremely honoured and moved that my peers should have recognised the many years that I have been in the industry. They have been a challenging one’s at times but also given me the opportunity to work and meet with some very nice and helpful people.

Please accept my sincere thanks 8

If you would like to book advertising in the Bulletin for 2010, please call me on 0845 603 5507 or email me at admin@apea.org.uk for a booking form.

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 and downloaded directly from the Publications page on the APEA website.

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 last few months have been busy with bookings.

The 2010 dates are detailed on page 77 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.

and gratitude for this honour.

Thank you Rodney Carter

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 31 new members joining during July, August and September and details can be found on page 12.

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

1) Following the ASDA Portaway incident there was a LAC [Number: 65/54a

Dear Brian, LPG Leak and Explosion Darwen.

Bulletin September 2009.

As an observer not involved with the site and/or the incident we would make the following observations on the published conclusions and recommendations.

Petrol

filling

stations

&

autogas installations. Precautions to minimise below ground release and migration of liquid or vapour phase volatile

organic

compounds

(VOCs)] issued in July 2004; this has recently been revised.

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

3) Wet stock monitoring on LPG vessels is unlikely to pick up the size of leak that can result in a flammable atmosphere being generated.

LPG being a hydrocarbon maintained as a liquid will expand in the order of 250 times when released to atmospheric pressure. The flammable range of LPG is in the order of 2 to 10% when mixed with air at atmospheric pressure so the release of a few ccs of liquid can result in a flammable mixture of more than a litre. Due to the thermal expansion of LPG being about 10 times larger than that of water the changes in volume due to temperature changes would tend to mask any small losses.

4) There is a requirement in the DSEAR and the Pressure Systems Safety Regulations for a suitable maintenance procedure to be prepared for any LPG installation.

This is the responsibility of the site operator. Information can be found in the Codes of Practice and there is also LAC65/60 [The Dangerous Substances & Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 Petrol Filling Stations - Autogas Installations Inspector’s Aid Memoir Check List] issued in 2005. This is at present being reviewed.

In addition we would make the following observations; PUWER (Provision and Use of Work Equipment Regulations) These Regulations requires every employer - “to ensure that where work equipment is likely to involve a specific risk, the use of that equipment is restricted to those persons given the task of using it and repairs, modifications maintenance or servicing that work equipment is restricted to specifically designated persons whom the employer must ensure have received adequate related training.”

Leak testing liquid LPG pipework Due to the nature of LPG leak testing underground liquid pipework needs correct procedures and planning. As the liquid is only a liquid by being under pressure just closing the valves at each end and recording the pressure does not prove anything. In the event of a

small leak there would be no significant loss is pressure as the liquid would vapourise and maintain the pressure. Increasing the liquid pressure with a pump and closing the valves would not achieve anything as the liquid would revert back to vapour pressure.

Pressurising the liquid is not an acceptable procedure as there is some solubility of nitrogen in liquid LPG and if there is a leak it will force the liquid out at a higher rate.

Any liquid needs to be removed; usually by displacement using nitrogen although in some cases by either flaring off or using a special gas compressor. The pneumatic leak test is then applied using nitrogen and monitoring any changes in pressure.

Remotely Operated Shut Off Valves (ROSOV) These are valves fitted to be able to isolate sections of the installation in the event of an incident/emergency and minimise the amount of gas released.

Correctly installed these would then meet the DSEAR guidance of “isolating plant or equipment from where uncontrolled releases of a dangerous substance are occurring”. It must be remembered that for LPG closing valves do not immediately stop any leak from a pipe or piece of equipment.

We install these on both the flow and return pipework adjacent to the dispenser, where the pipework leaves the storage area and on the connection to the pump inlet. Using pneumatic ROSOVs with a correctly designed system gives the following benefits; • Reduction in pressure surges during start up

since June 2003 then the full documentation requirements of DSEAR and associated Regulations apply to the whole site.

The documentation required by the Regulations includes; • Details of electrical equipment installed • Electrical installation and test certificates • Electrical schedules

maintenance

• Hazardous Area Classification (HAC) usually known as zoning drawing • Confirmation that electrical equipment installed in potentially hazardous areas is suitable for the designated zone.

• Suitable data plates on vessels • Safe Operating Limits for the complete pressure system • Written Scheme of Examination for the complete pressure system • Maintenance Schedule for the complete pressure system • Assessment of fire protection • Risk assessment of activities that are carried out on the site • Operating procedures • Maintenance procedures • Emergency procedures • Delegation of any responsibilities

• Control of pressure in pipework and dispenser in the event of changes in temperature • Isolation in the event of fire in the dispenser or area of the tanks • Positive closing that can be easily verified • Positive closing even if the ROSOV has been subjected to fire.

Documentation required for LPG Installations (Please note that this is our interpretation of the current requirements and is not a definitive guide.) If an installation has been completed or has been modified

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 The requirement of RRFSO is that the “responsible person” for the site must carry out a risk assessment to demonstrate that the fire safety precautions are adequate. We consider providing the documentation has been correctly prepared to meet the requirements of DSEAR, PSSR and PUWER then this should meet the requirements of RRFSO. Hopefully this is of interest, if you need any more information then please let me know.

Yours sincerely, Richard Wigfull wigfullr@btinternet.com

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

11

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

2) Instructions for the installation and protection of underground pipework are covered in UKLPG Code of Practice 22 and in addition for the type of pipework installed on this site there is specific installation information provided by the manufacturer.

Detailed below are new members that have recently joined the APEA during July, August and September.

Peter Russell 16 Chestnut Close Sutton Coldfield West Midlands B74 3EF

July Neil Harvey Cannock Electrical Installations Unit 4 Progress Business Centre Brookfield Drive Cannock Staffs WS11 0JN

Nigel Stock 96 Newtown Road Marlow Buckinghamshire SL7 1LQ Kevin Gardiner Murco Petroleum 4 Beaconsfield Road St Albans Herts AL1 3RH

August Steven Allen Cavendish Engineers 36 Spital Square London E1 6DY

Konstantin Slawinski Slawinski & Co. GmbH Industriestrasse 11 Siegen 57076 Germany

Barry Quinn Meath CountyFire And Rescue Navan Fire Brigade HQ Abbey Rd Navan Co .Meath Ireland

NEW APEA MEMBERS

Paul Foster Co-operative Group Programme Delivery Wood House Stoke on Trent Staffordshire ST5 5NW

David Millar Craigavon Borough Council Craigavon Civic Centre Lakeview Road Craigavon Armagh BT64 1AL

Adrian Jones Herefordshire Council County Offices Bath Street Hereford Herefordshire HR4 0JY

Roger Bailey Energy Level Systems Unit K2 Welland Business Park Rockingham Road Market Harborough Leicestershire LE16 7PS

John O'Dell Apex Support Services Ltd 5 Astley Road Hemel Hempstead Herts HP1 1HU Kostas Papadopoulos Technical OfficeG. Kontopoulou 46 Aigion 25100 Greece Rachel Skeath Evolve Group Ltd 1 Millfield Lane Haydock St Helens WA11 9TW Roger Cotterell Wyatt Engineering Fuel Services Unit 20A, Merretts Mill Industrial Estate Woodchester Stroud Gloucestershire GL5 5EX Warren Peters KPS UK Ltd Unit 2 Mid Suffolk Business Park Progress Way, Eye Suffolk IP23 7HU 12

Neil Randall Randall & Daniels Electrical Ltd Neath Abbey Business Park Neath Abbey Neath West Glamorgan SA10 7DR Matthew Pearce Blu-3 56-58 Factory Lane Croydon Surrey CR0 3RL Graham Timbers 39a George Street Old Town Hemel Hempstead Herts HP2 5HJ

Kurt Reinhardt Sentinel Fuel Products Ltd 47 Hazelhill Downs Hazel Hill Ballyhaunis Mayo, Ireland Matthew Sanctuary Essex County Council Trading Standards 2 Beaufort Road Dukes Park Industrial Estate Chelmsford Essex CM2 6PS Darrell Steel Defence Estates Operations International (USF Division) Stirling House Denny End Road Waterbeach Cambridgeshire CB25 9QB Fraser Mackie Trident Engineering Consultants Gatehouse Offices Westway Porterfield Road Renfrew PA4 8DJ Andy Forbes AFCC Ltd 41 Marlowes Hemel Hempstead Hertfordshire HP1 1LD Darren Morgan Atkins 14 Poplars Avenue Neath SA113NS Adam Curtis The Royal Parks Rangers Lodge Hyde Park, London W2 2UH Mark Bridger The Royal Parks Rangers Lodge Hyde Park, London W2 2UH David Jordan The Royal Parks Rangers Lodge Hyde Park London W2 2UH

September

Margie Dickinson Fleetsolve Ltd Legde Court, Neston Road Thornton Houg Wirral CH63 1JF

Ian Kelly Topaz Energy Topaz House Beech Hill Office Park Clonskeagh Dublin Ireland

Nick Townsend WSP Remediation Fairway House Paramount Business Park, St Mellons Cardiff CF3 0LW

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

July 2009 - The Co-operative Group has announced plans for a £1 million showpiece store and service station in Llanelwedd, Builth Wells which will bring a new era in convenience food shopping to the area.

The consumer-owned retailer acquired the North Road Garage last year and work has begun to build a new service station and convenience store, which the group hopes will open in early autumn. The 2,500 sq ft food store will feature The Co-operative Group’s new brand identity.

The Co-operative aims to highlight improved service standards across its 4,900 outlets in the UK, including its travel, pharmacy, funerals and bank branches, as well as its commitment to supporting local communities and ethical trading policies. The new store and petrol station will provide a spacious shopping environment and a comprehensive range to meet all the food shopping needs of the community. It will also feature three petrol pump islands and a jet wash plus more than 20 car parking spaces.

Regional manager Mark Roberts said: “The acquisition represents a significant investment in the area for The Co-operative and endorses our commitment to serving customers with the best in modern retailing.

“The new store and petrol station will provide a one-stop shop for the local community.

UK, Greggs moves onto petrol forecourts in UK Bakery chain Greggs revealed its first move onto the petrol forecourt as it continues to target locations away from the high street The deal with Euro Garages, which has 76 forecourts across the UK, has seen the first Greggs store open at the firm´s newly developed site in Bury, Lancashire, with others set to follow.

The opening follows Greggs´ recent expansion into industrial

estates and retail parks in a drive to take the brand to where customers are.

Euro Garages, which was formed eight years ago by brothers Mohsin and Zuber Issa with a single petrol station, is the UK´s fastest growing forecourt operator and the second largest independent in the sector. It sells about 300 million litres of fuel each year and has a turnover of £260 million.

Euro Garages has grown by acquiring and redeveloping rundown petrol stations, partnering with brands such as Spar to offer convenience retail stores and Subway to provide franchised fast food outlets on the same sites.

Mike Kavanagh, retail development manager at Greggs, said there was room for significant growth in the petrol forecourt retail sector. He added: "If this move is as successful as we anticipate, we plan to extend the model to other regions."

UK, Anti-forecourt crime scheme launched in South West Glasgow People who drive off from petrol stations without paying are being targeted by the Forecourt Watch scheme, which has now been launched in Glasgow.

Strathclyde Police has joined forces with The British Oil Security Syndicate (BOSS) and independent retailers to introduce Forecourt Watch in the Glasgow South West area. The scheme is designed to create a closer link between police, BOSS and retail staff to increase awareness, prevention and the reporting and recording of incidents.

The Strathclyde Forecourt Watch scheme, being rolled out to 14 key stations in the district, is the latest addition to the 70 schemes already operating throughout the UK. Marking the launch of the scheme, Superintendent Kevin Duffy said: “During the first five months of 2009 there were 100 reported thefts of petrol from the 14 filling stations across the Glasgow South West area. This number of crimes impacts

greatly on police resources and also impacts heavily on the finances of the garages affected. Forecourt Watch will bring together the filling stations, helping them alongside the police and BOSS to try and reduce this type of crime.”

Research also shows that offences of driving off without paying for fuel are often linked to offenders or vehicles involved in other types of crime and to disqualified drivers, those without insurance, tax or MOT, or vehicles with false number plates.

BOSS Forecourt Watch documentation for the recording and notifying of ‘drive-offs’ and ‘no means of payment’ incidents will be provided to staff at all forecourts taking part in the scheme. This enables petrol service stations to work in conjunction with police and BOSS to help bring offenders to justice.

High visibility stickers and posters on the forecourt itself are designed to raise awareness among customers and potential thieves that Forecourt Watch is in operation and making off without payment is a criminal offence.

Information sharing with the police Service stations registered with the scheme also benefit from sharing information with police and each other on suspects, vehicles and known offenders – to maximise disruption and detection of offences.

Jim Anderson, the BOSS regional co-ordinator, commented: “This is another important building block in what we hope will be a network of Forecourt Watches covering the Glasgow Area. BOSS appreciates the cooperation of Strathclyde Police in another partnership initiative to drive down forecourt crime.”

UK, Leicester. Two hurt after car crash at petrol station Firefighters clear up at the Shell petrol station in Coventry Road after the car smashed into the wall of the shop. An elderly woman had to be airlifted to hospital and a man was injured after their car crashed into a

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

15

NEWS

UK, Co-op set to open new service station & C-store

petrol station.

The accident happened when the male driver of a maroon Jaguar pulled off after filling up at the Shell station, in Coventry Road, near Broughton Astley, and drove straight into a wall. Firefighters from Hinckley and Leicester's Southern fire station were called to the scene and immediately cut the supply of fuel to the forecourt amid fears of an explosion. The driver had freed himself from the car and was described as "walking wounded", but the female passenger had to be cut free from the wreckage. She was airlifted to Leicester Royal Infirmary with suspected back injuries. Watch Manager Dave Sowerby from Southern station, in Leicester, said: "Obviously our first concern was to isolate the fuel supply to the forecourt."

UK, London. DTZ to manage 5,000 Shell locations NEWS

London-DTZ, real estate adviser based out of London, has been tapped to manage roughly 5,000 retail locations in 11 countries for Shell International Petroleum Co. Ltd. "This is a fantastic result and further evidence of DTZ‘s commitment to serving world-class clients such as Shell," says Paul Idzik, DTZ group CEO. "It demonstrates our ability to deliver unrivaled solutions combining deep local knowledge with global expertise.

We look forward to helping Shell meet their business objectives in this area." David Jones, a member of DTZ‘s occupier services team, will head up the account helping shell with property and transaction management throughout North America and Asia Pacific. DTZ‘s occupier services team has worked with more than 50% of the major companies throughout Europe such as Barclays, RBS, Vadofone, Yahoo! and DuPont. We are impressed with DTZ‘s approach to partnering with us to help achieve our targets and we look forward to developing a strong relationship with DTZ across these two important regions," says Carolyn Gomez, retail real estate manager for Shell.

A DTZ source tells GlobeSt.com the 16

retail locations it will manage are located in Canada, the US, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Pakistan, Thailand, Indonesia, The Philippines, Australia and New Zealand. The deal is not typical, as fuel stations don‘t tend to outsource management instead opting to manage the locations with in-house teams based in the particular country. "Shell‘s action comes in response to further globalization of their operations, a drive for consistency, the need for best practice and to maximize value opportunities across the substantial portfolio, particularly high alternative value sites and strategic locations," according to the source.

UK, Stanlow. Future of oil refinery in doubt as Shell considers sale of Stanlow The oil company confirms that a review of the plant's ownership is under way but denied that there were any plans to close it Britain's second biggest oil refinery – employing 800 full-time staff at the Stanlow site near Ellesmere Port in Cheshire – could be sold off by the Shell oil group.

