The Bulletin Magazine - September 2007

The Bulletin

Journal of the Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration

September 2007

Editorial

Contents Regulars Chairman’s Report

Brian Baker 4

Editor 52 Milton Grove

Editor’s Report

5

Bletchley Milton Keynes

Letters to the Editor

5

MK3 5BH

Business Manager’s Report

6

tel:

+44 (0) 1908 252332

fax:

+44 (0) 1908 252319

mob:

+44 (0) 7932 785166

New APEA Members

8

e-mail: brian.baker@miltonNews Regulator News

keynes.gov.uk

9 24

Jamie Thompson Press Releases

30

Publishing Chairman 70 Wangford Road Reydon

Articles

Southwold

2007 AGM, Conference, Exhibition and Awards Dinner

31

Abbreviated Accounts for year ended December 2006

37

APEA to Celebrate 50th Anniversary

42

PETEL Circulars - Current List

44

Assessing the Ground Vapour Risk for Filling Stations

45

Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928 - Licence renewal periods

47

Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928 - DSEAR

47

History of Petrol Stations - Part 3 Early Acts and Accidents

52

Should Wooden Barrels be used for Petrol?

57

Book Review - The Age of Oil

57

Jane Mardell

Interview - Phil Monger, Technical Director, PRA

58

Business Manager

Are there pitfalls of Stage II Vapour Recovery?

61

(including Bulletin Advertising

Managing The Risks of RG22 Foam

65

and Production)

Stage II Vapour Recovery

69

PO Box 106

Suffolk IP18 6NX Tel/fax: +44 (0) 1502 722999 Mobile: +44 (0) 7770 625851 email: jamiethompson@ukonline.co.uk

Saffron Walden Branches Branch reports

Essex CB11 3XT 70

Training

United Kingdom Tel/fax: +44 (0) 845 603 5507

2007 course dates and booking details

73

Mobile: +44 (0) 7815 055514

Photographs from recent training courses

74

email:

admin@apea.org.uk

Front Cover - Refuelling in Horta in the Azores with the Pico volcano in the background

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

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Chairman’s Report Summer Holidays If you are reading this within hours of it landing on your doormat or office in tray then I will have just come back from my family summer holiday. I will probably be exhausted from my 2 weeks packed with sporting activities and keeping up with the younger Conlins, but this is my antidote to quite a sedentary work lifestyle. Nevertheless I will be refreshed and re-energised and ready to take on the challenges of running an SME as well as my involvement in our Association and particularly APEA 2007. If you are like me, you will usually spend some time reflecting on the year so far and being very positive about how you intend to get the best out of the rest of the year.

In any case I hope you all have enjoyed an equally good summer break.

I open my 3rd Chairman’s report in this way because I wanted to write about adding value to the things we are involved in, making time for ourselves and recognising and acknowledging the good work of others.

Branches I have managed to attend the recent meetings of the Eastern, Southern, Irish and my own Northern Branch and intend getting to the Midlands and Scottish branches later this year. In doing so, I can report that these branches are still in good shape, are well managed by their branch committees and have secured the services of some excellent speakers. I see branch meetings as the backbone of our Association and those who attend definitely see them as a valuable forum for gathering new information and networking. Attendances seemed a little down on previous meetings and this will no doubt be due to the pressure of work or difficulty in obtaining agreement to attend or even our members’ views that the meeting content is not relevant enough. Contrary to these reasons I would argue that by making time for your own personal development, sharing your views with others and making new contacts will enhance your own roles and bring indirect benefits back at work. In recognising the time,

effort and enthusiasm of all branch committee members I w o u l d particularly like to single out David Sommers, who for many years has served the Association well as Southern Branch secretary. David has been nominated for Fellow of the Association and we expect that this will be ratified at our AGM. Apea Awards By now the Awards nominations are all in and the judging panel is hard at work selecting their shortlist and they all meet up in mid September to make the final decisions for each of the five categories. May I take this opportunity to thank our judges for giving generously of their time, expertise and experience. If we end up with a September heat wave it may resemble a scene from that 1957 black and white classic courtroom drama ‘12 Angry Men’ which leaves me pondering which of our judges is most likely to play the Henry Fonda role. My apologies to Jo, who is definitely female, but then I digress. I am personally looking forward to the presentation of the ‘Personal Contribution’ Award as it gives us all a chance to celebrate the work of the unsung heroes of the industry and focuses on the individual rather the corporate..

Nominations for National Council Have you ever thought about volunteering your services for branch committees or even National council, but then decided against it for fear that it will take up too much time? Have you ever thought that what the APEA needs is some fresh blood, some new ideas, better representation?

Then you wouldn’t be surprised to find that all those currently serving also had the same thoughts but did it anyway! It is a way of giving something and sharing your expertise.

Have another think about it now and consider putting yourself forward for the council elections. Please speak to any

of the current council if you want to find out more before you commit.

Apeadiscuss For those members who have supplied the Association with their email addresses I think there has probably been enough correspondence about this subject and I hope you have received and have accepted my apologies. I also hope you agree that in principle a discussion forum will be of benefit to members and I will endeavour to get it right for a re-launch, when you will be asked if you wish to join. May I thank you for all your comments and particularly those who sent words of support and encouragement.

And Finally The sedentary nature of my work, apart from putting on weight, means that I spend a lot of time in meetings and on the phone, talking, talking, talking. I do believe though that good verbal communication makes things happen and helps people understand and empathise. If the Association gets you talking then in my view it is doing its job.

See you in October… you know…..

Telford….. APEA 2007….. where have you been?

Bob Conlin

Letters to the Editor From Surrey County Council to South Africa Sir, To all those wonderful people I met in many areas of the industry, thank you for friendship and cooperation over the years.

I am leaving Surrey Trading Standards to live in Cape Town South 4

Africa with my young family. I have set up an ethical travel business www.5x5tours.co.za that will employ local people and ensure local people benefit from tourism.

I would be very grateful if you would pass on this address to anyone who may be interested in travelling and hopefully meet some of you again in our

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

new home.

I am staying an APEA member and hope to write articles on the industry within South Africa.

Many thanks Steve Rowe Senior Petroleum Officer steve@5x5tours.co.za

Editor’s Report Here we go again and already I am writing up my third report as Editor for which I have had a few encouraging comments so far.

Currently we are all reminded of the dangers and risks that go with our industry, none more so than certain countries in the Middle East where we are hearing of deliberate acts of terrorism where petrol stations are being attacked and set fire to, petrol tankers are being made a target to ignite and more recently the attempted explosion London where there was a deliberate act to ignite LPG cylinders, petrol containers both of which were surrounded by nails inside cars to maim and kill if necessary. No matter how far we legislate and assess our risks, the prospect of wilful harm and damage is ever present.

Enough of the negatives and on with the positives and our Conference and Exhibition and Awards Dinner for 2007 draws near and by the time this issue reaches you, the event is a little more than a few weeks away and maybe more than in previous years I am full of optimism as we are building upon the success of last year. Hopefully you have signed up and if you cannot make the dinner, please try and get to the conference and exhibition as there is plenty to hear and see. For those from a regulatory background, remember this is a “CPD” event worth several hours and one thing our conferences do is give us all the chance to learn more of what is currently happening around us.

Our Chairman, Bob Conlin has taken a personal interest in our annual event and he was the architect behind the APEA Awards held for the first time last year and from this we have them again and sincerely thank out sponsors for their support in this. Not only have we retained the four awards from last year but increased to five with the very prestigious “Services to the Industry Award” sponsored by Elaflex that could go to many a long list of names that I can think of.

For me, I have retained a busy schedule between my “Day Job” and my activities for the Association. I returned to Northern Ireland recently to provide some training to a small number

of delegates and some technical support to Craigavon Borough Council.

Slow but sure the area is returning to peace and normality as I would call it but nevertheless, unique problems exist in Northern Ireland and in particular the smuggling of fuel from across the border from the Republic of Ireland where prices are more than 25% cheaper. This can lead to dangerous situations as a site I visited looked to have had an over fill of diesel with the tell-tale evidence of surface staining in a large pool all over the block paviours following what appeared to be an illicit tanker delivery.

Another site I visited during my visit showed obvious signs of an overfill of diesel where clearly there was an attempt to fill underground tanks up with as much product as possible that saw a good 50 litres flow across the forecourt.