The company confirmed last night that a review of the plant's ownership was under way, but denied that there were any plans to close the 173-acre facility, which has processed oil for 60 years and accounts for roughly 20% of Britain's petrol production. Competitors – including the Libyan National Oil Company, in partnership with the Indian mobile phone firm Essar – are among the potential buyers of the plant, which may be auctioned with two Shell refineries in Germany.

Shell is cutting back on refining because of the recession and excess capacity in the market. The company warned earlier this year of potential job cuts in its global workforce, following a fall in second quarter profits to £1.4bn, compared with £22bn for the whole of last year.

In its statement, the firm said that the Stanlow review would "determine the best long-term options for the refinery and associated local marketing businesses." Employees

have been told about the exercise, including contract workers who were involved in a series of walkouts earlier this year, in sympathy with colleagues on strike at the Total refinery on the river Humber.

"Shell has an obligation to ensure best value is being achieved with all its assets, and this involves talking with third parties from time to time," said the firm from its UK headquarters in London. "All longterm ownership options are being considered for Stanlow, which could include the sale of the refinery. "If a deal is pursued, the refinery would be sold as a going concern. If no deal is pursued, Stanlow will be retained in the Shell portfolio. There are no plans to close the refinery or associated local marketing businesses." The other businesses are Shell's commercial and bulk fuel operations at Stanlow, and marine operations which assist tankers arriving at Ellesmere Port. The AngloDutch group has cut back severely on costs as fuel demand continues to fall. Internal savings in the first half of 2009 totalled £426.8m according to the six-monthly statement in July from the recently appointed chief executive, Peter Voser.

Shell was among companies irritated by wildcat strike action in February and June in support of construction workers involved in the long dispute over foreign labour at Total's Immingham plant. Both walkouts involved some 450 maintenance contractors at Stanlow, but production at the refinery was not affected.

UK, London. World War 2 petrol ration September 1939.

(A history article) Article first published in the Daily Telegraph, Sept 8, 1939. World War 2.

Petrol ration books are available today on application at post offices or local taxation offices, but they cannot be used before Sept. 16 when the rationing system comes into force. After that date no petrol for any purpose will be obtainable except against ration coupons.

Applicants who must produce the

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

Extra Rations Persons requiring more than the minimum ration represented by the books should apply to the Divisional Petroleum Officer for the area which the petrol is required. The names and addresses of these will be issued in a day or two.

A form of application for those who want motor spirit for stationary engines and purposes other than for use in road or agricultural vehicles is also to be had at post offices.

Commercial vehicle operators will also be unable to obtain motor spirit after Sept. 16 except on rations.

They will get supplies through their group organisers.

• Identifying if the site has Stage II vapour recovery fitted. This can be done by checking the type of nozzle on the spirit pumps.

• If there is stage 2 vapour recovery, no work that would allow vapours from the spirit tanks to escape can take place until all unleaded grades are put out of use. This includes breaking pipe work, removing probes or plugs from tank lids or replacing vapour recovery valves etc.

• Advising the site manager that all the unleaded grades will need to be isolated before commencing work.

• Locking off all Unleaded and Ultimate Unleaded nozzles and placing Out of Use labels on each nozzle. (On some pumps a trained engineer may be able to turn off the stage 2 system. If this is done the engineer must check all pumps on site to ensure the stage 2 cannot operate when any spirit nozzle is used).

Procedures for working on the petrol storage and distribution systems need to be modified on all live spirit tanks with immediate effect. These must cater for the fact that tanks and associated lines will most likely vent vapour when opened and may also be pressurised. Failure to address this through safe working procedures could result in large volumes of flammable vapour escaping to atmosphere.

• Making safe the work area and allowing for a release of vapour.

This will also change the hazardous zones on the site forecourt. There must be no possibility of ignition sources in this area. The work area protection must take this into account when planning the works. This risk must be identified with the resulting preventative measures and be recorded on your clearance certificate. This will include ensuring no access to the area by non-approved personnel and the exclusion of ALL ignition sources including non-approved tools and equipment. Please note that this will be different for each site and it will not be sufficient just to refer to a generic method statement.

Contractor’s SMS must cover the following points as a minimum:-

• Ensuring that any vapour is released in a safe and

UK, Additional control measures for work on live spirit tanks, vents and vapour recovery systems

controlled manner and being prepared for unexpected releases of vapour. This release will need to be at high level using a suitable outlet fitted with a flame arrester.

• Identify the risk of vapour release when breaking into any point of a spirit tank system.

• Record the release in the relevant Site Petroleum Register Section 6 (d).

• Ensuring the work including the risks, have been discussed with the responsible person in control of the site.

• Ensuring that the correct PPE is worn, including eye and face protection as appropriate to the risk.

• Ensuring that the hazardous areas involved are monitored at all times with a suitable gas diction instrument.

• After completion of the work, reinstating the unleaded grades and checking for vapour leaks on the system.

• Completion of documentation and clearance certificate.

Tool Box talks should include this new requirement.

UK, Uttoxeter. Teen burned by petrol bonfire A teenager has suffered serious burns in Uttoxeter after using petrol to light a bonfire. West Midlands Ambulance Service said it was called to Westlands Road after a man in his teens used petrol to light a bonfire.

A rapid response vehicle, an ambulance crew and the Midlands Air Ambulance attended the incident.

A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: “Crews were told a man in his late teens had been trying to light a bonfire. “Petrol was used and that resulted in a flashback, with the man suffering serious burns to his arms, face and chest. “Dressings were applied to his burns and he was airlifted to Selly Oak Hospital in

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NEWS

car registration book, will receive from the issuing clerk, two ration books one marked ‘first month’ and one marked ‘second month’ containing coupons for the quantity allowed them according to the rating of the car as shown in the registration book.

Each coupon represents one unit, which for the present represents one gallon, but the unit may be changed later. Car owners should not that ration books are only valid during the period for which they are issued – the first between Sept. 16 and Oct. 15 and the second between Oct. 16 and Nov. 15. In other words, you cannot hoard your coupons.

and treatment. “Once more, the dangers of using accelerants such as patrol on bonfires have been shown in this unfortunate incident.

“As autumn approaches and people start preparing bonfires, it is an example of what not to do.

UK, BP to subcontract fuel distribution in United Kingdom

UK, New ASDA petrol station will be open in three weeks, creates fears

NEWS

ASDA supermarket in Bury St Edmunds will open its petrol station in August. The firm pledges to sell low-priced fuel on its forecourts and the manager of a nearby convenience store and garage says he fears he will lose business when ASDA opens its pumps The supermarket, in Western Way, Bury St Edmunds, opened its forecourt on August 24 – and the company said low prices at its other 176 filling stations across the country had traditionally triggered price reductions at nearby garages. The firm is currently selling petrol and diesel at 99.9p per litre at all its UK forecourts, while petrol stations in Bury were this week charging between 99.9p and 109.9p.

Raja Yogan, manager of the Costcutters store and Murco garage in Newmarket Road, said he hoped bosses at Murco´s head office would lower prices at his site to compete with ASDA. Mr Yogan, who runs the franchise, gets a commission from fuel sales but makes his profits from his shop – and he fears people will stop using the store if prices at the pumps are not competitive. "It is a worry," he said. "The petrol is the main reason customers come in, so if petrol prices are very cheap at ASDA people might go there instead. Then we lose customers. Unfortunately I can´t do anything about it, because head office decides the prices, but I can let them know what´s happening and maybe they will reduce their prices as well."

ASDA opened its store in March following a long campaign to bring the firm to he town. The shop’s manager, Barry Gramlick, said: "I´m looking forward to finally opening our petrol station as customers have 20

been asking me for months ´when is it opening?´. We want to offer value to all drivers in Bury and we can guarantee customers that they´ll get a fair price for their fuel at ASDA."

Fuel distribution firms look set to benefit from oil giant BP's decision to put all of its UK transportation out to the market for tender.

Currently, three quarters of BP´s distribution is run in-house, using 450 tanker drivers and a 220-strong fleet.

The remaining 25% is operated by DHL Supply Chain.

"As part of a review of our logistics operations, we are inviting thirdparty logistics providers to tender for the delivery of fuel from terminals to petrol stations and wholesale and cost effective transport operation in place that allows us to compete in the highly competitive UK market," says a BP spokesman.

The move is seen as a way for BP to test the water to see whether 3PLs can offer a more cost-effective deal without jeopardising efficiency. "We are going to try something different, but if tenders do not seem viable then we won´t press ahead," the spokesman adds.

A shift to using third-party operators would bring BP in line with rival Shell which uses Suckling Transport and Hoyer UK for its distribution.

However, trade union Unite is unhappy about BP´s plans. "There is increasing concern that this is a deliberate strategy to end the direct employment of tanker drivers across the sector with the aim of ending national bargaining on pay, terms and conditions," says a Unite spokeswoman.

Unite is also concerned that Esso and Sainsbury´s may follow suit. The union was set to hold a national conference of oil industry tanker drivers and warns industrial action is a possibility as a result of the move.

UK, Firms due in court over oil depot blast Five companies are due to appear in court charged in connection with an explosion at the Buncefield oil depot in Hemel Hempstead.

Total UK, Hertfordshire Oil Storage, British Pipeline Agency, TAV Engineering and Motherwell Control Systems 2003 will stand trial at Woolwich Crown Court in London.

The Buncefield disaster, which took place on December 11, 2005, is thought to be the largest explosion in peacetime Europe. It measured 2.4 on the Richter scale and could be heard 125 miles away.

Total UK is charged with one count of causing the pollution of controlled waters and two counts of failure to discharge a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act. Hertfordshire Oil Storage is charged with causing the pollution of controlled waters and contravening health and safety regulation.

TAV Engineering is charged with failure to discharge a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act. British Pipeline Agency is charged with causing pollution of controlled waters and contravening a health and safety regulation.

Motherwell Control Systems is charged with failure to discharge a duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act.

UK, Nottingham.

Diesel tanker spill causes traffic problems A diesel tanker has spilt some of its fuel causing traffic problems in Derby Road.

The incident happened at around 10.30am, in September 2009 at the bottom of Derby Road, where it meets the roundabout with Maid Marian Way. The fuel came from the tractor of the diesel tanker, rather than the tank itself, and covered two lanes of traffic. Stephen Wright, from Radford, was walking past and took a photo of the accident with his camera. "I was walking up Maid Marian Way at about 11.10 and

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UK, Northern Ireland, Belfast. Illegal filling stations closed Over 8,000 litres of laundered fuel being sold at knock-down prices were seized at two illegal filling stations in west Belfast. HMRC officers also removed forecourt pumps and equipment at the socalled huckster sites.

John McManus, HMRC Operational, Specialist Investigation, said: "Just looking at the premises selling the fuel we have seized, and the price, no-one could be in any doubt but that this was dodgy fuel.Yet some people are willing, to not only tolerate, but also support this openly criminal activity within their community." He added: "We take the unfair and illegal practice of selling illicit fuel very seriously.

Genuine businesses should not be undercut by criminals operating from illegal fuel sites. Fuel fraud is not a victimless crime. We will continue to use the full array of sanctions at our disposal against those engaged in the illicit supply, sale or misuse of fuel."

UK, Scotland, Glasgow. Tanker fall death ‘preventable’ The death of a Clackmannanshire tanker driver could have been prevented if a second guardrail had been fitted to his vehicle, a sheriff has ruled. James Hutchinson, 57, from Dollar, died after falling from his tanker at a farm in Leuchars, Fife, in February 2007.

He suffered brain injuries, a broken neck and fractured jaw. He also

broke both wrists trying to break his fall. A fatal accident inquiry (FAI) found that even if he had been wearing his hard hat he would not have survived.

The inquiry at Cupar Sheriff Court heard that Mr Hutchinson has been making a delivery at Vicarsford Farm, Leuchars, on the evening of 8 February 2007. His body was found by workers at the piggery the next day. The FAI heard that Mr Hutchinson was an ideal employee with Carntyne Transport Co Ltd, he could be sent to any job with confidence and he was careful and meticulous.

The court was told that his lorry had a guardrail which could be raised at one side of the tanker, but there was no rail on the other side.

Sheriff Peter Hammond ruled that providing a double guardrail would have been "the single reasonable precaution whereby his death might have been avoided". Carntyne Transport was previously fined £5,000 over the death for breaching health and safety rules. Since the accident, the Glasgow-based firm has fitted double guardrails to all its tankers and introduced new rules for people who are working alone.

Greece, Motor Oil (Hellas) to acquire Greek Shell Shell has agreed to sell the majority of its Greek operations to Motor Oil (Hellas) Corinth Refineries in a deal worth €219.1m (£198.8m).

The Greek refining company will acquire the distribution and sales of fuels through Shell’s 700 petrol stations. It is agreed that the stations will remain under the Shell brand name for at least five years. The acquisition also means Motor Oil will take over owned storage depots of 137,000cm total capacity in Kalohori, Amfilohia, Perama, Chania, Alexandroupoli and Rhodes.

In addition, it will acquire Shell’s lubricants blending operations plant in Perama, its chemicals storage and distribution business, and 49 per cent of its aviation fuel trading company.

In a separate deal, Motor Oil will purchase Shell’s liquefied petroleum

gas business in Greece for €26.5m (£24m).

Europe, The writing is on the wall for Shell’s downstream business The days when it was beneficial for an oil company to be vertically integrated with business all the way from the well head to the petrol pump are long since gone. Shell’s decision to move out of refining in the United Kingdom is logical and almost certainly the precursor of a complete withdrawal from the “downstream”.

In the past the “Seven Sisters” secured an almost monopolistic control of the production, transportation, refining, distribution and marketing of oil. This gave them incremental margins all the way along the supply chain and meant that they developed competencies at every step along the way.

Although the production of crude oil involved wholly different skills and disciplines to, say, the marketing of automotive fuels and lubricants through petrol stations Shell and the rest were quite comfortable with the creation and management of organisations that had all of these competencies. Indeed when I joined Shell in the mid 1960s those of us in marketing did not see ourselves in any way as the poor relations in the Shell Group. But over the years this began to change.

Refining and especially the distribution and marketing of petroleum products are labour intensive activities. However the upstream is far more capital and technology intensive – given the scale of the business manpower levels are comparatively low in exploration and production. So when costs are in the spotlight it is the labour intensive downstream which is likely to suffer. The irony of this is that by reducing manpower and by centralising in marketing you inevitably move further away from the market and become less sensitive to local circumstances. All markets are local and to ignore this truism by taking decisions further and further away from the local market you open the door to others who do not do this.

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noticed the tanker. Police were everywhere.

There were three of four police cars. They has cordoned off the road already. There were three or four police cars," he said. "The diesel was still running down the road and you could smell the fuel. If that had gone up it would have been quite scary." Derby Road is currently closed between the roundabout and the junction with Vernon Street.

Fire fighters hosed the area down while they waited for absorbent granules to be put on the road.

NEWS

The retailing of petroleum products through petrol stations was not only one of the core businesses of an oil giant like Shell it was also the public face of the company. But over the years successive managements have pulled away from this business area significantly in some markets. In Europe, for example, Shell has reduced its number of petrol stations substantially over the years and pulled out of some countries, like Spain, completely. This has opened the door for other retailers, especially supermarket chains like Tesco or Carrefour. Shell could have competed against these powerful general retailer brands but although they did try from time to time there was never sufficient top management support for a strong differentiation strategy. This was largely because differentiation costs money – to make your brand the preferred brand you have not only to offer the consumer more in the way of benefits but also to promote these benefits heavily in advertising and marketing communications. For many years now Shell has been unprepared to do this and whilst there are occasional flurries of activity (like the current campaign to promote “V-Power”) there has never been sufficient funds made available for long-term brand building. And if you cannot make a consumer offer that makes your brand be perceived as better then the only differentiator becomes price. And the more price becomes a weapon the lower the margins and the more marginal your retailing business becomes.

With Shell allowing much of its marketing business to become commoditised all of the emphasis turned not to offering the customer more but to minimising costs. Here Shell was up against supermarkets who were able to spread their fixed and variable costs over thousands of products – especially at hypermarket locations. Shell’s unit costs were always going to be higher than those of these giants – the writing for its retail business was on the wall. Add into the decisionmaking process the fact that top management in Shell spends little or 24

no time on its marketing business – unlike that of say a Carrefour where retailing is the core business of the company. The directors of Shell spend virtually all of their time on upstream issues and projects – the marketing business, though very big, rarely gets a look in and is little understood by Shell’s board members. If it was important then at the very least Shell might consider having a non-executive director with a marketing/retailing background – but they have never even done this.

So over the next year or so – possibly even sooner – we can expect to see Shell dispose of its downstream business (including all its petrol stations and other such assets) completely. How they do this will be interesting to observe. One option would be to sell or float off the business as a going concern – and throw the Shell brand in with it.

The upstream (etc.) could then trade under the traditional name “Royal Dutch”. A fully focused and entirely separate Shell-branded marketing business could then try and do all the things that “Royal Dutch Shell” has failed to do for years – especially by trying to give customers a reason to prefer their brand.

Scandinavia, St1: Shaking Up the Scandinavian service station market St1 has revived competition in the Scandinavian service station market with the acquisition of 198 sites. By the end of 2009 Datamonitor predicts that St1 will have a 6% volume share in Sweden and a 4% volume share in Norway, but making further inroads will be tough.

Finnish fuel retailer St1 recently made significant acquisitions that expanded its network of sites in Scandinavia. As part of a new series of country reports, Datamonitor has made predictions for St1´s competitive position in 2010 following this move. The retailer has acquired 118 Hydro and 40 JET branded sites in Sweden, and 40 JET sites in Norway.

StatoilHydro previously operated

the sites but in October 2008 the European Commission granted approval for the company´s acquisition of JET´s Scandinavian service stations on the condition that it reduced the number of sites it had in Sweden and Norway. Some sites have been closed and some have gone to independents, but St1 has been the main beneficiary.

St1 already had around 40 stations in Sweden prior to the acquisitions, accounting for just over 1% of sites nationally. By 2010 it will account for over 6% of all public filling stations.

This means it will rank behind Shell, OKQ8, Preem, StatoilHydro and Bilisten in terms of site numbers, and will overtake smaller players such as Q-Star and Din-X. St1 will also be responsible for almost 4% of fuel sold in Sweden over 2009, even though ownership was not transferred until June.

Ultimately it will have at least a 6% share of volumes on an annualized basis making it the fifth largest player in Sweden in terms of volume sales.

In Norway the acquisition of 40 JET branded sites will give St1 a fuel volume market share of 4%, making it the fifth largest fuel retailer in that market as well.

These acquisitions were shrewd and necessary. Norway and Sweden are concentrated markets and difficult to enter, partly due to the high density of stations. Organic growth is problematic, as evidenced

by St1´s own history in the country.

Despite a successful entry into Sweden, the company did not meet its initial objective to have 100 sites by 2007. Acquisitions are the only real option for a company keen to expand. Obstacles remain though, making it very unlikely that St1 will move into fourth place any time soon.

Norway, Fewer filling stations in Norway The number of gas (petrol) stations in Norway has been reduced by 622 over the past 10 years, according to fresh figures from the Norwegian Petroleum Institute. Last year alone 47 stations were closed.

“Now we must keep open the ones we still have. We will not manage with fewer gas stations,”

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Portugal has 5th costliest petrol in Europe According to figures released by Brussels, Portuguese motorists currently pay the fifth most of all European Union citizens to refuel their cars with unleaded petrol The average cost for a litre of unleaded fuel in Portugal is €1.31, a staggering 24 cents more expensive than across the border in neighbouring Spain where fuel is subject to similar government taxes.

Portuguese would have to travel to the north of Europe in order to find costlier petrol. Only the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark and Belgium have higher fuel prices, with a litre costing between €1.32 and €1.39 at the pumps.

At the opposite end of the scale are Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus, where unleaded fuel is retailed at 95 cents a litre.

In spite of incessant accusations leveled by automobile associations at fuel companies forming a cartel in Portugal to keep prices high, the competition authority (CA) ruled in spring that despite fuel companies tending to follow the example of dominant retailer Galp in increasing or cutting prices, the CA ruled that no indications of foul play existed.

The report, ruling out any illicit practices read: “In Portugal, in the period 2004 to 2008, the average price of fuel before taxes tended to adjust itself in accordance with the variations of international prices, with a delayed reaction of four to five weeks in diesel and five to six weeks for unleaded petrol 95”.

“Parallel behaviour was noted, but this in itself does not indicate a concerted effort to keep prices the same”, the report added.

An inquest into the existence of possible fuel cartels was ordered last

year when the Portuguese Government, concerned over the apparent synchronised increases by major fuel companies almost on a weekly basis, opted to order the Competition Authority to conduct an in depth analysis to either confirm or rule out fuel price fixing in Portugal.

Fuel retailers at the time joined the growing chorus of criticism against the incessant increases ordered by fuel suppliers in the country. The Portuguese Fuel Retail Association (ANAREC) had earlier indicated they suspected foul play.

ANAREC chairman Augusto Cymbron charged that the price hikes were “scandalous” in that fuel companies appear to be taking advantage of the unstable economic climate to line their own pockets. “When you look at the case of BP, which in the first quarter of 2008, saw their profits soar by 63 percent in relation to the same period last year, everything becomes clear. How can they continue to argue that the constant increases in fuel prices are motivated by the high cost of oil?” he questioned.

Latest figures meanwhile show that non-branded fuel stations, such as those found at supermarkets, now represent more than 30 percent of the market, and often allow savings of around five euros per tank of fuel.

Malta, Sliema. Savoy residents file petition against petrol pump Sliema Savoy residents are insisting with government and the Malta Environment and Planning Authority to take immediate action and immediately shut down the operation of a petrol station in Rue D‘Argens. In a written petition forwarded to the Prime Minister, Minister George Pullicino, the MEPA chairman and the Sliema local council, the Sliema Savoy residents explained that the EU Directives and regulations on Volatile Organic Compound emissions (VOC) are all there to be observed and acknowledged.

The harmful effects on the health and well being of residents, particularly in the vicinity of the

petrol stations in residential areas, are unacceptable when one considers that VOC‘s may cause not only cancer but other symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, respiratory problems, depression, kidney and liver damage among other illnesses,? the petition said.

The residents explained that the kerbside petrol station has its fuel tanks and pump, with no title for the appropriation of public land, adding that the person who is running the station has sublet the garage (originally a washroom) contributing to the establishment of this kerb side station, without any consent from the owners refusing to hand over the keys and challenging a request for them.

According to the Local Plan for North Harbours, it is evident – they said – that should this application be approved, it would eventually be in conflict with the proposal of the safe open spaces, of the urban section of the Local Plan.

USA, Shell opens hydrogen filling station in New York area

NEWS

says a concerned Marit Helene Pedersen, regional director of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise in Finnmark county.

However, Statoil Norway which operates close to 500 petrol stations in Norway, believes the trend will continue, and that in 15 years there will be well under 1000 stations left in Norway.

The second hydrogen filling station in the greater New York City area is now open for business with a third due to open later this month and one already operating there for a year.

The station is the first of a cluster to come from fuel giant Shell, which formed a partnership with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the US Department of Energy and General Motors to open the forecourt at JFK International Airport. The third station will be located in the Bronx and has been developed with the New York City Department of Sanitation.

According to Duncan Macleod, Shell’s vice president of hydrogen, the prospects for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are strong in the long term and the first cluster represents an important step to build capabilities in retailing the fuel.

Shell currently buys the majority of its hydrogen from third parties although it does produce hydrogen from electricity on site in three of its

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stations - one in Santa Monica, CA, another in White Plains, NY and a third in Reykjavik, Iceland. At the moment it has six filling stations in collaboration with auto makers, universities and local authorities these are situated in Tokyo, Reykjavik, Washington DC, Los Angeles, New York and Shanghai.

The three filling stations in New York will be within around 30 miles of each other.

Australia, Gilbarco Veeder-Root installs First TUV approved vapour recovery Stage II collection and monitoring system in Australia

NEWS

Gilbarco Veeder-Root has provided the Australian Petroleum Industry with the first TUV (Recognised German International Certification Organisation) approved Vapour Recovery Stage II (VRII) monitoring and collection system.

This system is installed at a retail petroleum site in Sydney and meets the requirements of the vapour monitoring legislation proposed by the NSW Government Department of Climate and Change (DECC).

The legislation is being considered

by Parliament now and is expected to be approved shortly.

“The newly installed system has the necessary approvals for the Collection and Monitoring of petrol vapours that the NSW Government’s DECC is proposing to implement in 2010”, says Victor Turner, Managing Director of Gilbarco Veeder-Root, Australia / New Zealand. “The system and components have been jointly developed by our affiliates in Europe and the USA where they have been at the forefront of this technology for decades. The collaboration between the many Gilbarco Veeder-Root global affiliates is a testament to our ability to deliver quality products and world class support to our local customers.”

“Due to our long-standing involvement and experience in providing a VRII solution, we have 28

been able to provide a solution that is reliable and does not have a single point of failure, which can be retrofitted to any dispenser, regardless of brand, or can be customized in our factory,” comments Peter Richards, National Sales Manager for Gilbarco-VeederRoot, Australia.

To view the site at any time, the VRII site is being remotely monitored

by Gilbarco Veeder-Root’s Fuel Management Service Centre. They provide real time site data that is available online to the site owner/operator. If there is an alarm, the Fuel Management Service centre automatically alerts the customer and/or the service contractor so they can follow up on the alarm. Peter Richards points out that Gilbarco Veeder-Root has developed different remote monitoring platforms to suit each customer’s business need for reporting and meeting proposed compliance requirements set out by the DECC.

Phillipines, Manila.

Ethanol gas can damage car engines - Petron Oil refiner and retailer Petron Corp. has warned that the current ethanol-blended gasoline (E-10) could damage car engines and urged the Department of Energy to come up with clearer specifications for the fuel blend. Petron chair and chief executive Ramon S. Ang said they had received many reports that the current blend is “highly corrosive.” According to Ang, the company wrote the DoE last month requesting new guidelines to help protect motorists. The Philippine Daily Inquirer was unable to get a comment from the DoE as of press time.

The E10 blend is still being sold in gasoline stations. Ang said in a briefing that the alcohol mixed with gasoline could do much damage to a car’s gas tank, fuel pump, carburetor and fuel injector, among others. The problem, he said, was that the government did not specify that there should be a dehydrator to remove the water content, which is

what makes the ethanol-blended gasoline (E10) highly corrosive.

“That’s why Petron wrote to the DoE. If we push E10, we have to prepare the correct specifications to prevent damage to cars,” Ang explained.

“Right now, the DoE together with the industry is formulating the specifications and the guidelines.

They are studying it. What we are saying here is based on the experience of motorists and our own experience as well,” Ang said. Under the Biofuels Law, all oil companies are mandated to pre-blend 5 percent ethanol in gasoline-fueled vehicles starting February 2009 and increase this to 10 percent by 2011.

Most of the oil companies began pre-blending 10 percent ethanol in their gasoline products as early as 2008, way ahead of the mandate of the law. In a separate phone interview, Petron president Eric O. Recto said the company was still “in the middle of collating data to help the industry understand the potential impact of ethanol (on vehicles).” “We have empirical evidence coming from all over but we’re not done with the information gathering—a few more weeks or a month maybe to complete (it)... ethanol has certain negative effects on car engines,” Recto said. He noted that the move is an initiative of Petron, but was something they thought would benefit the rest of the oil industry. “Let me put it this way, there are pluses and minuses in using ethanol and we just want to make sure that both sides are studied and heard first,” Recto said.

USA, UL Announces new certification path for ethanol fuel dispensers NACS cautions that this is not an immediate solution to the liability issues retailers face if they sell fuels through non-certified as compatible equipment Underwriters Laboratories (UL) announced August 10 a new certification path for fuel dispensers for mid-level ethanol blends up to E25. With the new certification path, manufacturers of dispensers, assemblies and components now

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have three certification options to choose from to balance market needs and provide maximum flexibility as advances are made in the fuel industry.

"The development of renewable energies continues to evolve at a rapid pace and we understand the need for future innovation, cost effectiveness and getting product to market quickly; however, public safety must remain paramount," said Jeff Smidt, general manager global energy business for UL. "We now have multiple certification paths available for fuel dispensers that will provide not only for public safety, but also future blend flexibility for dispenser manufacturers. We feel with this additional certification path, we have addressed current and future industry needs."

As of August 3, 2009, UL is providing three certification paths for dispensers of pre-blended fuels: • UL 87 for gasoline and ethanol fuel blends up to E10

NEWS

• The established requirements of Subject 87A-E85, which address gasoline and ethanol fuel blends up to E85 • The new certification path in Subject 87A-E25, which addresses gasoline and midlevel ethanol fuel blends up to E25 Prior to August 1, UL had two certification paths for gasoline and ethanol fuel dispensing units, UL87 for blends up to E10 and Subject 87A for blends up to E85. UL first announced Subject 87A covering E85 dispensers in October of 2007.

The additional level to Subject 87A for E25 will help assure that mid-level pre-blended fuels, if adopted, can be dispensed safely.

“UL announcing the path to certification is a step forward, but since they will not recertify any equipment already in service, any retailer wishing to sell these fuels will have to replace their equipment,” cautioned NACS Vice President of Government Relations John Eichberger.

"In addition, UL announced the certification process 30

for E85 dispensers a long time ago and there remain no certified dispensers. This is not an immediate solution to the liability issues retailers face if they sell fuels through noncertified as compatible equipment.”

Following a presentation he made at the American Coalition for Ethanol’s annual conference, Eichberger told NACS Daily that he hopes NACS can work with the ethanol industry to develop a solution that will enable retailers to use existing equipment to sell new renewable fuels without the risk of legal liability or violation of federal law or tank insurance policies.

“We have to find a way to utilise the existing infrastructure or we will never be able to satisfy the requirements of the federal renewable fuels standard,” Eichberger explained. “It is in the interests of both NACS members and the ethanol industry to pursue a solution to this very real problem.”

USA, MS, Glade.

Lighting strikes propane tank The Jones County Emergency Management Agency avoided a major disaster after lightning struck a 18,000-gallon propane tank off Old Highway 15 South in Glade. Don McKinnon, executive director of the agency, said volunteer departments from Glade, M&M and Powers helped minimize the danger of the situation. The relief valve on the tank itself was damaged in the strike, allowed gas vapour to come out of the tank,” he said. When it escaped, it caught fire. The fire was contained to the relief valve itself.

The tank didn‘t explode or anything, but the gas coming out of the valve was burning. It was a cause for concern because we couldn‘t close the relief valve.”