Whilst most licensees aim to comply with legislation, there are a small number that chose not to. The course I delivered involved a visit to a Sainsbury’s site in Portadown that demonstrated not only a good standard throughout but a very knowledgeable Site Manager indeed that knew the site, procedures and documentation very well indeed. (Thanks Lisa!!)

One of the tasks that sometimes can come the way of the “Petroleum Officer” is a request for assistance by other authorities. In my case it was covert operations by my local police force where their surveillance and undercover work believed that a gang of individuals were stealing fuel by siphoning it from the tanks of vehicles and selling it on from domestic dwellings.

An exciting afternoon was spent have a briefing before the event that involved 18 uniformed police officers, the Area Housing Manager and myself that saw the forcible entry into three domestic properties on a housing estate in my area. However, the criminals were wise to this as the only find was a siphoning tube and a large plastic drum that had a litre or so of diesel in it.

It reminded me of our duties where domestic storage is concerned that now is confined to the Petroleum (Motor Vehicle) Regulations 1929.

The continuing talk of Ethanol appears to be increasing with announcement being made in the

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

media and recently (seen in the news pages of this issue) BP as a major player are investing in a site near Hull large amounts of tens of thousands of litres of Ethanol indicating we will be changing our market and with it our stances on safety related matters.

Jamie Thompson, Roger Marris and Phil Lambeth have been leading on this one and the APEA’s Code of Practice is being developed and nearing publication after a long and wide consultation period.

You will also see a separate appeal from me because as an organisation we are approaching an amazing anniversary. Yes, the Association for Petroleum & Explosives Administration will next year, be 50 years old and I would hope we celebrate this event by looking back over half a century.

This is one of the reasons that I have been attempting to write the history so that some written account exists that tells those to come where we have come from and why!! Maybe you have a story to tell? Maybe you own something that is memorabilia? Perhaps by going through your personal collection of photographs you come across something that is significant, interesting and would look good if published? This is not just for material here in the UK but worldwide. Please get in touch with me as I would be very honoured and pleased to help and give due recognition to you for your interest.

Well, I am to close now as it is a late Friday afternoon, the weekend is coming and to my irritation, we are forecast heavy rain here in the UK – as if we do not have enough over here!

All the best until next time Brian 5

Business Manager’s Report

Bulletin

The last few months have been very busy compiling the 2008 Yearbook and this issue of the Bulletin.

Arrangements are also well under way too for APEA 2007, brief details of which can be found below and on page 31 of this issue of the Bulletin. It looks to be a very exciting event.

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 December 2007 issue and I will pass them onto our Editor for approval.

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

2008 Yearbook Bulletin Advertising Thanks to all of you that returned your Registration forms for the 2008 Yearbook, the artwork is now at the printers and the Yearbooks will be distributed on 1st October.

If you have not received your copy by the end of October please let me know and I will chase up your delivery. We will be sending all Yearbooks by Royal Mail recorded delivery and by courier so that we can follow up any non deliveries.

2007 AGM, Conference, Exhibition and Awards Dinner Following the success of APEA 2006 we will be repeating the format for APEA 2007.

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

APEA 2007 takes place on 11th October at the Telford International Centre in the UK. The event takes place in a dedicated conference and function centre, boasting top class facilities and onsite hotels. The Telford International Centre is a half hour drive from Birmingham.

Anyone wishing to book for the Conference, Exhibition or Awards Dinner should contact Emma or Fiona from Downstream Events at info@downstream-events.com or on +44 (0) 208 932 4505.

I will be managing the AGM part of the event and an invitation letter and nomination form are enclosed with this issue of the Bulletin.

Please ensure you let me know if you wish to attend the AGM either by email at admin@apea.org.uk or on 0845 603 5507. The AGM is free to APEA members but if you wish to attend the Conference and Exhibition too, you need to contact Downstream Events to register your attendance. Details are on page 31 of this issue.

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

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

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

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

If you are interested in hosting a bespoke course for your company please do not hesitate to contact me.

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

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

You can book online from the Training page on the APEA website at 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 29 new members joining during April, May and June 2007 and details can be found on page 8.

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

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

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

APEA Members £10.00 plus p+p Non APEA Members £20.00 plus p+p Training Thanks to all of you that have booked on the APEA training courses, the last few months have been busy with bookings.

The 2007 dates are detailed on page 73 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.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

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

New APEA Members Detailed below are new members that have recently joined the APEA during April, May and June 2007

Sergey Maslennikov LUKOIL 5th floor, Galatariotis Building 11 Limasol Avenue Nicosia 2112 Cyprus

Eddie McCann Calanike Retailing Ltd 82 Waterside Rd Kirkintilloch Glasgow East Dunbartonshire G66 3HG

May

Merv Brown MBS 4 Keyte Road Ilmington Shipston on Stour Warwickshire CV36 4LP

April Fredrik Hellner KPS France SARL 171 bis avenue de Charles de Gaulle, Bât C Neuilly sur Seine 92200 France

Martina Atkinson Irish Truck & Tank Unit 1a Chapelizod Industrial Estate Chapelizod, Dublin D20 Ireland

Peter Roll LFEPA Room 810 Hampton House 20 Albert Embankment London SE17SD

David Rose ID Technologies 43 Peter Place Bryanston, Johannesburg South Africa 2191

Susan Cormican P H MC Carthy Consulting Engineers PH MC Carthy House Nutgrove Office Park Nutgrove Dublin 14 Ireland

Ron Sanderson Clarion Roadside Ltd 2nd Floor 16 Church Street Ampthill Bedfordshire MK45 2EH

Alec O'Beirne Cornlea Moat Lane Prestwood Great Missenden Bucks HP16 9BY Christopher Browne Quality Surface Solutions Ltd Construction House 54 Putnoe Lane Bedford MK41 9AF John Leake Newlea 115 Grammer School Road Brigg N Lincs DN20 8BD Edward Bowen Pollution Control Ltd Putticks Lane East Bergholt Colchester Essex CO7 6XU Kenton Mosley Castles Shopfitters Bowland Street Works Bowland Street Bradford West Yorkshire BD1 3BW Roger Pope Bath & North East Somerset Council Food & Trading Standards 9-10 Bath Street Bath BA 1 1SN 8

David Kington 3 The Elms Maidenhead Road Stratford-upon-Avon Warwickshire CV37 6YB Peter Barker Aqumen Freight Management Ltd Power House Powerscroft Road Sidcup Kent DA14 5EA Paul Gillespie WMDC Transport Services, Admin Bolck Bradford Road, Newton Bar Wakefield West Yorkshire WF1 2TU Thomas Doherty Jackson Doherty Partnership Ltd 383 Hagley Road Quinton, Birmingham West Midlands B34 6TX Richard Eeles ARUP 63 St Thomas Street Bristol BS1 6JZ

June Nicholas Payne Torex Retail Ferrisa Bridge road Bursledon Hampshire SO31 8AL

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

Julian Rafter Olive Engineering Unit 4b, Red Cow Business Park Clondalkin, DUBLIN 22 Ireland James Owen 38 Grange Close Horam Heathfield East Sussex TN21 0EE Roland Manning Transflo Instruments Ltd Station Road Staplehurst Tonbridge TN12 0QD Kevin Pryke Forecourt Trading Ltd 30 Highfields Halstead Essex CO9 1NH William Dunn Masterblaster incorpo MB Environmental Solutions Unit N, 21 Enterprise Road Balloo Business Park South Bangor Co Down BT19 7TA Graham Thompson GRT Services Ltd 24 Coalbridge Close Worle Weston-super-Mare North Somerset BS22 6PH Geoffrey Wheeler 2 Manor Road South Woolston Southampton Hampshire SO19 2DS John O'Reilly 41 Oaktree Avenue Castleknock Dublin 15 Ireland

News

UK, BP Retail to Save £600m with Global IT Standardisation BP Retail expects to save up to £600m over the next few years by standardising business processes and IT systems at all of its petrol stations around the world.

The retail division of the petrol giant has earmarked £280m to spend on the systems overhaul over three years, during which time it will transform the systems used on service stations in the UK, US, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Australia. The company has already started the ambitious programme in the UK. Janelle Hill, vice-president of research at analyst firm Gartner, said, “There are lots of reasons for doing this programme, but the main one is reducing the ongoing cost of maintaining multiple environments.

BP Retail has called the global business process standardisation programme Delivering Advanced Retailing Technologies (Dart).

Buyers will use SAP Merchandise Management software for ordering goods, and SAP Assortment Management will enable each store’s product range to be tailored for the local market.

JDA Floor Planning and JDA Space Planning systems will be introduced to improve the display of goods in BP stores. Because most of its service stations have legacy till systems that could not handle the functionality of the new applications, BP Retail is rolling out a point of sale system from Retailix across its outlets.

Ed Alford, chief information manager for convenience and retail at BP Retail, said, “Under the programme, when a country goes live, it will be a big-bang switchover. “In the UK, we are already getting reduced out-of-stocks and better availability through our food service.”

The retailer expects to save £60m by centralising its IT function globally. It has established support centres in India and Bratislava in Slovakia, and national IT operations will be phased out one by one.

BP Retail’s standardisation programme in the UK, which is expected to cost £13m, will include new systems interfaces with Marks & Spencer.

Last November, Marks & Spencer announced that it would be establishing its Simply Food stores in up to 200 of BP Retail’s 285 UK service station following a successful trial.

Ed Alford, chief information manager for convenience and retail at BP Retail, said, “We are talking to Marks & Spencer about how we can collaborate better on the in-store display of goods.

At the moment, I send them a feed from my store systems, but integrating the systems is a really exciting opportunity.”

UK, Petrol stations banned from selling petrol for minimotorbikes Filling stations in Lancashire could be fuelling the illegal use of mini-moto bikes by selling petrol to under-16s.

Councillors on Preston's Lancashire Local committee, made up of city and county councillors, are backing a new campaign.

The move comes after the body received a report from Lancashire Trading Standards boss Jim Potts.

Trading Standards and police have been clamping down on the availability and use of mini motos which are not legal for use on roads and pavements.

The Evening Post reported in September last year how the machines are capable of speeds of up to 5060mph and are being ridden illegally by children as young as 14.

Trading Standards launched a campaign to stop traders selling the bikes.

But Mr Potts told the committee while more of the bikes are now being taken off the streets, he had received reports of filling stations selling fuel to minors.

Trading standards officers also identified safety problems with a number of seized mini-motorbikes including inadequate fuel-caps which could leak fuel or vapour causing a fire or explosion risk.

Now garage owners are being reminded they could be prosecuted if caught selling petrol to under-16s.

Councillor Terry Cartwright said: "Mini-motos are dangerous and a real nuisance to people who are out for a walk to enjoy some peace and quiet.

"Garage owners should be aware of the age limit for buying petrol but I see young people who are obviously under 16 carrying plastic fuel containers around Deepdale."

County Councillor Jean Battle, cabinet member for community, planning and partnerships, added: "Filling stations now need to realise that children may be illegally buying petrol to run their mini-motorbikes which could result in prosecution for the licensees.

"I would urge anyone who knows of garages which may be selling fuel to under-16s to report them to Trading Standards."

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

Filling Stations can contact Trading Standards on 01772 532145 for advice. on underage sales and to receive an Age Check pack containing posters and a training DVD. Lancashire Evening Post

UK, The prevalence of arson: England and Wales fire statistics The Home Office Fire Statistics for England and Wales are compiled from the fire report forms completed by the fire brigade for every fire that they attend during the year. However, the fire brigade is not called out to every fire that occurs – many are relatively small, cause little damage and are dealt with by members of the public with recourse to the assistance of the brigade. This under reporting means that the full extent of the arson problem is quite likely to be underestimated.

The Home Office define arson attacks as ‘malicious fires’ and includes those where malicious or deliberate ignition is merely suspected and recorded by the fire brigade as ‘doubtful’.

Trends Fire service data shows that there has been a continued long-term increase in the number of deliberate fires attended by the fire service. It is suggested that this may be due in part to better fire investigation techniques by brigades and the concerted effort to move away from attributing the cause of fire as “unknown” in recent years.

Nevertheless, these factors alone probably do not account for the very steep upward movement in the number of malicious or deliberate fires.

In 1989, there were 38,700 fires started deliberately, representing about one-quarter of all primary fires. By 1999, this had risen to a total of 91,000 deliberately set fires - an increase of 135%. This compares to a 25% increase for the overall number of primary fires and a 12% decrease for accidental fires over the same period. A large proportion of the increase is attributable to deliberate car fires as this category has increased by almost 200% since 1989. Over the same period, this compares with increases of 39% in deliberate fires in other buildings; 54% in dwellings and 65% in other outdoor fires.

The graph illustrates the level of deliberate primary fire-setting for the period 1989 and 1999 by type.

Regional variations Analysis of fire service data by fire brigade area shows that deliberate fires are highly concentrated in the metropolitan brigades. Almost half of all 9

News investigation into the cause of the laze is under way.

UK, PVR II : Charges

deliberate fires within England and Wales were concentrated within the seven metropolitan areas.

The number of deliberate fires as a percentage of total fires showed that all the metropolitan brigades recorded over half of all fires as deliberate started (except London where 40% of all fires were deliberate). West Yorkshire (63%), Merseyside (60%), South Yorkshire (59%) and Greater Manchester (58%) recorded the highest rates. However, the highest rate nationally in 1999 was in Cleveland (64%) – a nonmetropolitan brigade. South Wales (61%) recorded the highest rate in Wales. Other high rates among nonmetropolitan brigades were recorded by Nottinghamshire (57%), Avon (55%) and Humberside (55%). In contrast, the lowest recorded rates were in Devon (28%) and Cornwall (24%).

The variations in fire service data are mirrored in recorded police data. Arson offences are concentrated in the metropolitan areas with 43% of all arson fires being recorded in these localities.

There are also wide variations in the clear up rate across the police force areas. The national average in 1997 was 16%. Only 12 police forces cleared up more than one-fifth of all recorded arson offences. The forces with the highest clear up rates were DyfedPowys (38%); Cheshire (36%); Lincolnshire (34%) and Wiltshire (30%).

Amongst the lowest were Northumbria (12%); the Metropolitan Police Service (11%); Merseyside (11%); West Yorkshire and Cleveland (9%). www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/fire1.html (Source: Arson Scoping Study)

UK, Kent – Oil Tank Blast A massive oil tank explosion occurred in Kent on 30 March 2007, setting light to a tank containing around 250,000 of waste engine oil. One man was injured in the fire. More than 100 fire-fighters and 15 appliances attended the scene at Kingsnorth Industrial Estate on the Hoo Peninsula. Crews surrounded the scene with a barrier while they cooled a second tank that also contained oil. An 10

You will be aware the requirements for PVR II have been incorporated into the PPC regulations.

The service stations that need to comply must have upgraded by 1st January 2010.

The accompanying charges, which we consulted on in the November 2005, have not yet been incorporated within the current fees and charges scheme as we were not expecting service stations to begin upgrading their facilities to PVR II so far in advance of the deadline. Since discovering through our industry contacts that refurbishment programmes are underway or planned for this year at a number of installations, we realise we need to introduce the charges as soon as possible to enable duly made applications to be submitted and local authorities to recoup their costs of handling applications.

To enable those wishing to apply early to do so, we therefore propose to amend the 2007/8 charging scheme just published (see http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/pp c/localauth/fees-risk/fees.htm ) to add fees for PVRII. The intended fee levels are those put forward in the 2005 consultation, uprated in line with the subsequent consultation on the review of all charges for 2007/8, namely: The likely fees (as uprated to 2007/8 levels) are those for "reduced fee activities" shown below: • Existing site fitting PVR II only £91 (same as the current 07/08 charge for a substantial change) • Existing site fitting PVR I and II together at the same time - £229 (equivalent to current 07/08 application and substantial change fees) • Annual subsistence for sites with PVR I and II £202 (pro-rated from £192 consultation figure) • Annual subsistence for sites with PVR I only £141 (same as current 07/08 subsistence fee) Since this aligns with proposals we previously consulted on, this is primarily for information.

Comments were required to be submitted by Friday 11th May but it is not expected to bring about any major amendments.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

UK, 22 Malthurst Petrol Stations Bought

by Ciref CIREF Limited (“CIREF”), the property investment and development company, has announced that it has acquired a portfolio of 22 petrol service stations, spread throughout England.

The service stations, all of which trade well, are principally located in prominent areas beside busy arterial roads. The majority of the stations have recently been refurbished and rebranded from their original ‘Jet’ brand to leading market brands such as Texaco, BP, Esso, Total and Elf. The portfolio is let to Malthurst Limited, a prominent UK petrol filling station operator. The portfolio was acquired for a total consideration of £26.50m. The 22 properties are located in England with the most southerly being in Cornwall in the South West and the furthest north in Northumberland.