McKinnon said approximately 10,000 gallons of product was in the tank at the time of the incident. We called a propane safety group from the state, and worked out a plan with the product owner and supplier to offload it,” he said. It was a serious situation, but it was professionally handled.” With everyone working together, we minimized the danger to an acceptable level. “ McKinnon

said the incident happened in the early evening hours with emergency personnel working past 2 a.m. It could have been a big event, but we managed to make it a small event,” he said. It was right next to a chicken house, and we didn‘t even lose a chicken.” Dan McKenna, Jones Co. fire coordinator, said the event could have been catastrophic for the property owner if the propane tank had ignited. The valve was doing 99.9 percent of its job,“ he said. Working with the propane company, we were able to save all of the chicken houses, which is a multi-million dollar operation. Everything came out smelling like roses. “McKenna thanked all agencies involved including the American Red Cross, which provided food and drinks to those quelching the flames. It wasn‘t a really large event, but it involved a lot of agencies,” he said. All of those gallons of propane could have been a catastrophic failure if we were unable to contain it and keep the tank cool. There would have been a bleve, which is a boiling liquid expanding vapour explosion.

That would have effectively destroyed all of his barns, and could have had an effect on the neighbors too.

USA, Number of orphaned gas stations on the rise Columbia-Pacific region has more orphaned gasoline stations than it should.

Abandoned or neglected former gasoline-filling stations are like rotting teeth on main streets and highways throughout the nation. The Lower Columbia region has more of these orphans than we should have.

In Oregon, some decent progress is being made on the issue, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently providing $2.7 million to help the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality clean up about a dozen leaking underground storage tanks.

These tanks are a key factor in the demise of gas stations. Buried by the thousands in past times when out of sight was out of mind, these metal tanks were prone to failure.

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

New Zealand, Wellington. BP head says petrol stations unsustainable Resigning BP managing director Peter Griffiths is warning that the petrol station business in New Zealand is unsustainable.

Wellington-based Griffiths says fuel prices will need to rise at least 10 cents a litre to start to make it

profitable, The Dominion Post is reporting. The increase would include 5 cents for the oil companies at the wholesale level and another 5 cents a litre for independent station operators. Griffiths says as a group, the big retail petrol companies in New Zealand made no profits in the past year, despite combined revenues of about $10 billion. "It can't be sustained. We have competed ourselves to a point of collapse of all sorts of bits and pieces of the industry." He says collapse is probably a strong word, but the profitability for wholesale operators is poor. Companies Shell and Exxon Mobil are both looking at selling their petrol stations in this country. BP stations are not for sale, but Mr. Griffiths says its performance is bound to be "reviewed".

Mozambique, Petromoc promises to supply fuel for the entire country Mozambique's state-owned fuel company, Petromoc, has said that it can supply the entire country with fuel, thus breaking the boycott imposed by private fuel companies who are attempting to blackmail the government.

Filling stations owned by the private companies are receiving limited quantities of fuel or none at all. The result is queues at the petrol pumps, and the introduction of adhoc rationing. Thus some stations were limiting motorists to 20 litres of petrol each.

The Finance and Energy Ministries have continued to negotiate with the fuel companies - but the latter threatened that they would only resume normal supplies when the government defines and applies mechanisms that will compensate the companies for their current losses, arising from the difference between the world market price of fuel and the domestic price determined by the government, which was not increased since March.

The tough line taken by the companies surprised the government.

Energy Minister Salvador Namburete has

repeatedly stated that he gave the companies guarantees in writing weeks ago that they would be compensated for their losses.

Petromoc is trying to fill the gap created by the private companies.

But the boycott by the private companies inevitably led to long queues at the Petromoc stations.

Petromoc has the largest network of filling stations in the country, and the release listed them all - 25 in Maputo city and province, and 87 in the rest of the country.

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

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

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

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31

NEWS

Particularly in the period before sophisticated leak-detection technology was developed, fuel bled out into the surrounding soil and groundwater.

Toxic in their own right, these hydrocarbons also often contain lead and other additives, such as methyl tert-butyl ether or MTBE. A decade ago, scientists from Oregon Graduate Institute of Science and Technology and the U.S. Geological Survey estimated that MTBE might have leaked from as many as 250,000 underground storage tanks in the U.S., representing a cancer risk in the drinking water of surrounding communities.

Legal liabilities surrounding these leaks have impacted the financial viability of filling stations, many of which become "orphan" sites in which the liable party is either unknown, unwilling or unable to fund cleanup efforts. Federal funds will be tremendously helpful in assisting rehabilitation of these sites by cash-strapped cities and counties. DEQ says it has overseen the cleanup of more than 370 leaking underground storage tanks statewide in the past two years.

It appears that some of these sites remain difficult to sell or develop even after cleanup, possibly due to lingering concerns on the part of lenders and insurers. Astoria, Knappa, Long Beach, Wash., and other nearby communities continue to grapple with how to restore these buildings and lots to productive use.

It is not acceptable for them to merely be left sitting as weedchoked eyesores. It is time to find better legal mechanisms to get rid of blighted old stations, torn down a redeveloped for another use or left as open space.

monitoring of fuel storage tanks would be done.

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

Tanzania, Dar Es Salaam. Fire damages oil factory petrol tanker

NEWS

Property worth millions of shillings was destroyed in Dar es Salaam in yet another fire outbreak. The inferno started at around 6pm at the Murza Oil Mills factory and preliminary reports indicated that it was caused by a petrol tanker which was parked near factory's perimeter wall. Eyewitnesses told The Citizen that fuel leaking from the tanker caught fire which quickly spread to the main factory building.

It was the third major fire to have broken out in the city in the last month. Dare es Salaam Special Police Zone deputy commander Meng'anyi Wambura said riot police were rushed to the scene to control a rowdy crowd. He said preliminary investigations had established that fire that started from a fuel tanker had destroyed the factory's warehouse.

Automakers try new PR spin to bring hydrogen cars back from the almost dead The world´s on-again, off-again commitment to commercialise the hydrogen car appears to be on again, with the announcement this week by eight major automakers that they anticipate "a few hundred thousand" of them on the world´s roads by 2015. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said it will no longer attempt to kill 32

federal funding for hydrogen car technology.

The auto companies – Daimler, Ford, GM, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Renault-Nissan and Toyota – declared they´ll work together to bring the costly car and its fueling stations to mass market, in a new Letter of Understanding.

Interestingly, the auto giants gave their Letter of Understanding this title: Automobile Manufacturers Stick Up for Electric Vehicles with Fuel Cell. The fact that they´re feeling compelled to "stick up" for hydrogen speaks volumes about the technology´s current unpopularity.

And note the absence of the word "hydrogen." Analysts certainly have.

That omission – and the use of "electric cars with fuel cells" in its place – suggests an attempt by automakers to spin hydrogen in a way that taps into the soaring approval of battery-powered electric cars. But they´ll need more than clever public relations to get the hydrogen car moving.

Hydrogen advances would require support from major governments (money and otherwise) – if not a technological miracle.

The technical hurdles remaining are huge. Developers still haven´t figured out how to transport hydrogen across long distances; how to establish an infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations; and how to reduce production costs to anywhere near affordable.

Case in point is Honda´s FCX Clarity. It costs a few hundred thousand dollars to make each one.

Currently, there are just 10 on road in the U.S. and in Japan.

For its part, the Department of Energy under U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu, appears to be losing patience with hydrogen´s potential.

In the last eight years, the U.S. has spent about $1.5 billion on developing hydrogen fuel cells. But the DOE cut $100 million from the proposed hydrogen budget for 2010, leaving only $68 million for non-vehicle fuel cell research. It

wants to focus on more realistic technologies to curb oil use like biofuels and electric vehicles.

Secretary Chu explained further in May: "We asked ourselves, ´Is it likely in the next 10 or 15, 20 years that we will convert to a hydrogen car economy?´ The answer, we felt, was ´no.´" To the DOE´s dismay, the House and Senate restored the slashed hydrogen funds in the fiscal 2010 spending bills. And Secretary Chu is now saying he will no longer put up a fight, although the agency will do its best to ensure the millions get wisely spent.

Given the acrimony surrounding H2 cars in America, it seems that a "hydrogen highway" would have a better shot at taking root elsewhere.

Which is why the carmakers want to start in Germany.

"The

signing

manufacturers

strongly support the idea of buildingup a hydrogen infrastructure in Europe, with Germany as regional starting point and at the same time developing similar concepts for the market penetration of hydrogen infrastructure in other regions of the world, including the USA, Japan and Korea as further starting points," the Letter of Understanding states.

The

world´s

automakers

are

clearly united on hydrogen. And Germany seems a good fit for the pilot.

German

carmakers

have

invested much time and money in the technology. The nation has 30 hydrogen fueling stations operating throughout the country, the most in the EU Hydrogen Highway system.

But

even

in

Germany,

the

government has begun to pour substantial sums into battery-electric cars, about $705 million through 2012, to be exact. With those funds, the nation is aiming to boost electric vehicle production from 2,000 units produced today to 1 million by 2020 and 5 million by 2030.

It´s getting hard not to conclude that the electric car has the more certain future in a post-petroleum economy.

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

Forecourt Solutions Ltd. acquire Environ Europe design rights

Legislation to install Vapour recovery stage 2 systems on retail forecourts has been introduced in many countries globally. The requirements for Vapour Recovery Equipment Performance for the installed base are similar, and either manual or automatic monitoring of the systems are mandatory.

If a retailer decides to operate sites by employing a third-party conducting manual performance control twice a year, the operational costs of such services will quickly become uneconomical in comparison with a one-time installation of an automatic monitoring system. A site with an Automatic Monitoring System will need much lower control frequencies and costs.

The FAFNIR Vapour Recovery Monitoring System VAPORIX is the

most installed system worldwide.

Over the past 7 years, more than 70,000 VAPORIX sensors have demonstrated exceptional reliability with a MTTF (mean time to failure) of more than 100 years. The system is universal and can easily be installed in all known dispenser brands. www.fafnir.com

Make every drop of fuel count With fuel costs rising again, it’s even more important to monitor the contents of your fuel storage tanks and make every drop count. Using a high quality fuel gauge can help to

stop you running out of fuel, and it can also help you to take a bigger delivery at a better price. In addition, a gauge can help prevent spillage and waste when fuel is delivered.

Hytek offers a choice of two hydrostatic tank gauges, both of which are ideal for fleet operators and fuel distributors. Both systems detect the static pressure generated by the volume of fuel in your storage tank.

The Unitop gauge is a simple hydrostatic gauge which suits above or below ground tanks from 0.9m to 3.2m high. Using a pull plunger system, it can be used to provide instant content readings for diesel, biodiesel, oils and water. The gauge also comes with a remote readout dial, which can be sited up to 20m away from the tank. The Unitop is available with a dial which shows percentages, or alternatively one which is calibrated in litres for a more accurate measurement of +/2%.

For a more continuous readout, Hytek recommends the Ocio gauge. Like the Unitop, the Ocio is also a hydrostatic contents gauge, and is suitable for diesel, biodiesel, oils and water. It is suitable for use with tanks up to 4m high and is calibrated on site, giving continuous readings in litres, millimetres and percentages to +/-1% accuracy. This allows you to monitor fuel storage levels at all times from a readout which can be sited up to 10m away from the tank. Additional options include a 50m remote readout, and a remote warning device which can alert users to fuel theft.

Both the Unitop and the Ocio gauge are sold exclusively through a network of distributors. For further information or a copy of the catalogue call 01279 815 600.

Bridgwater UK based, Forecourt Solutions Ltd a manufacturer of forecourt containment products and manhole covers, completed its acquisition of the intellectual property and design rights of Plymouth UK based Environ Europe, Ltd on Friday 2nd October 2009.

“Since the mid 1990’s Environ Europe Ltd were responsible for numerous developments within the global product range of Environ, in particular Composite Manhole Covers, Remote Fill, Tank and Dispenser Sumps plus many of the Pipe fittings used on today’s flexible pipe work systems. This acquisition provides Forecourt with an extensive proven range of products to compliment our existing ChamberTite sump and fitting range” said Director Nick Hugh. “We intend to continue to expand the range to provide cost effective containment solutions and market this new range through our established worldwide distributor network.”

News from Henkel, green fuels mean change in pipe sealant On the face of it, the government’s target of all fuel to contain at least 5 per cent of Biofuel by next year should have little effect on the choice of pipe sealant for forecourts systems. Yet experience has shown that traditional sealants and jointing compounds used by those who refurbish forecourt sites are ineffective on pipes that carrying Biofuels. The reason is simple – the biofuel added to unleaded petrol is Ethanol – a constituent that can degrade some pipe sealants causing joints to leak.

Fortunately, there is a simple answer.

Tests have been carried out that show that in addition to being fully compatible with traditional petrol and diesel fuels Ethanol does not have this effect on Henkel’s Loctite 577 Pipe Sealant. As a result, BP has

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

33

PRESS RELEASES

Demand for FAFNIR Automatic VAPOUR Recovery Monitoring growing quickly

specified Henkel’s Loctite 577 Pipe Sealant as one of the few products which must be used for the sealing of all threaded pipe joints on their retail filling stations - especially those that will carry Biofuels. In addition, Loctite 577 is recommended by many of the country’s leading system installation companies.

‘BP requires all products that are used on its fuel systems to be demonstrably compatible with all current and foreseeable future fuels,’ states Phil Lambeth, BP’s European Design Manager for retail sites. ‘We looked around for a

excluded as the threaded parts are assembled. Any sealant left outside of the thread remains liquid and can, therefore, be readily wiped away. Despite the secure seal that is created, dismantling can be easily achieved using standard hand tools.

It can also be used to replace applications where PTFE tape has previously been employed. Unlike tape, the pipe sealant will not shred and cause blockages.

Loctite 577 can be readily used on fittings that will be subjected to fuels containing Ethanol.

For more information please contact: Henkel Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 1442 278000 www.loctite.co.uk Email: technicalservice.loctite@uk.henkel.com

New Operations Director for Hytek PRESS RELEASES

product that would meet our specifications, which includes easy dismantling of joints when needed for maintenance, and the data we received from Henkel showed that Loctite 577 would meet those requirements.’

It is important that a pipe sealant is very easy to apply with minimum wastage, Effective joint seals are achieved with Loctite 577 with less product than traditional jointing compounds.

‘Once the joint is cleaned and oilfree, Loctite 577 is simply squeezed from the applicator bottle on to the leading threads of the joint,’ explains Gavin Downing of Henkel.

‘Only a small amount is required because it readily flows into the threads and will quickly cure once the joint is tightened. It is important to emphasise that there is no need to apply as much product as may have been the case where the sealant needs to be brushed on to the threads.’

In fact, research has shown that applied correctly, the use of Loctite 577 is more economical than previously trusted methods.

Loctite 577 is anaerobic, which means it cures on a metal surface in the absence of oxygen. This air is 34

Fenton Trewick has been promoted to Operations Director for Hytek GB Ltd. The company supplies fuelling and lubrication equipment, alongside products for the oil heating industry.

As part of his responsibilities, Fenton manages the operations team, and oversees production and purchasing. He also visits customers, and deals with requests such as special packaging requirements or tail lift deliveries.

Fenton has worked at Hytek for 10 years, and to mark the occasion he was presented with a watch by Managing Director Kevin Arnold.