The average site is approximately 0.5 acres in size.

Commenting on the transaction, Mike Watters, Director of CIREF and CIREF’s Property Adviser, Corovest International Limited said: “We are delighted to announce the addition of these service stations to CIREF’s Portfolio of property assets. This acquisition provides CIREF with control over twenty two very well located properties spread across the country, that enhance the stable income segment within the overall portfolio.

Value will be driven through the annual 2.5% compound escalation in rentals as well as a number of asset management opportunities that have been identified.

UK, Co-operative Stores Learn Lessons following Tank Failure United Co-operatives expect to sell 170-million litres of fuel this year from its 36 forecourts around the north of England, North Midlands and North Wales. It has chalked up over 25 years in the petrol station industry employing 650 staff and a dedicated management team.

After it suffered a tank leak at one of its Forecourts, in the Greater Manchester area last year, the Society says there are a number of points for the industry in the area of inspection and stock reconciliation.

In June 2006, the Society’s accounts department noticed that there was a discrepancy between the amount of fuel

News

metres from the fill pipe between the fill manhole and the second manhole. The area comprised a depression that measured approximately 65 mm x 70 mm within which was located three individual perforations.

C l o s e r inspection The photos show the area within which the tank became perforated. revealed that the perforations being delivered to the Service Station to the tank had developed within a and the receipts from the sale of the larger crater-like region, the surface of fuel. which was bright relative to the Further investigations on site surrounding corroded surface of the identified a discrepancy between the steel and that on either side of the amount of petroleum delivered to and hinged region the underside of the “soft sold from tank 1. A test was then fill” device a strip of a polymeric (plastic) conducted that confirmed that the tank material was fitted on which the device was not pressure tight. would rest and would be in contact with Tank number 1 at the Service Station the internal surface at the 6 o’clock was a cylindrical dome ended position of the tank. underground tank. The tank was The underside of two halves of the provided with two manholes and was aluminium alloy “soft fill” attachment in nominally 2.7 metres in diameter and the hinged region were not fitted with 6.9 metres in length. The tank is the polymeric strip where the two understood to have been fabricated sections overlapped and after the from welded sections of pre-formed overlapping region had been separated, mild steel plate the shell being it was apparent that both halves of the nominally 6 mm in thickness and it was component had experienced corrosion fitted with domed ends that were the one in closer proximity to the bottom nominally 8 mm in thickness. of the tank being more severely wasted The storage capacity of the tank is than the other. The more severely 39,600 litres. At some time in its service corroded side of the hinge joint was history tank 1 had been fitted with a also stained reddish brown. “soft fill” attachment to the fill pipe.

In the expert opinion of a consulting The tank was cleaned and inspected scientist and engineer who was brought on 23 June 2006 and an area of in to report on the situation, the perforation identified that was located at relatively bright appearance of the the bottom of the tank approximately 2 crater-like corroded region that

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developed within the bottom of tank 1 was consistent with the action of two corrosion mechanisms.

The first was galvanic corrosion in which, in the presence of a conductive electrolyte, an anodic metal can dissolve into solution if it is in (electrical) contact with a dissimilar and less anodic metal. The second mechanism was microbiological induced corrosion in which the presence of various microorganisms can lead to the corrosive attack of metals in general and steels in particular. The rate at which this type of corrosion mechanism can occur can be up to ten times the rate of conventional corrosion.

Both mechanisms would be promoted by the presence of an accumulation of water at the bottom of the tank from which 250 litres of water and sludge were removed The presence of a significant level of bacterial contamination within the sludge sample led to the conclusion that some form of microbiologically induced corrosion mechanism could have played a part in the development of some, or all, of the crater-like region within which the perforations developed.

But the report said that on balance there was currently insufficient evidence to conclude that the cause of the development of the perforations in the tank was solely associated with the presence of micro-organisms. The localised nature of the attack in a region that would have been directly beneath the “soft fill” attachment was consistent with the effects of the development of a colony of micro-organisms within a relatively sheltered area of the tank.

As far as galvanic corrosion mechanisms are concerned, at first sight the evidence of corrosion wastage of localised areas of the aluminium alloy “soft fill” attachment would not appear to be consistent with the operation this type of corrosion mechanism. This was because aluminium alloys are less anodic than steel and steel would therefore be expected to be attacked preferentially by this type of mechanism. A galvanic corrosion mechanism would, however, have been consistent with the most likely cause of the development of the crater-like corrosion feature within which the perforations developed in the bottom of the steel tank.

The preferential attack of the “soft fill” attachment in a region where the polymeric strip on the bottom was not present in the vicinity of the hinge would not, according to the report, be consistent with a galvanic corrosion mechanism as this might be expected to have led to more uniform corrosive attack of the “soft fill” attachment and also require the presence of a third, 11

News dissimilar and less anodic metal (such as stainless steel), which was not used in the construction of the tank.

The report concluded that in all probability the perforations that led to the loss of fuel from tank 1 developed by a combination of factors: galvanic corrosion of the steel due to the close proximity of the aluminium alloy “soft fill” attachment being the predominant factor; some microbiological induced corrosion could also have affected both the tank and the “soft fill” attachment because of the possibility of the build up of a colony of micro-organisms in the relatively sheltered void beneath the attachment hinge and the bottom of the tank.

United Co-operatives is working closely with the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service over the incident which cost a six figure sum to ensure that lessons have been learnt including the importance of implementing effective site management so that actions such as assuming problems lie with gauge readings or writing off significant fluctuations are challenged.

Currently, leaks are identified primarily by the use of Wet Stock Reconciliation – this is done at store level daily with a weekly summary sent to the petrol accounts office. United has also moved onto third party reconciliation – a process that had been initiated before the June incident but had not been started at that time. It is now in use at all sites as well as at store level.

United Co-operatives Manager, Corporate Safety, David Brackwell believes another matter to consider is the length of time of the “life” of a tank.

“At the moment, the current wisdom is that tanks can function for 20-25 years.

Our tank failed after 12 years. Both ourselves and the Fire and Rescue Service agree that operators can’t rely on the 25-year rule,” he said.

UK, UL Sets Timeline for E85 Certification Underwriters Laboratories (UL) issued a public timeline for the certification of E85 dispensing pumps.

According to the UL release: “UL expects to be prepared to accept products for evaluation and certification.

UL currently expects to finalize research and publish certification requirements by the end of the fourth quarter of 2007 and, immediately thereafter, accept E85 dispensing equipment for investigation to the safety requirements and certification of compliant equipment.”

The RFA welcomed the timetable and underlined the U.S. ethanol’s commitment to public safety. “Safety is 12

of the utmost concern to the U.S. ethanol industry and we are committed to ensuring our product can safely be delivered to the public,” said Bob Dinneen, president of the Renewable Fuels Association, the national trade association for the U.S. ethanol industry.

“Through the continued cooperation between our industry, the Department of Energy and UL, we hope to expeditiously bring to a close any questions about the safety of E85.

UL’s certification of E85 dispensing pumps is critical to the growing use of higher ethanol blends.”

The completion of this research will allow UL to work with government and industry to create consensus standards, which they note “have a long history of providing both public safety and rapid market access for new technologies such as E85.”

UK, Associated British Foods & BP in 300 Eco Fuel JV Associated British Foods, BP and DuPont are to build a massive biofuel plant in the UK which, when it comes on stream in 2009, will be able to supply one-third of the country's renewable energy needs for vehicles.

The plant, to be built near Hull at a cost of €300m, will convert wheat into bioethanol and could produce up to 420m litres of fuel per year.

ABF finance director John Bason said the wheat used will not be the type used for making the group's Kingsmill bread but a lower grade for making cattle feed. 'This is good news for British farmers because it is a brand new domestic market for their produce,' he added.

Bioethanol will be produced by fermenting-wheat which is high in carbohydrates rather than the highprotein types used for bread flour. The main by-product is distillers' grain, which also comes from breweries and distilleries and is used as animal feed.

ABF has interests in the wheat supply market - where Britain produces an exportable surplus of almost three million tonnes a year, enough to supply three similar plants - and in the animal feeds business via AB Agri.

The new plant will be 45% owned by ABF and BP and 10% by DuPont. It should create about 70 full-time jobs.

Bason said: 'This is a very significant announcement about producing a world-class biofuel plant. It is not only very exciting for us on several levels but it also sees one of the world's oil majors moving towards meeting its renewable obligations.'