Fenton explained how he joined Hytek saying “I worked for a national courier company back in 1999 with

Hytek being one of my regular collections. Sometimes I would wait in the stores area for late orders to be packed before I could leave, and as time went on I found myself helping out so I could hopefully get home at a decent time. Then I heard about a job vacancy looking after the incoming and outgoing stock, so I applied and after a couple of interviews I was offered the job.”

In January 2002, Hytek moved to their existing home at Delta House near Stansted airport. Fenton then became operations assistant, and in May 2004 was promoted to operations manager.

Hytek is currently looking to expand their production area, and one of Fenton’s new projects is to add a mezzanine floor to the factory.

For reader enquiries please contact: Mr. Greg Coates, Hytek (GB) Ltd., Green Street, Elsenham, Bishops Stortford, CM22 6DS.

Hugh Tucker appointed UKPIA Technical Director UKPIA, the trade association representing the UK’s main oil refiners, has appointed Hugh Tucker as Technical Director effective 1st August 2009. He takes over from Malcolm Watson, who will continue working part time in the capacity of Technical Adviser until his retirement at the end of 2009.

Hugh Tucker is a Chemical Engineer by training and has worked in the oil industry for over 30 years, much of it with Total. He joined UKPIA in October 2008 as Technical Co-ordinator.

Hugh began his career at Milford Haven Refinery in 1975 as a Process Engineer, working in various Process Engineering, Production Planning and Operations roles through to 1992, followed by a wide range of assignments in refining, trading, logistics and marketing.

Married with three grown-up sons, Hugh’s interests include football and sailing.

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

unit which included the tank and pump and all the equipment to go with it. The pump would be situated immediately on top of the tank and were ideal to install by the road and became known as the kerbside pump. These kerbside pumps were eventually to become the bane of the petroleum officer’s life but a few still exist today.

The pump industry had developed quite well in the US with well over 100 manufacturing plants many of which would became household names within the industry such as the Bennet Pump Company, Gilbert and Barker, Morrison Brothers, Tokheim, Tuthill, and Wayne.

Amongst the first to export pumps in to the UK were S F Bowser and many of these pumps were used on

By Jamie Thompson In the 1880’s before the advent of motor vehicles petroleum oil was used for lighting, however most lighting was designed to burn paraffin, but a few would have been designed to burn petrol.

The fuel was delivered in barrels and imported from the United States initially into London and distributed around the country. These fuels were replacing Whale Oil and were much cleaner and brighter than their predecessor and sales grew rapidly.

One advert of the day showed a young girl on the stairs in her house lit by the new paraffin lamps and exclaiming to her mother “mummy the light is so bright I thought it was daylight!”

The distribution of this fuel started with hardware shops and also there is evidence this fuel was often “hawked” around the streets of London on horse and carts and the first control of this potentially dangerous fuel came when a Petroleum Hawkers licensing scheme was introduced.

When the first pumps were invented in America they were really intended for paraffin and in 1883 Sylvanus Bowser designed a pump, first for water, then Paraffin and in 1890 advertised the first petrol pump. It was still early in the development of the motor car and it was not until much later that Bowser pumps started arriving in the UK. Another person who started at around the same time was John Tokheim from Iowa in 1898 invented a dome oil pump and by 1901 they

were selling petrol pumps.

The first fuelling or filling stations in the UK were in fact storage facilities where 1 or 2 gallon cans of petrol were kept and used to hand pour into car tanks using a funnel and often a chamois leather filter to remove sediment. It would not be long before the sales of motor cars grew and a number of filling stations were built and it became sensible to build a storage and delivery system for the refuelling of motor cars.

Suppliers to this trade initially provided everything; a complete

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ARTICLES

History of Petrol Stations Part 12 - The Early Hand Pumps

35

ARTICLES

kerbside installations.

It soon became apparent that British engineering companies could reasonably emulate the US manufacturers and produce pump designs themselves and certainly in the early part of the 1900’s many started designing and manufacturing some rather unique petrol pump designs.

One well known UK company was Hammond who had factories in Acton in London, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Dublin.

A v e r y Hardoll in Surbition S u r r e y .

P e t r o i l Installations in Battersea.

Theo Pump Company of Liverpool, Beardmore of London, D o w s o n and Mason of Liverpool and of c o u r s e A n n i e Risbridgers grandfather who started m a k i n g petrol pumps in his engineering factory in Surrey.

The UK pump companies were also joined by some of the larger US companies who came over to the UK and started up new factories.

Gilbert and Barker (Gilbarco) opened a factory in Tottenham north London, Wayne had a plant in Sydenham south east London.

Bennet had a plant in Battersea and Tokheim in Scotland.

36

With the development of the filling station industry it would seem at that time there was enough work for all these companies as the number of filling stations increased.

The petrol pump at that time consisted of a hand cranked lift pump which had a limited lift or suction pull to enable it to draw fuel from the tank which was usually situated immediately above the tank. There was a meter which measured the amount of fuel being pumped and a hose with a tap rather than a nozzle. The hose then had to be drained of fuel to ensure that all the fuel the customer had purchased reached the tank.

It is interesting to see that such pumps still exist on some farm sites As designs developed the clear

glass bowls or “visible” petrol sales became the vogue and pumps designed to have fuel pumped up into the measured (1 or 2 gallon) glass bowls where the customer could see the fuel and then it was drained by gravity into the tank of the vehicle, many of these designs had more than one glass bowl.

Some of the old records in the London County Councils archives made note of the concern that such glass globes containing fuel may

have in a fire situation and required a test be carried out. Such a test was carried out by the Underwriters Laboratory in 1922 which proved that these designs were safe in a fire situation.

The other design which caused some concern was the introduction of the advertising globe, it was not the globe that caused concern but the illumination by way of electric light that was introduced.

In fact the manufacturers all at the time were required to show to the Petroleum Office of the LCC that there were no breaks or access into the continuous conduit that took the wiring to the globe.

By this time around 1930 filling stations as we know them today were being built and certainly in the London area.

The Anglo American Oil C o m p a n y (Esso) and Anglo Iranian Oil Company (BP) developed about 100 filling stations around London in a 12 month period with a large number of pumps. Business would have been pretty good for those pump manufactures as their sales grew.

In the more remote areas individual companies or family businesses were developing filling stations and were tending to use the smaller and local pump manufacturers.

Petrol pump designs were to alter drastically with the introduction of the electric motor and the new methods of metering fuel, but more about that in the next issue.

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By Paul Reyner, Secu-Tech Ltd From Terminal to Tank the reliance is on the driver to ‘do the right thing’ they have assistance at most terminals enabling them to load the tanker with the right volume for a compartment and they have labels on the loading gantry for product.

At the station they have labels.

Drivers have procedures which they must adhere to too ensure no errors are made. Drivers are human and therefore errors happen despite training and procedures. How often these errors occur is difficult to quantify and depends on the reporting structures in the various elements of the distribution chain.

The 2005 Independent Oakdene report commissioned by the Oil Care Campaign sponsored by Shell indicated that 70% of incidents were not reported and so encouraged better reporting procedures.

Evidence from interested third parties indicates it happens quite frequently. Reported incidents in the London region average 1 per month but it is believed actual incidents are higher as the need to report usually means a significant issue where risk assessments and action plans need to be implemented.

Wet Stock reconciliation companies also indicate that their activities are compromised by low level incidents typically the contamination is at a low level or considered low risk i.e. small quantities are involved resulting in ‘within tolerance contamination’ of diesel into petrol.

What would be a typical low level incident? It is usually where the driver realises their mistake very shortly after releasing the fuel into

the storage tank. Their action is to stop the delivery and correct the mistake and then in some cases ‘balance’ the delivery so that it looks as if the correct amount has been delivered to the correct tank.

After delivery tank gauge reports are usually dismissed as not accurate compared to tanker delivery tickets and any Wet Stock reconciliation takes place after the event has occurred and unless part of a trend would be dismissed as standard deviation error.

The driver knows what he has done and if he was quick enough it will go undetected, but why not report it, after all doesn’t his procedures allow for such errors to be reported ‘without blame’. Tanker drivers are well trained and well paid personnel but they are also human and even in a no blame culture, error counts would be maintained and job security would be considered by the individual as a reason not to alert principles to these perceived low level incidents.

Let’s consider ‘within tolerance contamination’, some companies do have a policy to cover the

becoming a big problem. Same product crossovers where premium fuels and standard fuels of the same type are mixed get little considerations as there is little potential for customer compliant.

However the impact on the business commercially could be significant.

Compare the margin on premium fuels to standard fuels.

Other issues are tankers returning to the terminal with product still on board but not known, again this is discovered when the loading rack goes into overfill protection but only if the new load is at maximum capacity, if it’s less than a full compartment then a product mix could occur. It is the driver’s responsibility to declare he is either empty or has product on board.

Some terminals now refuse trucks with product already loaded again increasing the responsibility of the driver.

Consequences Incidents happen, the consequences of which depends on the level and when remedial action can be taken.

In a straight forward contamination of one tank at a service station with notification by the tanker driver at the time of incidence, the costs are relatively small and confined to:• Nozzles connected to the tank being shut down – resulting in lower sales from the station.

• Tank Emptied - requiring at least 1 special tanker, specialist service team.

• New Product delivered – extra logistics costs • Nozzles decommissioned – requiring specialist service team • Recovered product ‘sold’ for reprocessing – Loss of revenue

above incident provided the volume of containment is low compare to the volume in storage.

In this case how does the driver know until after the delivery they are ‘within the tolerance’? Getting it wrong could lead to a small error

• Recoverable of state duties – requiring administration diligence The above is estimated to cost a minimum of € 20,000.

Larger

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and

more

complex 37

ARTICLES

A Way to Safer Fuel Delivery Life as we know it

ARTICLES

incidents including unknown contamination result in larger costs especially if the contamination affects the general public. Even without the public being involved reported incidents within the last year have cost a minimum of €100000.

In some countries these costs are mitigated by the resale of the contaminated product but Turkey for example recognising this problem has now reduced the price of contaminated product to crude oil price.

The costs of incidents can be as varied as each individual incident the one constant though is WHO PAYS? The first shoulder this falls on is the driver or more appropriately the company the driver works for. The delivery company would have to have some compelling arguments why they are not responsible, but to do that they would themselves have to instigate and investigation. In general the blame is accepted and passed through to their Insurance company who in turn would then appoint a loss adjuster to investigate and try and mitigate the potential claim involving all other interested parties and involving each in justifications. These justifications are time consuming and costly. The resulting COST to the insurance company could well by 20% higher than the actual true cost of the incident.

Insurance companies make money by insuring risk and claiming a premium from the people they insure, the higher the risk the higher the premium. So the drivers error quickly translates to HIGHER LOGISTICS COSTS.

Reduce or eliminate the risk As previously explained driver training and procedures give a guide to reducing the risk of incidents but the driver still is under significant pressure and will make mistakes. Crossover prevention systems takes the pressure off the driver during the loading and the delivery process, enabling him to concentrate on other areas in the process, helping to reduce other Health and Safety Risks.

38

This fact was recognised by the industry particularly in Germany where they also wanted an end to end quality control system for the delivery process several years ago.

Equipment manufacturers developed systems to address these industry needs, unfortunately differing technologies were used to achieve these aims and there was little or no interface between competitive systems. Also like all new emerging technologies some systems worked and others only partially so.

As a result the industry developed in conjunction with CEN a European Standard for such systems in the same way that a European Standard was developed for other equipment in the fuel distribution channel such as overfill prevention.

These ‘2nd generation’ systems not only have to work but have to conform to the European standard, which is a performance standard, thus ensuing complete interoperability between different manufacturers components. It is this new standard that the Secu-Tech MultiTank has been designed, tested and implemented against.

Secu-Tech MultiTank MultiTank is split into three zones of equipment • • •

Loading Rack Tank Truck Service Station

Overview of system operation.

The Secu-Tech MultiTank system

operates in the background and provided the delivery connections are correct the truck can be loaded and unloaded safely and accurately. The MultiTank only interrupts normal activity if there is an error and then it indicates what the problem is and potential solutions. Typically once the loading or unloading has been prevented the driver quickly recognises the error and corrects it enabling activity to continue. The system works by imposing a digital signal on the earthing circuit of the truck to loading rack/station, this digital signal carries the code for the product concerned according to the European Standard.

Loading Rack On the loading rack there is already an earth monitor as part of the overspill protection system usually already incorporated into terminal automation package.

The MultiTank PID (Product Identification Device) integrates with that system requiring the driver to just connect the truck to the terminal in the usual way. The single Secu-Tech MultiPID can be linked to up to 6 loading or vapour recovery arms. Each arm is electrically isolated typically through the drop hose flange and the earthing circuit completed through the MultiPID. This correctly maintains the safety Earth of the system allowing non MultiTank equipped trucks to load safely as usual. Additionally on the MultiPID for terminals is the ability to be data connected through a Modbus to the terminal automation system

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Tank Truck The heart of the Secu-Tech MultiTank is on the tank truck. It is the truck that controls whether products are loaded and unloaded. The reason for the truck to be the focus of the system is because the truck is the one continuously variable storage for product in the logistics chain. Loading arms generally always have the same product in

them. Storage tanks at retail site are usually fixed in which product they store but the compartments on the truck change by load. Keeping track of which product goes into which compartment on the truck is what the MultiTerm does and then controlling the system of the truck to ensure that no product is mixed with another either at the Terminal or the Station. The system is monitored through a 4 line LCD display which gives a clear indication of the product in each compartment and whether it will permit loading or offloading. Any errors can be quickly corrected by direct reference to the display. Additional benefits of the system is the ability to customise the loading and unloading procedures to suit individual clients ensuing that company rules are followed.

Integration with the GPS receiver enables exact positioning of the system and further increasing

security with Geofencing where the system does not allow loading or unloading except in the specified company locations.

The system logs what product has been loaded into which compartment at which terminal and then also which product is offloaded into which tank at the retail location. This data provides a complete audit trial for effective logistics and quality management and assistance in incident investigation. The data can be retrieved directly from the MultiTank Terminal or through interfaces to onboard truck computers and could even be automatically transmitted to the terminal or operations base.

The system can also interface with other sensors on the truck to provide additional information on activity of the truck including compartment sensors.

Service Station At the retail station another SecuTech MultiPID unit is installed, this is programmed using a PC with the appropriate product code for each tank and each tank fill fitting is isolated from ground and the ground connection made through the MultiPID. It is a very simple installation as there is no external

power required for the MultiPID. As the programming is done via a PC the site configuration is saved and can be simply updated during any product change programs without requiring further installation work other than tank labelling. An earthing connection point for the tanker needs to be located near to the fill point. In the case where electronic overfill is incorporated then the Secu-Multiplexer is installed which is connected to either the overfill probes installed in the tanks or to the overfill alarm of the tank gauge.

Additional Benefits of the MultiTank System Overfill Prevention Secu-Tech in designing the Multitank also incorporated its established electronic overfill prevention system so not only can crossovers be prevented but individual tank overfills can be avoided. The system on connection to the station through the earthing cable, note that no additional actions are required by the driver, powers up the overfill sensors in each individual tank and only if they are fully functional will a delivery be permitted.

Should the fuel in the tank reach the overfill sensor then that tank and only that tanks delivery is stopped.

Indication on the Tanker terminal alerts the driver as to why the delivery has stopped.

This method of overfill prevention allows the

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allowing for ‘on the fly’ product grade changes of 2 loading arms which is sometimes practised. This permits correct product grade coding of the truck without external action at the loading rack. The Secu-Tech MultiPID requires no external power supply and is fully ATEX certified.

tanker hose to be disconnected from the fill point without the normal delay associated with mechanical overfill valves. This ensures the delivery vehicle is not delayed.

allows speedy resolution in the investigation of incidents, thus greatly reducing management time and cost.

Earthing Control Data Collection The Secu-Tech MultiTank systems can be fitted with a GPS receiver thus enabling the truck mounted controller to log where and to which compartments product has been loaded and where and to which tanks products have been offloaded. This provides a complete audit trial for both product quality and financial integrity. This data also

As the MultiTank operates through the earthing circuit of the tanker to rack, tanker to station, if these connections are not made or insufficiently good then the system prevents a possibly hazardous incident.

The MultiTank system provides an integrated solution to achieving quality products delivered accurately and safely to the retail

Interview with David Sommers

By Brian Baker

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electrician having attended college and served time with an electrical contracting business.

My qualifications are now out of date, but there’s always the option to update. At college I’d always worked holidays with an electrical contractor and also erected aerials to cover holidays for a one man company.

What would you say has been the hardest part of your Enforcement role?

Nice to catch up David and I was trying to remember when you first got involved with Petroleum in Hampshire? Can you remind us?

Hi Brian. I was involved with Petroleum first in Powys CC over in Wales. Over there I covered Petroleum, Animal Health and other general Trading Standards matters.

In 1995 I moved to Hampshire, and in 1997 Petroleum was transferred from the Fire Service to Trading Standards. I applied for the job of Petroleum Officer as it was the part of the job I always loved, and the rest is history!

So how has your career been so far – has it always been in Trading Standards?

I was actually a qualified domestic 44

Health and Safety has got a very bad name in parts of our sensationalist press, and in most cases it’s the perception that causes the problems. For the most part, petroleum legislation is based on good practice, common sense and bitter experience. Conveying this to a small retailer who is struggling to make any money from selling petrol is often a challenge, but I believe our partnership with the PRA helps greatly with this.

Hampshire is a large county, how is Petroleum Licensing structured to accommodate all areas?

I work 4 days per week for Hampshire and I have a team of two who also spend about 75% of their time on petroleum. We loosely hold to geographical areas to ensure

customer with less stress on the tanker driver and increased management control from the logistics company whilst not requiring extensive retraining or installation work.

Summary Even highly trained drivers make mistakes Incidents happen Incidents cost money Secu-Tech MultiTank prevents incidents Safer operations Less stressed more efficient drivers Lower cost operations.

consistency, but I tend to carry out all work involving contentious or very complicated issues, policy, quality and the other bits that seem to involve huge quantities of paperwork!

In 1997 we licensed nearly 1000 sites for petrol storage. This figure has reduced to about 300 with closures and DSEAR, but we now have contracts for vapour recovery and Petroleum Licensing in Portsmouth city to keep us busy.

You also have coastal locations, are many sites licensed for marine/boating type installations?

We have licensed installations involving floating tanks and dispensers, sites with tanks on land and long floating pressure lines to floating dispensers and harbour side installations. We also have our share of airports and small airfields, Thruxton racing circuit and quite a few domestic installations fuelling helicopters and private aircraft.

You have Unitary Authorities in the county such as Southampton and Portsmouth. Is there any special arrangements with these authorities?

Yes, we undertake the petroleum function for Portsmouth on a contractual basis. We have no involvement with Southampton apart from passing on the enquiries and applications which come to us instead of them! In a radical move, we also carry out the vapour

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Here is a leading question – What do you think are the main topical areas for petroleum officers of today?

Without doubt keeping up to date with new products and innovations.

This is where APEA branch meetings come into their own. As soon as one of us hears of something new or innovative we try to ensure it gets covered in a forthcoming branch meeting.

Have you much going on in petroleum in the county? Any innovation or new style works?

Lots going on at the moment. VR2 being installed left, right and centre,

several re-tanks and a few knock down and rebuilds. I’m thankful that LFEPA still seem to get most of the trial products and sites but we get our share of applications that require some research before we can give the go-ahead.

For the last 5 years I’ve been restoring our run down house. I agreed an optimistic 2 year plan with my wife to get the work done, and we’re just about finished now!

Having sons of 11 and 8 also takes up considerable time and keeps me

OK everybody gets this question – what are your plans over the next years or so?

on my toes. Away from the house I am a school governor and love tinkering with anything electrical or

I’m very fortunate to be doing a job I love, amongst some very good people. I’m Chairman of SELCOG at the moment which is a very rewarding role as I believe it provides a vital sharing ground for knowledge and consistency amongst petroleum officers. My plans are to try to keep going much as I have in the past which is probably dodging the question rather than answering it! My current dream is to retire in my mid-fifties, buy a camper van and travel all over Europe.

So what do you do with yourself in your free time? You must relax at some stage!

mechanical.

My neighbour has

recently bought a MGB in need of attention and we’ve had a few pleasant hours tackling the electrics and fuel system on that!

Anything else you wish to share like your pet hate?

The usual for many people I guess, selfish and ungrateful people. How long does it take to say ”thanks” or acknowledge a driver who’s waited for you to pass for example?

Space has beaten us for now.

Thank you for sparing some time.

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recovery work for all the Environmental Health Departments in Hampshire (11 districts) this was a major achievement, and we believe benefits operators in Hampshire who have had their inspection numbers cut, and now have a single point of contact for Petroleum matters. This won us an award from the Municipal Journal Achievement Awards.

APEA 2009 Conference, Exhibition and Awards Dinner

By Gareth Bourhill, APEA Chairman

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During 2009 the APEA were on the move! Well just a few miles on this occasion from our previous event venue at Telford to the splendid Ricoh Arena in Coventry. Our Events committee had listened to communication from our members, sponsors and exhibitors and decided that the Ricoh offered a solution to correct the small issues some people experienced at Telford.

The location of the Ricoh is more centrally placed in the motorway network in the Midlands and of course very handy for both air and rail transport to our members who travel to the event each year.

Although the main conference and exhibition and dinner took place on Thursday 15th October, a change in the organising of the event allowed the exhibiting companies to set up the day before and break down the day after the event thus maximising the time they get to spend with their guests and visitors to their stands so we hope this was a positive step.

This years event was the last one being organised for the Association

by Emma and Fiona at OpenRoom Events who have reluctantly decided this would be their last event for us, what we were guaranteed was they put all their efforts into making APEA 2009 the best yet and I do not think they let us down, all on National Council wish the girls and all the team at OpenRoom the very best for their future business.

Despite the very difficult economic conditions the past twelve months and the event last year was celebrating the APEA’s 50th “Birthday” everybody worked hard behind the scenes and despite the difficult climate we were able to continue the fantastic support from all our sponsors and we also increased the number of companies exhibiting, with the conference delegates similar numbers to last year and dinner numbers slightly down we are delighted that overall APEA 2009 was the biggest yet.

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Although we may be some way off in filling all the seats in the stadium for our conference we think the flexibility of the Arena facilities were excellent.

So to the day in question!

Even before the doors officially opened at 9am we had delegates collecting entrance badges outside with some 44 exhibitors which included exhibitors showing for the first time, this was very encouraging that visitors could grab an coffee at one of the coffee bars and spend an hour browsing the stands before the conference got underway at 10am this is one of the most challenging things for the event committee to maximise the potential for exhibitor and visitor alike.

The delegates as usual came from a wide background, contractors, suppliers, retailers, oil companies, supermarkets and regulators and with an increasing number from Europe, USA, Canada and in particular representatives of BAPCO the Bahrainian Oil company who had enjoyed the APEA training courses recently carried out in Bahrain by the APEA trainers they decided to pay us a visit in the UK.

The Conference The conference opened with the APEA Chairman, Gareth Bourhill setting the scene for the day and that the conference had an theme of “What’s coming next” with the current rapid drive to establish “greener” and more environmentally friendly fuels the Association had selected respected speakers from various fields to give presentations on of course the benefits of such fuels and possibly to the regulators and environmental officers present and the engineering people the known “Issues” with such fuels if the appropriate precautions are not taken and the major problems that could and unfortunately have occurred.

The first speaker was Andrew Haslett, Strategy Director at the Energy Technologies Institute, who

gave a presentation on developing the infrastructure for UK light vehicle electrification. The presentation included the many obstacles and logistical matters that had to be overcome and where specific areas in the UK had been selected to try out these vehicles and the role that the Energy Technologies Institute played in committing to the UK Governments targets and investment in such technology and industry that can deliver the answers.

Having Andrew speak first was deliberate, the filling station industry must be open to change and as these new fuel methods come along then where better possibly to put these fuelling or should I say “charging” facilities than on the already existing network.

Andrew was followed by Hugh Tucker, The Technical director at UKPIA. Hugh gave an interesting presentation on The European Fuels Directive and its impact on filling stations in the UK. Our last speaker of the first conference session was Rex May who is currently European Logistics Engineering Authority for BP UK. Rex agreed to talk about and share with us what he and BP have learnt about bio fuels. This was an interesting but at the same time a worrying presentation of the required good “housekeeping” required to store and dispense the “new” ethanol and bio type fuels the fuel retailers will have a lot of work to do with their engineering and fuel advisers before storing these new fuels if they are not to have any issues, the general message of if you do nothing then problems will occur was certainly sent out and many questions were asked of Rex with regard storage techniques.

After a refreshment break and opportunity for other delegates to join the conference the second session was again chaired by Gareth Bourhill who introduced

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The AGM The AGM was held in the afternoon and with a smaller number in attendance than was probably possible, with many members still enjoying the hospitality of lunch and spending time in the exhibition area. Gareth Bourhill handed over to Geoff Oldham for

the formal proceedings of the AGM and the business was concluded in short time with all Council members elected for another year in office.

One of the first duties Gareth had in his new year at the helm was to propose Bob Conlin as a Fellow of the APEA, for his dedication and work to the Association, in particular in Bobs roll as Chair of the Events Committee and his work with the

Gareth Bourhill presenting Bob Conlin with his Fellowship certificate

North West Branch, a short resume of Bobs work was given by Gareth and the motion was endorsed by those present, with Bob then receiving his Fellow certificate and saying a few words to those in attendance as to the “surprise”, normally Bob knows everything that goes on at Council level so to be made Fellow without his prior knowledge was a challenge in itself.

The afternoon continued as the morning and many hand shakes, laughs and re-acquaintances were made the exhibition area was busy including the APEA’s own stand where application forms were given out and past copies of the Bulletin. It was great seeing people sitting down in the soft seating areas and tables within the exhibition space just to have a chat and a coffee, but there were many “huddled” around in what appeared quite serious discussion or perhaps negotiation. When the public address system announced that the exhibition was closing there were still many visitors and discussions going on and it was well after our official closing time before everybody drifted away in preparation for the evening’s event.

The Awards Dinner The Dinner and glittering awards

ceremony was held in the evening and is becoming an event the industry looks forward to and with slightly reduced numbers of 560 taking dinner it was in numbers we are still very proud of.

The Association also recognises the important part that all the sponsors of the event play and without their input there would not be an event, we also add a massive thank you for all exhibitors and delegates for attending and we hope you both enjoyed and received much from the day. Our pre-dinner drinks were sponsored again by Eurotank which we are very grateful for and with this year the added advantage that the drinks were available in the exhibition hall which gave our exhibitors somewhere to meet their guests and also allow those that just attend the dinner to view the exhibition stands.

The evening entertainment sponsored by Petrotechnik was introduced by John Boudry and “Chicago”, were we believe the best yet and captured all our “imaginations” during their routine it really was a West End show exclusively for us in the Midlands, a lot more pictures of Chicago and a very pleased John Boudry along with the performers can be seen later in this issue.

Turning to the Awards, these were presented towards the end of the dinner and you can read a lot more about the winners and runners up later in this edition of the Bulletin.

We did also achieve a handsome charity collection which on this occasion was for Erskine, the charity for Ex Service Men and Women, that amounted to £2119.77 which will be more than this sum by the time the “Gift Aid” is added on. The event went on far into the night. What a day – what a night – with many still celebrating in the small hours of the morning and it was also suggested that the on site Casino had a few more guests joining them through to closing at 4am.

The APEA event is “The” downstream industry event that provides a warm and friendly atmosphere for professionals of all persuasions - we look forward to seeing you all next year! Plans are already well under way.

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Mark Morton, the recent Policy Advisor for the Environment Agency.

Mark’s presentation was titled “Oil and groundwater don’t mix” and how we should protect groundwater from hydrocarbon storage. Coming on the back of Rex May’s presentation, anybody who attended all the conference sessions will be under no illusion as to what is required of them when the fuel type on site is changed, that they will more than likely need specialist advice and work on their wet stock infrastructure to ensure everything is compatible for the new fuel.

Next up was Marshall Mott Smith, president of the Mott Smith Consulting Group, who gave a presentation on the “Florida experience” of above ground storage tanks.

Marshall delivered a very interesting and enlightening subject and his spoken words were regularly interrupted by spontaneous laughter from the delegates as an well timed slide of a tank “disaster” was put up on one of the massive overhead screens. It was also commented on that Marshall spoke better English than our own Chairman!

The final presentation was from Roger Wyatt speaking on behalf of Terence Barker, and gave an insight into the above ground fuelling station. This piece of engineering had been developed by Terence Barker Ltd and how they had worked with Sainsbury’s as one of their main clients and regulators in solving continuity of fuelling facilities during estate upgrades.

After closing the conference, the exhibition was very busy with all delegates in attendance and after lunch which was served form a large centrally placed station in the middle of the exhibition area the greeting of friends and colleagues old and new continued.

Gareth Bourhill APEA

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APEA Awards Personal Contribution Award Sponsored by Elaflex Winner - Rodney Carter May I offer my sincere thanks to the A.P.E.A and the sponsor Elaflex for this prestigious award for which I am honoured and privileged to have received as well as for once being speechless, Thank you.

I have been managing petrol since my days as an apprentice designing a mobile consumption test rig for fuel injection cars as the static version caught fire with me in the car. But things have changed beyond belief since my direct involvement within the retail side of this industry. Over these many years I have met many people and a number of very good friends and we have shared our differences of opinion with good humour and positive reasoning.

Having retailed petrol for over 48

Once again my sincere thanks to twenty years during all sorts of crisis, war, political and financial seeing everyone involved in making this both sides of the nozzle so to speak I presentation to me. have tried to understand and appreciate all arguments to offer products that are commercially viable, safe and beneficial to all dealer and operators.

During the twenty years that Petroman has been in existence we have been growing and are now pursuing the control of vapour with stage 1b and stage 2 and the biological requirements now needed within the industry. All of these issues need a good team and my thanks to all of the staff at Petroman and Rodney Carter accepting the Personal Contribution Award from Anton Martiniussen fro Elaflex associate companies.

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APEA Awards Environment Award Sponsored by Petrocom Winner and runners up Winner - Terence Barker

• The tanks are aboveground; any leaks would be evident immediately.

• Additional overfill prevention has been included; if alarms fail or be ignored then a complete cut-out system will cut-out the fuel delivery.

• The internal tank is bunded to a measurable 110%.

• As a temporary fuel station whilst remedial works are carried out to existing underground tanks, making them safer too.

• Will withstand major natural and man caused disasters including terrorist activities; the safety of the tanks already proven in both laboratory and actual disaster conditions.

The impact on our company of both the project and the recognition from the APEA reinforces our Company’s aims to continue to make a difference.