Building of the new plant will begin early next year. At the same time BP

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and DuPont will set up a biobutanol demonstration plant on the site to test and show off the properties of this nextgeneration biofuel. It will produce up to 20,000 litres of biobutanol a year.

Biobutanol is said to be an efficient fuel that can be easily used in the current petrol distribution network and no alteration is required to existing car engines. BP and DuPont will shortly start testing the fuel with car manufacturers.

The UK Government has pledged that 5% of UK transport fuel should come from renewable sources by 2010 and the EU has set a target of 20% of all energy coming from renewables by 2020 including 10% from biofuels.

The Hull project follows ABF's British Sugar's much smaller plant converting sugar beet into bioethanol in Norfolk which, with its capacity of 70m litres, is due to come on stream next month.

Together they make ABF the largest producer of biofuels in the UK. The European Investment Bank has supplied backing of €178m to ABF for both the projects on considerably better terms than commercial lending.

UK, Filling of user owned, portable refillable LPG cylinders at autogas refuelling sites

By LP Gas Association It is our advice that user owned, portable LPG cylinders should not be refilled at autogas refuelling sites.

Vessels which are attached to a vehicle for heating or cooking (on camper vans or similar) present similar risks on filling to those for propulsion purposes and may be permitted to be re-filled at autogas refuelling sites provided they: • remain in-situ for refilling; and • are fitted with a device to physically prevent filling beyond 80%; and • are connected to a fixed filling connector which is not part of the vessel.

It is our view that UK Health and Safety law, particularly the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations and the Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations, impose significant duties on the site operator to ensure safety.

Autogas refuelling sites are places of work and their personnel have responsibility for safety to everyone on

News the site, including the general public.

They authorise the flow of gas from the dispenser and they may be considered, in law, the filler.

Safe filling of LPG cylinders requires appropriate expertise and/or equipment. Staff at autogas refuelling sites cannot fulfil statutory obligations as they have neither.

Were there to be any accident the site operator could be liable to prosecution.

This view has been confirmed in the Minutes of the HSE Petroleum Enforcement Liaison Group meeting of 7th July 2005 which states “PLAs should consider issuing a prohibition notice if their inspectors discover a site which allows members of the public to refill gas cylinders”.

UK, Building fire in Bradford In the early hours of 28 September 2006, West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service (WYFRS) fire-fighters were mobilised to a building fire in the centre of Bradford. As they were leaving the fire station, a pall of smoke could be seen in the direction of the building they were heading for. When the crews arrived at the scene they were met with the sound a sight of fireworks discharging within the building. As the heat from the fire and possible the actions of an intruder had broken some of the windows, rockets and the discharges from roman candles were flying out of the openings. Early into the fire-fighting operations, the occupier of the building arrived at the scene and warned the incident commander that the building contained 2fi tonnes of fireworks!

The potentially difficult and hazardous task of tackling a fire in a building containing a large quantity of fireworks was alleviated when part of the roof burnt through thereby allowing aerial appliances to direct jets into the area of the building where the fireworks were burning.

After the fire, which had been restricted to the upper level of the split level building, had been extinguished, an inspection found cartons of fireworks to be stacked in all the available space.

In view of the damage sustained to the building and the suspected offences against the Manufacture & Storage of Explosives Regulations 2005 (MSER), WYFRS fire safety inspectors used their powers under sections 20 and 25 the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) to seize all of the remaining fireworks as evidence for possible criminal proceedings and the interests of public safety. A subsequent inventory and quantification exercise found the total of the remaining stock to be 1,472 kg; measured by the net explosives content (nec).

The occupier of the building, a parttime businessman called Michael Cain, was registered with the WYFRS to keep upto a maximum of 250 kg (nec) of hazard type 4 (HT4) fireworks in a purpose built fi fire-resisting storeroom situated on the upper floor level. It was interesting to note that the FR storeroom, which was located close to the seat of the fire, gave total protection to the 293 kg of loose fireworks present in this room.

Access between the upper and lower levels of the building was by the way of an open staircase with a flimsy and damaged door at the head. In effect, the only fire separation in the building was that afforded to the registered storeroom. Under the requirements of MSER, there is a duty on the registrant or licensee to put in place control measures to prevent the spread of fire.

With 1,179 kg of fireworks in the building being stored in rooms and passageways without any fire separation, this requirement was not being met.

For the storage of upto 250 kg (nec) of HT4 fireworks, there is no

requirement to achieve and maintain any separation distance from occupied buildings and public thoroughfares etc.

This exemption allowed the WYFRS to register Cain for the (internal) storage of 250 kg in the building later to be involved in the fire.

Separation distancing is incremental with the hazard type and quantity of fireworks being stored. For the 1,472 kg of fireworks in the building at the time of the fire, a separation distance of 22m was mandatory. This distance would have been increased to 27m if the 250 kg of fireworks destroyed by fire were to be taken into account! As the building was attached to other occupied properties and contiguous on two elevations with public footpaths and main roads, it was not physically practical to meet any separation distancing requirement.

Charges under Section 33(1)(c) of HSWA were subsequently brought by the WYFRS against the businessman for breaches of: • MSER Regulation 11(8) – exceeding the maximum quantity allowed under the registration regime; • MSER Regulation 4(1)(b) – failing to limit the extent of a fire or explosion including measures to prevent the spread of fire; and • MSER Regulation 5 – failing to maintain the relevant separation distance.

The defendant pleaded guilty to all three charges before the Bradford Magistrates’ Court at a hearing on 7 March 2007. However, the magistrates declined to sentence the defendant due to the seriousness of the offences. At a sentencing hearing at the Bradford Crown Court on 18 May 2007, the judge branded Cain's behaviour as criminally reckless and said such a case clearly crossed the custody threshold. He sentenced Michael Cain to 6 months imprisonment (suspended for 12 months) and awarded £1000 prosecution costs to the WYFRS.

UK, Morrison Opens 1st UK Bioethanol E85 Fuel Dispenser Morrisons supermarket opened the UK's first BioEthanol E85 filling pump, tying promotions of the new dispenser with the first deliveries of the Saab 9-5 BioPower flex-fuel car. The fuel will be branded as Harvest BioEthanol E85, with the environmentally-friendly pumps featuring a new butterfly logo and a blue filling hose.

Morrisons, which has petroleum

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15

News operations at 274 stores across the UK, plans to open Harvest BioEthanol E85 dispensers at another four of its sites in the East of England - those of East Dereham, Lowestoft, Diss, and Ipswich - plus at five sites in Somerset, in the South West of England. Additionally, Morrisons has already earmarked several other sites across the UK, where Harvest BioEthanol E85 could soon be sold, depending on consumer demand.

The availability of BioEthanol E85 on was timed to coincide with the first customer deliveries of the Saab 9-5 BioPower, which was officially launched in the UK in November 2005. Saab BioPower technology enables its cars to run on either the potent yet environmentally-friendly fuel BioEthanol E85, which is a blend of 85 percent BioEthanol and 15 percent petroleum, or on pure petroleum, without any adjustment required by the driver. When running on BioEthanol E85, the fossil CO2 emissions of the Saab 9-5 BioPower are typically 50 percent to 70 percent cleaner than when running on petroleum alone.

Futura Petroleum will supply Morrisons with the Harvest BioEthanol E85 in an initiative supported by the Energy Saving Trust and Renewables East.

UK, Heatwave Warning (C) Crown Copyright. Met Office.

Organisations providing health and social care should be aware of the requirements set out in the Department of Health's Heatwave Plan and the actions necessary to prepare for a Level 3 or 4 heatwave. Specific advice to be followed by health care professionals and the managers and staff of residential and nursing homes in the event of a heatwave is available from the Department of Health website at www.dh.gov.uk/publications and from the Welsh Assembly Government website at: http://new.wales.gov.uk/topics/health/oc mo/.

UK, Devon. Diesel spill firm fined £20,000 June 2007 - South West Water has been fined £20,000 after drinking water was contaminated with diesel oil at a Devon reservoir.

The firm admitted four offences under the Water Act at Honiton Magistrates' Court relating to the incident at the Belvedere reservoir in Exeter in 2006. It was also involved in a serious pollution incident in which partially treated 16

sewage was discharged into the River Fal in Cornwall on 2 June. The Environment Agency is investigating how it happened.

The diesel contamination happened on 3 February 2006 when a South West Water (SWW) worker mistakenly connected a drum containing 20 litres of diesel to a chlorination unit on the reservoir outlet. SWW received nearly 2,400 complaints, many of them about the objectionable taste or smell in their water. "Do Not Drink" notices were issued to about 3,000 households in the Beacon Heath, Pennsylvania and Stoke Hill areas of Exeter from 6 February until 9 February when the all-clear was given.

SWW director of operations Dr Stephen Bird told BBC News: "It should not have happened given our clear procedures and we needed to learn some lessons from that. "We now have probably the most robust procedures in the water industry to make sure it does not happen again."

'Operational Fault' The company was also ordered to pay costs of £11,875 in relation to the incident.

UK, Newbury.

Companies fined over diesel leak May 2007 - Two companies have been fined a total of £18,000 after red diesel polluted a stream at Douai Abbey, Upper Woolhampton.

The Environment Agency claims up to 500 litres of fuel spilled into the tributary of the River Kennet during the leak in March 2005. On May 25, Wooldridge Ecotec Ltd of Bagshot, Surrey, pleaded guilty to polluting the unnamed tributary, in breach of Section 85 of the Water Resources Act 1991. Bewley Homes Plc, of Baughurst, Hampshire, also pleaded guilty to the pollution of the stream.

The incident happened while demolition work was being carried out on the former school buildings at the abbey. The Environment Agency were first alerted to the problem when a neighbouring farmer spotted red diesel in the brook where it flowed through his land. The Bewley Homes site manager initially denied there had been a spill, but the source was later traced back to tanks used to store fuel for heating the school buildings. Environment Agency officers estimated that approximately 500 litres of oil had been lost, though this amount was challenged by the defendants.

Investigating Officer Steve Clare said: "It took us over a month to clear up the diesel from the watercourse because initially both companies refused to take

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responsibility for their actions. "By failing to agree a comprehensive clean up plan for the site, and by ignoring the potential danger of those works, the companies put the environment at very real risk of a major incident.

"Fortunately, in this case, the environmental impacts were negligible, but that does not negate the need for companies to act responsibly when dealing with hazardous materials to ensure they do not pollute the environment."

The River Kennet, which is fed by the stream, is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and source of drinking water. Wooldridge Ecotec and Bewley Homes were fined £9,000 each at Reading Magistrate's Court. They were also ordered to pay £2367.90 each in costs to the Environment Agency.

UK, London. Police check petrol tankers for bombs June 2007 - Petrol tankers and chemical trucks entering London are being stopped at roadblocks to check for bombs, police revealed in June, but officers said the operation is not in response to any indication of a specific plot.

Motorcycle spotters monitor large vehicles bound for the British capital and random checkpoints are set up to check any suspicious loads, the officials said. The checks, which began earlier this year, are part of an operation to guard against terrorists using trucks to carry huge bombs into London, Scotland Yard said. Officers have stepped up security in London - and claim to have foiled a string of terrorist plots - since four suicide bombers killed 52 commuters on three subway trains and a bus July 7, 2005.

London was the site of a failed repeat transit attack two weeks later, and police and intelligence agents say they have prevented a number of other planned attacks – including an alleged plan to down trans-Atlantic airliners last summer.

During the London trial of confessed al-Qaida operative Dhiren Barot, who was jailed last year for a minimum of 40 years, prosecutors said the British citizen plotted to ram prominent London landmarks with gasoline tankers packed with explosives. Barot also was alleged to have studied targets in New Jersey, including the Prudential Building in Newark, writing in a memo that ramming trucks “straight through the glass front entrance into the lobby area” would be an effective bombing technique.

The New York Police Department used his case in a briefing to private

News security officials from Wall Street firms last fall, warning of the threat from tanker bombs. London police said the truck checks were not started in response to specific information about any plot against the United Kingdom, but confirmed that random checkpoints are being set up on major roads into London. Officials said concerns about such attacks followed the use of truck bombs in Iraq.

In July 2005, the Iraqi government said a stolen fuel tanker was used in a suicide attack that killed more than 90 people in Musayyib, 40 miles south of Baghdad. The checkpoints are part of “day-to-day business to disrupt, deter and prevent terrorism and to help create a hostile and uncertain environment for terrorists to operate in,” Scotland Yard said in a statement. No explosives were reported found during the checks, but police said two people had been arrested for driving while driving without a license.

UK, RAF Mildenhall.

Over $100,000 of fuel may be lost in pipeline leak Thousands of gallons of JP8 jet fuel lost when an underground pipe was punctured in April at this air base could result in a loss of more than $100,000.

Base officials have said they won’t know the exact amount of fuel lost until the pipe is repaired and running again.

But authorities have given estimates of up to 65,000 gallons.

The fuel is valued at $2.43 a gallon, according to USAF Mildenhall spokesman Master Sgt. Charles Tubbs, meaning that more than $157,000 in fuel may have gurgled into the ground.

Depending on where it is in relation to the groundwater, the fuel could be separated and reusable, Ian Hill, an environment team manager with the Environment Agency, said this week.

But where the fuel is remains a mystery.

For a seventh day, workers searched for the missing fuel near the runway at Mildenhall. Air Force representatives have refused to release the name of the contractor involved, saying in a message that the contractor was procured via the Defence Estates, an arm of the British Ministry of Defence that oversees military bases. But Walter Scott, a spokesman for Defence Estates, would not release the contractor’s name , referring the query back to the Air Force at Mildenhall.

Before the drilling that would eventually hit the fuel pipe, the contractor was provided with maps and a work clearance permit delineating

where the fuel piping and other utilities were, the contractor was drilling a hole horizontally underground when the rupture occurred, hitting the pipe at a 90-degree angle.

Air Force representatives also have refused to release incident reports from when the spill was discovered about 9:50 p.m. on April 20. Earlier shallow trenches were dug on either side of the rupture site and across the taxiway where the contractor’s drill initially bored a hole.

Those trenches were dug to see if the fuel had moved laterally, said Lt. Col. Scott Hartford, commander of Mildenhall’s 100th Civil Engineering Squadron. No fuel was found there, and the holes being dug were deeper to groundwater levels in hopes of finding the jet fuel there. Once workers reach the groundwater that collects in the crags of chalky rock three to four meters underground, the fuel’s location should be better understood. The water levels for this groundwater are currently pretty high, meaning the fuel could be floating on top of that groundwater and may be able to just be pumped out, Hill said this week.

The groundwater table is part of an aquifer that supplies water to the area.

An aquifer is a layer of permeable rock, gravel, sand or silt that water can be extracted from. Representatives with Anglian Water, the utility that pumps the aquifer water into our drinking water taps, said there has been no evidence of fuel infiltration into the water supply at this point.

There was concern earlier this week that the fuel could reach a nearby “bore hole”.

UK, North Weald. Fire crews dealing with plane fuel spill June 2007 - Fire crews had to deal with a fuel spillage after a plane's undercarriage collapsed moments after it landed at North Weald airfield. Crews from Epping and Harlow were called to the former Battle of Britain airfield to deal with what a fire service spokesman described as a "large fuel spill". The spokesman added that a light aeroplane suffered the fuel spillage after the undercarriage collapsed while it was taxiing along the runway.

Station Officer Martin Mansworth said: "He came into land and landed fine but as he was taxiing along the runway one of the brakes locked, causing the plane to turn sharply and the undercarriage to collapse. "No passengers were aboard the plane at the time of the accident and crews are working to make the spillage safe."

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UK, Bolton. Worker is burned as petrol fumes catch fire May 2007 - A worker suffered burns when petrol fumes caught light in an engineering yard, destroying three cars and damaging part of the building.

The 23-year-old man had been siphoning petrol from one of the cars at a company in Radcliffe, when the incident happened. He suffered superficial burns to his right arm and firefighters treated him with specialist dressings before paramedics took him to Fairfield Hospital, Bury, for a checkup.

Crew manager Steve Hoyles, of Bury Fire Station, said: "We are still investigating the cause of the fire but somehow the fumes have ignited. It was quite a severe fire. The man was decanting the fuel at the time, so he was quite lucky. "The vehicles were right next to the building. The flames went up the corrugated steel facade and the office was directly behind. "Fire cracked the office windows and it was smoke-logged, but we got there just in time so the fire didn't spread." A forklift truck being used to stack the cars was damaged.

UK, London. Tesco hit by £10m bill over rogue fuel fiasco May 2007 - Tesco has already reimbursed 90% of its affected customers Tesco is facing a £10million bill to compensate motorists who filled their cars with contaminated fuel earlier this year.