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We were so proud to receive the Environmental Award from the APEA for our modular aboveground fuel station. The design includes all the equipment currently required and used on the conventional forecourt stations but with added benefits to the Environment. The main benefit, severely reducing risk of polluting the soil and groundwater this is due to the following factors:-

Jacquie Holt from Terence Barker accepting the Environment Award from Louise Morgan from Petrocom

Runner up - Eurotank Environmental The Eurotank entry for the APEA Environmental Award 2009 is a very simple yet highly effective means of providing secondary and spill containment during fuel tank maintenance tasks.

With the increased focus on protecting our environment, and the need to reduce the impact of potential contamination of Hydrocarbons to ground water courses, we were looking for a suitable means to control any

affects our work could impact on our Environment.

Eurotank have Invested in this flexible, lightweight, portable bunded area which is easily installed in a few of minutes. It meets our requirements as a control measure following the review of our risk assessment of work we undertake.

Eurotank have the worldwide rights to supply this product which can be made to meet your own specification and requirements

The over manhole bunded area is designed and manufactured specifically to our requirements and offers the added advantage of being of a size that automatically sets out the area around the manhole opening, surrounded by our Stacka barriers it enhances and defines the safe working area.

“Our Environment is ours to protect and we must do so by any means possible”

Runner up - Ross Environmental Being a family run business we are extremely proud of the recognition that the A.P.E.A has bestowed upon us in the Environment award.

This follows 10 years of maintaining our focus, even with very serious family illness and the burden, faced by most of us, of economic downturn in the last 18 months or so.

Too few “decision makers” are prepared to agree the merits of cost effectiveness, let alone carbon

footprint and sustainability when most Chief Executives are screaming down their necks for reduced costs.

Similarly, Health and Safety issues are frequently on the back burner – using products that do not do what it says on the label – with industrial injuries due to unnecessary slippages amounting to tens of thousands in the UK each year.

Simply paying say £100 per month

more for products that work and enhance carbon footprint in a sustainable fashion would reduce these unnecessary injuries substantially.

Thanks to the A.P.E.A judging panel in recognising the process of bioremediation and the benefits of removing hazardous oil spills in seconds using 8 times less than traditional clay products.

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APEA Awards Innovation Award Sponsored by Toureen Mangan Winner and runners up Winner - Retail and Forecourt Solutions

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Born of a Health and Safety Requirement, to mitigate a potential risk to our own engineers, the RFS Vapour-Safe assembly was developed as more than just a solution for venting at 5 meters without working at height. The product delivers a robust well engineered solution with the following benefits.

• It can be carried in any vehicle.

• It can be erected by one person on any site, requiring no tools or adapters.

• It can be stabilised without carrying weights or attachments to vehicles.

• It has ‘sealed until connected’ connectors at all points.

• It has a certified ‘end of line’ Flame Arrester.

Being the designer and manufacturer we have also produced larger format variants of the assembly for allied applications such as tank venting, where larger bore sizes have been required.

Besides producing a range of equipment, our primary on-site activities are the Testing and Legal Verification of Dispensers, Wet Stock Analysis, Risk Assessment and Audit. We are proud to win the APEA Innovation Award as it confirms why we have held the major oil companies, supermarket retailers and a range of other quality Francis Hollier from Retail and Forecourt Solutions clients for 15 years. – Competitive, accepting the Innovation Award from Daniel Nolan from Toureen Mangan Innovative, Safe.

Runner up - Risbridger Since its introduction, the RISFlange system has made a significant impact on our industry, offering customers and partners a cost effective and practical solution to problems with traditional threaded pipe-work systems, and the added problem of restricted working space in man-ways.

Working with customers, partners, and installation contractors, an extensive training programme has been carried out, and more of our systems being factory installed.

These factory installations allowed the fitting of chamber sumps in a clean environment, enabling vacuum and pressure tests to be carried out prior to tank delivery. As a result, extensive savings have been made to overall costs, reduced install time and site ‘down time’, as well as reductions in revenue loss.

The RIS-Flange system has also presented us opportunities to develop new flanged equipment tailored to customer requirements.

Recent developments include the popular ATEX approved 3” and 4” overfill prevention valves, and a flanged 4” Tee to accommodate competitor overfill valves. These introductions

have

given

our

customers much more choice when specifying tank lid systems.

Risbridger’s

goal is to continue

providing innovative and compliant products that make forecourts safer places to work and visit.

Runner up - E and S Environmental Services This innovative piece of equipment from E&S has helped most of the leading oil companies and major petrol forecourt retailers to continue trading as normal despite the issue of microbial contamination of storage tanks due to the recent introduction of biofuels.

The MTC approach eliminates the need to uplift the fuel and manually clean the tank. The fuel is processed 50

on site with minimum disruption to the petrol station. In addition it has a unique and safe venting system to prevent dangerous build-up of fuel vapour.

It was first introduced for fuel storage tanks with problems of microbial contamination. It’s been a huge success over the last 12 months on projects awarded to E&S from Shell, BP, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Malthurst for the removal of water

from fuel in preparation for E5.

The contaminated fuel goes through a series of filtering processes and the water spun from the fuel before a final filter grade set at 3 microns. The polished fuel is then returned back to the original tank.

E&S continue to provide advanced fuel solutions and best practice in support of their customer’s operations.

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

APEA Awards Health and Safety Award Sponsored by Coteba Winner and runners up Winner - Toureen Mangan

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Toureen Mangan are delighted to have won the APEA’s Health and Safety Award for 2009. The company is sure this prestigious award will further motivate it’s workforce to ensuring the highest standards of Health and Safety performance.

The winning submission relates to the Evolve safety management system that the company recently implemented and which has led to a series of industry awards such as Total Oil and BP Global Alliance’s Principle Contractor of Year for Safety, RoSPA Gold Award and the Sunday Times Top 100 Companies to Work For. The Evolve programme was conceived in late 2007 when the company’s Managing Director challenged the directors and senior managers to differentiate the

company from it’s rivals by becoming a market leader in Health & Safety management.

The four main elements of Evolve included: • Rebuilding the safety management systems • mproving and developing a strong safety culture within the workforce • Harnessing innovation to engineer and design out risks to the workforce • A structured programme of re-training and disciplining of employees in the event of non-conformance

Dan Nolan, Dan Cleary and Paul Hamilton from Toureen Mangan accepting the Health and Safety Award from Mark Day from Coteba

Runner up - The Premier Group Our presentation demonstrated how we promote H & S Culture by involving our workforce, we strongly believe in developing and using are systems around the people who are directly involved. We constantly monitor, review and build upon experiences from our teams on site.

Our challenge was to build and develop a system that would work

with a remote workforce, with restrictions and limitations that all had to be taken into consideration.

We feel that we have developed this with a positive attitude, but we are aware and take into consideration that H & S is a fast moving environment and we refer to it as a constant work in progress.

Our safe systems have gained

recognition for us this year in attaining the “Investor in People” standard and the “2008 H & S Small Contractor Award” presented to us

by Total UK, both achievements we are very proud to have received, and it gives credit not only to our systems and procedures, but to our entire workforce.

Runner up - Retail and Forecourt Solutions The RFS Vapour-Safe Assembly was developed in-house as a direct response to oil-company safety alerts and directives, for sites fitted with Stage 2 Vapour Recovery. It had been identified that if a fault exists in a Stage 2 System, there is a potential risk when removing fill caps, returning fuel etc. if excessive pressure has built due to a fault.

The solution meets the primary design objective, allowing anyone 52

‘breaking into the system’ to do so safely, through a temporary, 5 metre vapour egress.

Concerned for our engineers we wanted to avoid potential solutions involving the removal of a PV valve, using ladders to access the top of the vent-stack. Introducing new risk to mitigate another presents no benefit. Safely venting, without working at height was high on the list of requirements when first discussed

solutions, this has been delivered along with many other features and benefits of product. See The Innovation Award Winner.

Great to be recognised by the APEA for a solution developed as a safety enhancement for our own workforce. Health and Safety is a large part of all our daily processes now, developing a physical aid to safety, was challenging and rewarding.

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

APEA Awards APEA Small Enterprise Award Sponsored by APEA Winner and runners up Geo2 Remediation entered the small enterprise award because it was felt that the team make a small but significant contribution to their clients within the industry. Geo2 Remediation is a specialist remediation contractor which specialises in the petroleum sector.

The close knit team of four professionals at Geo2 have combined their 30 years experience of environmental and remediation issues to build strong, trust based relationships with their clients. With strong relationships in place Geo2 have been able to use innovative solutions to deliver competitive and faster fixed price remediation, delivering regulatory signoff from

projects. This gives the client cost certainty which Geo2 recognise is highly important in the petroleum retailing sector which mostly relies on remediation with ongoing costs with no fixed endpoint.

Geo2 Specialise in In-Situ treatment which means that there is very little disposal offsite and therefore delivers much more sustainable remediation than traditional "dig and dump" methods.

Geo2 continue to innovate through the use of pilot projects and the use of our clients assistance in running these projects on their sites.

Paul Stapleton from Geo2 Remediation accepting the Small Enterprise Award from Gareth Bourhill from the APEA

Runner up - PureFuel Technologies PureFuel Technologies Ltd is a manufacturer and distributor of fuel conditioning products that curb microbial contamination in liquid fuels.

By causing the micro-organisms prevalent in modern bio-fuel blends to become dormant, PureFuel Conditioners eliminate the associated symptoms of premature filter blockage; tank and system corrosion; fuel injection/combustion malfunction; and a whole host of consequences from excessive

emissions to outright machine failure and environmental damage.

PFT’s extensive range of inline PureFuel Conditioners covers every mode of road, rail, sea and air transportation; power generation systems; and every point in the fuel distribution chain from refinery to petrol station forecourt.

PFT also manufactures recirculation machines that incorporate PureFuel Conditioners in a three stage (condition>filter>dry) fuel polishing process.

The

innovative portable machines enable on-site fuel recovery from tanks with capacities of up to 40,000 litres; larger permanent machines can keep up to 2 million litres of fuel fresh.

The company is a distributor for the Aqua Tools ATP testing system.

PFT can quantify microbial contamination on a sample-bysample basis or sell complete systems for organisations to establish their own in-house testing regimes.

Runner up - ROL Electrical Testing ROL Electrical Testing are the first and only company in N.Ireland to have achieved the NICEIC Industrial Hazardous status accredited to BSEN45011 . ROLT have won a contract with a number of upper tier COMAH sites in Northern Ireland.

ROLT inspect COMAH sites weekly on an ongoing basis with the following services and benefits: • Inventory of Installed hazardous equipment

• Detailed, Close and Visual inspection reports for the equipment BSEN60079-17 • Cable test result inline with BSEN7671 • Notification of defective items with change control process • Responding and feedback to the company PPM It has been identified by ROLT that some other industry partners satisfy their insurers requirements by an annual, one week whistle-stop visit

around the plant. Whilst this is fine for insurance risk assessment it falls way short of the BSEN60079-17 requirements the standard required by HSE and COMAH teams during annual inspections of sites.

We have met with Northern Irelands COMAH Team at HSENI and they stated “We have recognised the level of performance being reached and the rapid rate of improvement” We currently are in negotiations with other site operators.

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Winner - Geo2 Remediation

APEA Awards Customer Service Award Sponsored by Torex Winner and runners up Winner - Risbridger

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Risbridger scooped the Award for Customer Service in the Implementation of their RIS-FLANGE System, and runner up in the Innovation Category.

MD Annie Risbridger Hind is delighted that the hard work and dedication of all the team at Risbridger together with invaluable and dedicated work from Trevor Mason and his team at Purfleet Forecourt Services, was recognised by the APEA Judging Panel.

The Risbridger flanged tank lid system is undoubtedly a major step forward in tank lid versatility and practicality. Unrivalled quality, superior efficiency, improved working conditions in confined spaces, decreased cost of ownership, quicker installs, and safer

maintenance procedures all make the RIS-Flange system a viable solution for our industry.

Working with oil companies, manufacturers, and contractors provided opportunities to develop new products within the RIS-Flange range for both suction and pressure systems. Risbridger rapidly produced solutions that simplify installations and make test and maintenance work far more efficient.

After sales support and service offering is something Risbridger take very seriously, and maximum effort ensures product knowledge and training is offered to the industry. In 2008/9 Eighteen RIS-Flange system training events took place - all were extremely well received.

Paul Clarke, Piers Gibson and Annie Risbridger Hind from Risbridger accepting the Customer Service Award from Richard Quarmby from Torex Retail

Runner up - Eurotank Environmental Eurotank Environmental was pleased to submit their, In house built, Web server Customer database for the APEA Customer service awards 2009.

Following many years of experience within the petrol Industry carrying out numerous surveys and jobs without any means to record the data Eurotank have produced a system that is user friendly, available for all their customers and employees.

The significant benefits to all, is that the work reports, Health and Safety method statements, risk assessments and COSHH can all be easily accessed from anywhere.

Our customers are able to view work information recorded by our engineers , where information and real time data is so important, it reduces time issues in chasing paper copy reports, and multiple calls to speak to “someone” about the job.

Data recorded is available to

allow trend analysis with the visibility of historic information which can, and does, eliminate the need for long trips to site for survey info.

Excellent customer service is “The ability of an organisation to constantly and consistently exceed the customers` expectations” The Web server Customer Data base assists Eurotank Environmental to exceed their customers` expectations.

Runner up - Fairbanks Environmental In submitting Ivan for the Customer Service Award, Fairbanks focussed on the benefits to service station operators and in particular the reduced disruption to forecourt customers during a pump meter calibration check and verification.

During ‘traditional’ measure checks on a forecourt using steel cans, the dispenser could be out of use for a considerable time as the measuring cans are filled and wheeled across often busy 54

forecourts to be emptied into the site storage tanks.

‘Ivan’ is a self-contained meter calibration/verification vehicle, designed to increase measurement accuracy, reduce H&S risks and reduce dispenser ‘down time’.

Fuel is dispensed into the four glass measuring vessels; an intrinsically safe laptop computer calculates the accuracy of the meter along with any savings to be achieved through recalibration. This fuel is then

pumped into one of the four 300 litre onboard tank compartments and the process repeated.

When the meter checks are complete, ‘Ivan’ off-loads the fuel back into the service station’s tanks the same as a fuel delivery tanker.

The Stage 1b vapour recovery system fitted to Ivan prevents the unwanted escape of vapours into the atmosphere when returning the fuel.

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

APEA 2009 Conference Speakers Hugh Tucker UKPIA

Rex May BP UK

ARTICLES

Mark Morton Environment Agency

Andrew Haslett Energy Technologies

Roger Wyatt Terence Barker

Marshall Mott-Smith Mott-Smith Consulting Group

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

57

APEA 2009 Exhibition

ARTICLES 58

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ARTICLES 60

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

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

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ARTICLES 62

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ARTICLES 64

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

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

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ARTICLES 66

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APEA 2009 Awards Dinner John Boudry PetroTechnik Sponsor of the Awards Dinner entertainment ‘Chicago’

ARTICLES 68

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

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ARTICLES 70

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network)

Risk Management and Regulation in the age of retail divestment and fragmentation

and

monitoring

7%*(where

systems

are

leak not

employed and many leaks not detected). based

* Those numbers are

on

Leighton

O’Brien’s

records for 15 years and 23,000 tanks currently under monitoring.