The supermarket said yesterday that it had reimbursed about 18,000 victims - 90 per cent of its affected customers and had paid out £8million so far.

Morrisons and Asda have also faced substantial compensation payouts for selling the fuel, which was found to have been contaminated by high levels of silicon.

Asda has paid £1.4million in compensation to 3,000 customers following problems at 30 of its forecourts. It has settled 97 per cent of its claims and will be sending out cheques to the remaining claimants this week. Morrisons said it had dealt with 94 per cent of its claims but refused to say how much it had paid in compensation.

Many drivers who filled up at superstore forecourts in East Anglia and the South-East in March broke down soon after. The vehicles started ‘kangaroo jumping' or ground to a halt 19

News shortly after driving off.

The contaminated fuel damaged sensors that regulate emissions, with repair bills ranging from £200 to £1,000.

The rogue batch of fuel was traced to a storage depot near Thurrock, Essex.

The cause is still being investigated but the storage company is not thought to be responsible. Supermarkets have paid out for repairs, reimbursement for fuel and compensation.

UK, Surrey. Petrol left flowing from drilled cars May 2007 - Residents woke to discover their street awash with petrol after a thief attacked their cars with a drill.

Fire fighters rushed to Squirrel Close and Levret Lane in Langley Green after car owners realised the thief had drilled their cars to tap their fuel. Police attended the scene in the early hours, as fire crews spent more than an hour making safe the 30 litres of fuel flowing from the damaged cars.

One resident Leigh Penny had his powerful silver BMW drilled by the thief.

Mr Penny, said: "This scumbag has put my car out of action for a week and forced me to spend £700 on a new fuel tank. "I always look out of the window before I go to sleep each night to make sure my motor is okay. "But I was woken by my neighbour at 7am who told me what had happened. When I came outside to look I was stunned. "If someone had dropped a cigarette around all that petrol it could have been lethal.

"Saying that, if I had caught the thief I would have been tempted to throw a match on him. "The police said they had never heard of anything like this before.

God knows why, because my mechanic said he had seen quite a few car owners from Crawley hit by petrol thieves in his time." Crawley Police has launched an ivestigation into the incident.

Ireland, Inner City & Urban Areas Facing Shortage of Petrol Stations Inner city and urban areas of Ireland are losing many petrol stations to property development. In simple terms, developers are buying up city petrol stations so they can build houses on the plots, leading to a shortage of service stations and reduced competition.

Now AA Ireland, which campaigns for 20

motorists, is concerned that a lack of competition in urban areas is affecting consumer choice.“This is a growing concern of ours and the lack of competition is not good for motorists,” said AA Ireland spokesman Conor Faughnan.

It reamains to be seen what is going to happen over the foreseeable future.

Petrol prices are currently between €1.10 & €1.20 with the average price around €1.13. However it is noticeable that prices are going up in areas where there is a shortage of service stations.

Ireland, Dublin. Petrol tanker ban from port tunnel to spark city chaos July 2007 - Petrol tankers are to be banned from using Dublin's Port Tunnel from September 5 in a move that threatens to bring traffic chaos to the city, the Irish Independent can reveal.

The ban would see between 200 and 300 vehicles a day being forced to carry their flammable loads through city centre streets. Dublin City Council may have to now overturn its ban on petrol tanker HGVs which have been banished from the capital since the beginning of the year.

Forcing the trucks out of the tunnel and onto the streets of the city centre would create a fresh headache for officials desperate to curb the capital's chronic traffic congestion.

Dublin Fire Brigade wants the petrol truck ban imposed after a recent incident involving a petroleum truck closed the tunnel. But the National Roads Authority and the city council are against the move, fearing more traffic gridlock above ground. Sources say one possible compromise is for tankers to be allowed to make "escorted" night deliveries and that the council lift the city-wide HGV ban.

Hauliers for the 'Big 4' - Statoil, Shell, Esso, Texaco - are due to meet city council officials. Dublin Fire Brigade's chief fire officer, Hugh O'Neill, wrote to the NRA, which administers the tunnel, asking for the ban. One senior source said: "They [DFB] no longer want petroleum vehicles in the tunnel. They are very definite about that." The source added: "What's surprising is that DFB signed off on the safety and fire aspects when the tunnel opened. Everything was hunky dory, now this. Fire officers wrote to the NRA after an incident three weeks ago when an engine turbo on a petroleum truck blew inside the tunnel.

Trucks regularly suffer turbo failures but fire officials fear that such an incident inside the Port Tunnel could have much more serious

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consequences. Dublin Fire Brigade sources say that the chief concern is that firefighters may not be able to get to a serious fire in time. They point out that firefighters had to wait three or four days to get inside the Mont BlancTunnel to tackle a 1999 fire that killed 39 people.

Dublin Port Tunnel has its own dedicated Tunnel Response Vehicle (TRV) to tackle fires but fire officers say fire on a larger scale would require major resources. DFB Chief Fire Officer Hugh O'Neill confirmed that he has held talks with the NRA and Dublin City Council. He added: "Nothing has been decided. The talks are ongoing." A spokesman for Dublin Port Tunnel said: "Of course we would enact a ban if that is what's decided." It emerged that the biggest petrol station in the country is to be built at the entrance to the Port Tunnel on a 4.5-acre site.

Ireland, Dublin. Maxol sues Supermacs over Limerick fuel leak Two of the country’s best-known businesses are involved in a legal dispute in the High Court over a petrol leak at a Limerick service station.

McMullan Brothers, which owns the Maxol chain of petrol stations, has taken legal action against Pat McDonagh, the founder of fast food restaurant chain Supermacs. The dispute relates to a leak at a Limerick petrol station where McDonagh’s company was sub-letting a restaurant on the premises. Maxol had taken a 999-year lease at the Singland service station on the Dublin Road in Limerick.

It had sub-let the on-site restaurant to another party and, in 1997, McDonagh’s company took over the sub-let.

In January 2003,a petrol leak became evident at the premises and a quantity of petrol escaped from an underground petrol tank due to a faulty valve.

Dominic Hussey SC, for McMullan Brothers, said McDonagh was responsible for maintaining the tanks, valves and pipes, and was liable for any damages arising from the leak. He said the lease agreed between the two parties stipulated that the tenant should ‘‘keep clean and tidy, and where necessary repair and replace’’.

Martin Hayden SC, for McDonagh, said his client was not liable for repairs to the equipment under the terms of the lease.

McMullan Brothers said the cost of repairs on the site was €135,711. It was also seeking indemnity against any future third party claims for loss of earnings during the cessation of activity at the premises as a result of the risks

News posed by the leak. A number of other businesses, including a shop and a hairdresser, operate at the Limerick site.

Hayden claimed that Maxol had been aware of the leak as early as July 2002, but did not inform his client or any other parties at the site of the potential risks.

He highlighted two previous spillages in 1988 and 1999 where he claimed the cost of repairs had been paid by Maxol.

The case continues in the High Court.

France, RomPetrol Branded Petrol Station Opened Dutch multinational oil group Rompetrol, also known as TRG, has opened its first Rompetrol-branded petrol station in France in conjunction with its French subsidiary Dyneff. The group has also entered the French biofuels market through its Rompetrol and Dyneff distribution networks.

Rompetrol said that it hopes to equip approximately 30 service stations to provide superethanol E85 distribution to French consumers by the end of 2007.

The company added that by providing increasingly-popular biofuels through both its retail brands in France, it is building on Dyneff's pioneering ecological fuels.

Rompetrol also plans to open 10 new Rompetrol-branded distribution stations in France by the end of 2007, most of them on motorways. The new petrol station is on the French motorway network, at Arzens, near Carcassonne.

"On top of bringing the highest quality standards for products and services to French consumers, the continued development of Rompetrol and Dyneff on the French market will have a positive impact of the local labour market, offering new jobs and business opportunities," said Dinu Patriciu, TRG chairman.

Mr Patriciu also announced the appointment of Laurent Sancier as CEO of Dyneff in France and Spain, effective May 21, 2007.

Cyprus. BP comeback after 4 years, Staroil aims for 20% marketshare May 2007 - StarOil Ltd., a newly established company in the Cyprus fuels sector, aims to capture an ambitious 20% of the commercial fuels business with the direct distribution of BP supplies of diesel to fleet operators, home and hotel heating, as well as

industrial units, four years after the multinational sold all its local retail operations to Hellenic Petroleum, EKO StarOil’s Chairman and majority shareholder, George Petrou, informed that by securing international rates of fuel shipments to Cyprus and by cutting out the middleman, the company will be able to offer attractive discounts to corporate and large volume buyers.