Let’s call the site annual fail rate 2%; we define the annual fail rate as leaks from tanks or lines in a given

By Reed Leighton, Leighton O’Brien Pty Ltd

year expressed as a percentage of adequacy and appropriateness of

sites. So a global oil company could

risk management based, verses

replace 2% of say 20,000 sites

prescribed

storage assets per annum at an

standards

in

the

downstream retail industry.

average project cost of 250,000

The Return on Capital at the (retail)

end

of

the

vertically

integrated oil company business

pounds or 100 million pounds total!

Anybody want to buy my network?

Mmm.

model is reported in the media as

Then consider environmental

being poor for many years. The

clean ups costs from leaks and spills

amount of capital required to

across a retail network.

remain the downstream retail game

participants understand that the

is

costs of site remediation can be

immense

and

growing.

For

Industry

ARTICLES

instance, consider the following 3

extra

items, annual replacement cost of

aggregated at a network level

failed

extraordinary.

storage

assets;

cost

of

remediation; and litigation.

ordinary,

In

some

and

markets

when

the

This article explores the impact of

In terms of the cost of replacing

environmental litigation is extreme.

oil company divestment and retail

failed storage assets, the failure rate

One oil company in Maryland, USA,

market fragmentation, and, possible

in single walled steel systems per

is facing a class action of hundreds

subsequent

annum is between 0.5 % * (in a well

of millions of dollars for a leak from a

maintained and leak monitored

line where the site had the highest

72

impact

on

the

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

what one man can do with a drill.

environmental outcomes.

stakeholders to present their risk

To illustrate my point, imagine two

management

systems;

5

So it is no surprise to anyone that

separate retail petroleum market

stakeholders with internal expertise

the global downstream oil industry

places. In the first market of 1000

and resources to control standards

has been going through profound

sites, all the sites are owned /

changes in recent years. A number

controlled by 5 oil companies or

of major international oil companies

hyper

are divesting their retail networks

scenario, every site is independently

because

owned.

returns

of on

the

unacceptable

capital,

increasing

markets.

In

the

second

at 1000 sites. The regulators may even find the time for a cup of tea every now and again!

Let me pose the same set of tests

From

a

purely

safety

and

for the second market. Can we assume

that

1000

individual

demand for capital and much

environmental

higher environmental risk and cost.

standpoint, 5 operators with 1000

operators – each one of them –

sites

the

would have the right knowledge set,

previously owned and operated /

internal expertise and resources to

risk management skills and resources

controlled by a major oil company,

more than adequately assess the

are being sold off. The structures of

risks and appropriately manage

the retail petroleum market places

these

are varied now in the extreme and

systems and controls. A company

the pace of structural change will

looking after 250 sites will have seen

of these systems being of a sufficient

increase.

the problems that can arise and

quality to manage environmental and safety risk?

Whole networks of retail sites,

between

risks

protection them

through

have

centralised

to adequately manage safety and environment risk? 1000 operators – 1000 risk management systems? All

Vertically integrated oil company

have an accurate perspective on

operated site numbers will be

how and why to manage risk well. I

And what of enforcement, 1000

reduced further,

hyper or super

would go as far to write that they

stakeholders to manage? My point is

market activity may increase and I

are very qualified and motivated to

not to argue whether a risk based or

argue more independents will enter

manage risk; a well managed risk is

the market than leave, tied up on

a better business outcome.

supply contracts by the exiting majors.

In the first market, a flexible risk based approach to safety and

prescribed model is better, my point is that the changing structure of the down stream oil industry globally, will

environmental regulation is perfectly

need to be considered to maintain

logical,

proven.

the advances and high standards

reconsideration of the best ways to

Enforcement is facilitated by having

that our industry has achieved over

affect

only 5 stakeholders to manage; 5

the last 20 years.

These varied market dynamics, in my

view,

may

desired

require safety

a and

feasible

and

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

73

ARTICLES

standards of equipment. Amazing

Eastern The APEA Eastern branch autumn meeting was held at Hanbury Manor near Ware in Hertfordshire on September 30th. The event was well attended. We were delighted to see members from other branches as well as Gareth Bourhill the APEA Chairman who had taken time in his busy schedule to visit us. Gareth gave an inspirational talk on the APEA as well as briefing on some of the activities it is involved in such as updating the Blue Book.

Hanbury Manor is a Jacobean Manor House set in 200 acres of Hertfordshire countryside. It was first mentioned in the Doomsday Book.

It has an 18-hole golf course, which was designed by Jack Nicklaus II. The Eastern branch prides itself on finding interesting venues and topics and this was no exception covering unique futuristic and topical subjects. Our speakers were:

Attentive listeners

until 2012 when it will be fully operational.

The scheme is administered by the Transport for London Executive Agency within the Greater London Authority. James talked about how the programme is

The TankPitstop is an automated fuel robot which allows motorists to refuel and pay without actually doing anything themselves.

The fuel robot will soon be able to serve 80% of cars in the Netherlands.

BRANCHES

Phil Bloor Technical Manager E and S Environmental Limited Phil spoke about E and S’s technologies developed to reduce water content as part of the preparation for E5 Ethanol.

Effective measures have to be taken to ensure a contaminant and water-free environment.

He also talked about the issue of Biofuels and bacterial growth. This posed many questions also in terms of how the sludge is later disposed of.

James Mead Head of Stakeholder Partnership Low Emission Zone (LEZ)

Gareth Bourhill, James Mead, Phil Bloor, Nico van Stavern and Anton Martiniussen

Many of you will have seen the signs as you enter London.

James gave a comprehensive explanation about LEZ which is a charging scheme with the aim of reducing the pollution emission of diesel powered commercial vehicles in London. Vehicles are defined under their emissions and those that exceed predetermined levels are charged to enter Greater London. There is a planned fee introduction of a stricter regime up 74

performing, what its main benefits are and how they encourage haulage companies to participate as well as their enforcement regime.

Robotic Refuelling TankPitstop Nico. van Staveren of Stavern BV and Rotec Engineering are one of the first companies to have perfected this refuelling technology and to make it actually work in practice.

The robot fills the car’s fuel tank completely automatically.

It recognises a car’s brand, model and type and is also equipped with a secure automated payment system. Nico also showed us some videos of the system working.

Regulator update.

This is a feature of the Eastern Branch meeting and our thanks go to Jean Fincken who despite her work load, managed to get the

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

Brian Doggett and Alex Boudry

Branch issues

Scotland

Issues raised at Eastern branch meetings

have

improved

funding

members

been for

about branch

events

and

members informing about technical committees they participate in representing the APEA. This is so other interested

members

connect with them.

can If the

Branch Secretary could be made

aware

he

can

facilitate this and convey it to the executive. Comments must be precise and to the point addressing specifically any technical issues.

Next Branch meeting For the diary The Eastern branch early Christmas lunch will take place on Wednesday 9th December, the venue will by Our Branch Representative, Adrian Holyomes

tank construction and prime authority partnership. Unfortunately Jean was unable to attend due to another business commitment but the details were read by the Secretary and are available on request.

popular demand be held at Hanbury Hertfordshire.

Manor

in

Ware

Please contact me

immediately if you would like to attend.

Anton Martiniussen Branch Secretary

As I write this report for the Bulletin, I am in the midst of liaising with our hosts at Highland Council and branch members regarding our branch meeting this Thursday in Inverness. We are looking forward to an informative and enjoyable day “up north”.

Since my last report I have been fortunate enough to have attended an excellent Technical Seminar run

by Eurotank in Southampton which was very well put together.

I was also in the right place at the right time to be selected to represent the Scottish Branch at The National Conference at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry.

I am sure you will have all read in more detail how good the event was.

I would like to record our thanks to APEA at a national level for making it possible for me to attend the conference and dinner and for 3 other members to attend the evening event.

As always I was able to make contact with lots of new potential speakers!

Paul Devine Branch Secretary

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

75

BRANCHES

update notes for the Branch meeting covering the issues of Stage II Vapour Recovery, Contractors’ recent assessment, and variations to

Midlands APEA Midlands Branch AGM Held on 7 October 2009 at the Jaguar Heritage Centre Nr Coventry.

The meeting commenced with two presentations, the first from Rodney Carter of Petroman on Stage 2 Vapour Recovery, this was followed by a presentation on the Safety Passport Alliance Scheme by Alec O’Beirne of PTF Training Ltd. A demonstration on the PETRACK tank cleaning device by Simon Palmer of First Advance Specialist Services was also made to the members.

The AGM meeting was attended by 20 members and the election of officers and committee members resulted in the following: Chairperson TBA Branch Secretary Peter Emery

BRANCHES

Treasurer Bob Hurd Branch Rep Rob Tunnicliff Committee Members Alec O’Beirne Jeannie O’Beirne Tim Deeks Rob Tunnicliff Tom Wigfull Tom Hocking Hylton Reid Alan Fitzpatrick Peter Emery Branch Secretary

Southern Nothing to report

Branch Representative and Secretary Contact Details Eastern Adrian Holyomes - Rep HYTEK GB LTD Delta House Green Street, Elsenham Bishops Stortford, Hertfordshire Tel: 01279 815600 email: adrian@hytekgb.com Anton Martiniussen - Sec ELAFLEX Ltd Riverside House, Hoddesdon Herts EN11 0PA Tel: 01992 452 950 Mob: 07831 595620 email: elaflex@aol.com

North East Mike Silmon - Rep and Sec W O Silmon Ltd Industry Road, Heaton Newcastle upon Tyne Tyne & Wear NE6 5XB Tel: 0191 224 0777 Fax: 0191 224 0707 email: associationtreasurer@apea.org.uk

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

North West North East Nothing to report

North West Nothing to report

Ireland Nothing to report 76

Louise Morgan - Rep Petrocom Ltd The Malthouse 48 Southport Road Ormskirk Lancashire L39 1QR Tel: 01695 572400 email: louisemorgan@petrocom.co.uk

Bob Conlin - Sec Fairbanks Environmental Ltd The Technology Management Centre Moss Lane View Skelmersdale Lancs WN8 9TN Tel: 01695 51775 email: bobconlin@fairbanks.co.uk

Scotland Ian Hillier - Rep North Ayrshire Council Bridgegate House Irvine KA12 8BD Tel: 01294 324969 email: ihillier@north-ayrshire.gov.uk Paul Devine - Sec South Lanarkshire Council Consumer and Trading Standards North Stand, Cadzow Avenue Hamilton ML3 0LU Tel: 01698 476170 Fax: 01698 476180 Mobile: 07795 090903 email: paul.devine@southlanarkshire.gov.uk

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

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

Ireland Killian Tallon - Rep Topaz Energy Ltd Topaz House Beech Hill, Clonskeagh Dublin 4, Ireland Tel: + 353 1202 8705 email: killian.tallon@topazenergy.ie Julian Rafter - Sec Olive Engineering & Design Services Ltd The Old Egg Farm Waynestown Dunboyne Meath Ireland Tel: +353 1 8253670 email: jrafter@ipservices.ie

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

2009/2010 Training Course Dates

16/17 Feb

Milton Keynes

20/21 April

Manchester

8/9th June

Dublin

9/10 Nov

London

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

Milton Keynes

11/12 May

Manchester

Electrical Installations An Awareness

DSEAR

2 Feb

Manchester

9 Dec

23 Feb

Glasgow

30 Mar

Luton

2010

27 April

Colchester

15 April

Glasgow

25 May

Bournemouth

6 May

Luton

22 June

Cardiff

24 June

Manchester

21 Sept

Luton

24 Sept

Derby

26 Oct

Belfast

19 Nov

Bristol

23 Nov

Sheffield

9 Dec

Luton

Wetstock Management

8/9 June

Cardiff

15/16 Sep

Dublin

11 May

Luton

5/6 Oct

Derby

8 June

Glasgow

9/10 Nov

Glasgow

21 Sept

Manchester

2009 Birmingham

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

Luton

5 April

Milton Keynes

12 April

Manchester

Forecourt LPG Installations

Explosives and Fireworks

17 May

Derby

18 Feb

Manchester

16 Sept

Luton

14 June

Glasgow

22 April

Birmingham

23 Sept

Manchester

28 June

Bristol

27 May

Luton

7 Oct

Glasgow

13 Sep

Birmingham

2 Sept

Milton Keynes

12 Oct

Cardiff

18 Oct

Cardiff

TRAINING

Petrol Filling Stations Construction, Safety and Environmental Protection

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

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

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

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

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

For details of this and any other training enquiry, please contact: Jane Mardell - Training Coordinator, (contact details on page 3) or Brian Humm, Training Chairman Mobile: 07818 097141 email: brian.humm@london-fire.gov.uk APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507 www.apea.org.uk

77

APEA Training Team Jamie Thompson Independent Consultant

Gareth Bourhill

Kim Bennett

Principal Training Consultant -

Senior Environmental Health

Electrical Safety

Officer

Forth Valley College of Further and

Milton Keynes Council

Higher Education

Bob Conlin Director, Fairbanks Environmental

Joe Maerz Richard Wigfull

Operational Manager

Brian Humm Deputy Head of Petroleum, LFEPA

Consulting Engineer

Rural & Public Protection Team

J. Wigfull & Co Ltd

Essex Trading Standards

Brian Baker Fire Safety & Petroleum Officer Milton Keynes Council.

Phil Lambeth

Jean Fincken

Senior Engineer, BP Global Alliance

Petroleum Inspector, LFEPA

Enforcement Procedures – An Update

“LAE1 Returns:

By Kim Bennett, Senior Environmental Health Officer Milton Keynes Council & APEA Trainer

PCA/DSEAR and MSER are not in

TRAINING

Those of you who have been on

metropolitan FRSs [except West

the Health and Safety awareness

Midlands] have the '.gov.uk' suffix. I

course

I

am aware that a number of FRSs

the

enforcing the PCA do not have the

Enforcement Management Model

'.gov.uk', suffix so do not have

(EMM) to help the decision making

access. However, they do have a

process. The EMM is available on

conduit for information through the

will

advocate

the

remember the

HELex

use

extranet,

that of

to

which

Environmental Health Officers and

CFOA PetEx Working Group. http://www.cfoa.org.uk/10038”

Chair of PELG, commenting on a reply

from

David

Hughes

of

LACORS:

concerned, (Petroleum Officers who are) licensing and building control

officers,

being

LA

been

a

bone

of

contention for many years. The fact that

the

FRSs

enforcing

the

the loop for LAE1 returns means that

enforcement

particular

the

Improvement

action; issuing

and

in of

Prohibitions

Notices goes under-recorded. This is a matter for the LAU and DCLG to resolve.

David

Hughes

response

that

stated 'the

in

his

decision

Enforcement Liaison Group (PELG)'.

I have also been asking about getting the enforcement work that Petroleum Officers do, including giving

“As far as the HSE Extranet is

has

ultimately rests with the Petroleum

HSE officers have access. This is the reply I have had from Roger Marris,

This

support

and

advice,

recognised by LACORS. Each year, Local Authorities report using a

On this point, I have to disagree with David! Notwithstanding that there is a cloud hanging over the future of PELG, the concerns you have raised are for the HSE to resolve.”

form known as LAE1 on the number of premises for which they have

employees, will [or should] have

enforcement

responsibility,

the

access. If they don't, this could be

number of interventions carried out

down to an internal policy matter.

and the number of notices served

The matter has again been raised with the appropriate body, so we await the outcome.

and prosecutions undertaken. At

In the meantime, anyone who

Fire officers will only have access

present the work of Petroleum

has the “.gov.uk” ending to their

if their e-mail address has the

Officers is not recognised on this

email address should log onto Helix

'.gov.uk' suffix. For instance all the

form. This is Roger’s comment:

and download the EMM.

78

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