StarOil will have facilities in all towns for the direct supply of high quality fuels such as automotive gasoil (diesel 50ppm), heating gasoil (0.2% sulfur) and various viscosities of light fuel oil.

“Although our rates may seem to be close to the prices posted at petrol stations, we have the flexibility to offer better discounts thanks to a reduced cost base,” Petrou said. His partner, Costas Kassinos, is well known in Limassol’s industrial and construction sectors and together they intend to capture a significant part of the market of 750,000 tonnes a year that includes diesel, as well as heating and light fuel.

For now, neither StarOil nor BP, that has maintained a presence on the island through its East Mediterranean operations for aviation and marine fuels and lubricants, are keen to re-enter the retail motor fuels market, that accounts for a further 250,000 tons consumption a year. Thanks to the abolition of controls on the fuels market through the PNBS system whereby the state imposed prices on the petroleum companies, new entrants such as StarOil can benefit from low overheads such as cheap use of storage facilities, administration and transport wages based on local rates and the absence of investments worth several million needed to set up a network of petrol filling stations.

Another disadvantage facing the petroleum companies is that with increased profits, costs are also going up, Petrou said: “We are also using lowcost payment systems and a simple accounting program instead of multimillion centralized systems,” he said. “It is not the one-cent-per-litre difference we will charge our clients, but the enormous savings over an annual basis,” he added.

Although BP has not taken a direct stake in StarOil, Petrou who was president of BP Cyprus four years ago, said that the new company is taking advantage of all the marketing services and know how provided by BP EastMed in Nicosia.

Bahrain Manama, Sanad. Highway chaos over petrol leak May 2007 - A river of petrol washed across a major Bahrain highway after a

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Bapco tanker was punctured in a collision with two cars. The accident happened on the Al Estiqlal Highway, Sanad.

A section of the highway had to be cordoned off causing tailbacks for around an hour while emergency crews doused the petrol with foam normally used in oil spills, sources told the GDN. Firemen were able to prevent a major blaze and nobody was injured.

Romania, MOL: new restaurant concept for petrol stations in Romania MOL Romania, the local branch of the Hungarian petroleum group MOL, this year has begun a project entailing the construction of restaurants within its petrol stations with a high flow of customers.

The restaurants will be called Servus.

"The Servus brand is not connected to the stores in the petrol stations. It is a separate project and a new initiative for the MOL network: a non-stop restaurant, where customers can eat hot meals or order takeaway food. In MOL Servus, clients will also have access to wireless Internet services," stated representatives of MOL Romania. The strategy embraced by MOL is in line with the current trend of adapting petrol stations into service centres for customers. Apart from the Servus restaurant, other concepts currently on the market include Viva operated by Petrom, and OMV and Hei, which is under Rompetrol management.

Their services include hot food and beverages, as well as Internet access. " The MOL-project began this year, and so far there is just one Servus restaurant. We are thinking about launching this concept in popular transit locations," added the representatives of MOL.

Norway, First Hydrogen Fuelled Cars Two Statoil hydrogen-fuelled cars have been fitted with ‘HY’ (hydrogen) number plates by Liv Signe Navarsete, the Norwegian Transport Minister, allowing the cars to be legally driven on European roads.

Reportedly the first approved cars of their kind in Norway, the vehicles form part of Norway’s HyNor project. The project will make driving a hydrogenfulled vehicle between Stavanger and Oslo possible by 2009. In August 2006, 23

News Statoil opened its first Hydrogen Pump at is Forus Service Station near Stavanger.

Statoil’s two hydrogen-fulled cars will be linked in with the Forus HyNor Station. In June, nine further cars were linked in with the new HyNor Filling Station at Gronland, eastern Norway..

An additional two hydrogen-fuelled cars will become part of the Hytec Research Centre’s Filling Station in Trondheim next year.

Nederland, BP successfully operates first unmanned “BP Solo” petrol stations with Scheidt & Bachmann terminals Feb 2007 - Five pilot “BP Solo” petrol stations were successfully launched by BP Nederland.

The unmanned sites were equipped on the forecourt with Scheidt & Bachmann terminals to enable cashless payment.

The technical cabinet contains the petrol station management system (TMS). In total 11 double-paged and 2 one-sided CRIDS (Card Reader in Dispenser) enable the customer for fast and easy handling of payment for the fuelling. In regard to the central processing of the station data, BP Netherlands is operating the Network Management System (NMS), developed by Scheidt & Bachmann.

With the aid of the NMS the central office is provided with the transaction and accounting data of the connected petrol stations. Additionally, this data is used as basis for expressive statistics and diagrams for the customer. In addition to the aforementioned the NMS makes it possible to BP NL to manage the stored data from only one single point.

New Zealand, Promotion of Biofuels Affecting Global Crops Market The senior analyst for food and agribusiness Ingrid Richardson, Rabobank, said agricultural prices were increasingly volatile and supply and demand dynamics were moving.

Richardson was a keynote speaker at the World Seed Congress in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Grain prices were rising globally.

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Where grains were used for stockfeed consumers were already paying more, particularly in the United States, for chicken, beef and sugars and sweeteners.

Biofuels were only made viable by "serious" government support. They were not being produced because the economics made sense, but because of government policies. "It's not about viability, it's about politics."

Those supports came in a variety of forms, including subsidies, capital grants to build plants, compulsory sale obligations on oil and petrol retailers, and lower taxes for biofuels, Richardson said.

New Zealand had opted for simple sales obligations on oil companies to sell a small proportion of biofuels. New Zealand was not large enough to do large-scale canola growing for biodiesel production, she said.

State coal miner Solid Energy has plans to contract farmers to grow canola in North and South Canterbury and in Southland to produce 70 million tonnes of biodiesel a year in three years.

Richardson said between 70 per cent and 90% of the cost of biodiesel production was the feedstock. She considered tallow to be a more costeffective feedstock to produce biodiesel although, she said, the price of tallow was rising globally because of increased demand.

Nigeria, Tanker Deaths At least 98 people died in a petrol tanker explosion in the remote village of Katugal in North-Western Nigeria in late March. The victims were trying to scoop fuel gushing from a 33,000-litre petrol tanker that had tipped over. The Driver of the crashed tanker said that he had pleaded with people to stay away because of the danger.

Regulator News Consultation - Carbon Emissions Reduction Target April 2008 to March 2011 The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has launched this statutory consultation on the Government's proposals for the level and form of the Carbon Emissions Reduction Target (CERT) 2008-2011. It will be set by Government under the Gas Act 1986 and Electricity Act 1989 and will create a new Order – The

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Electricity and Gas (Carbon Emissions Reduction) Order 2007.

Introduction The CERT has the same underlying framework and purpose as the previously known Energy Efficiency Commitment 2008-11 (EEC3). It will have the additional flexibility allowed by the Climate Change and Sustainable Energy Act 2006 including microgeneration and behavioural measures. To reflect this, the CERT will be set in terms of lifetime carbon, rather than the previous fuel standardised lifetime discounted terawatt hour (TWh).

This consultation is published alongside a wide range of measures set out in the Energy White Paper, taking forward two long-term energy challenges, namely: • tackling climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions both within the UK and abroad • ensuring secure, clean and affordable energy as dependence on imported fuel increases.

Summary The Government proposes: • a target of lifetime savings of 42 million tonnes of carbon (MtC). This equates to an annual saving of about 1.1 MtC at the end of the programme, about double the level of activity under the EEC 2005-08 (EEC2) and at the highest end of the ambition suggested in the 2006 Climate Change Programme • the potential non-ongoing costs to consumers (if passed on in full by energy suppliers) are estimated to be around £97 over the three-year period. This nominal cost of the CERT 2008-11 is slightly more than double that of the current EEC 20052008 in real terms. The average annual ongoing benefit to consumers in terms of lower energy bills or increased comfort would be around £31 a year for the lifetime of the measures. These benefits will continue for many years (in some cases several decades) beyond the CERT period • a requirement for 40% of the target to be delivered from a priority group aimed at low-income consumers, supporting statutory fuel poverty objectives, together with new options for the way suppliers meet this obligation • introduction of a new route for demonstration, innovative new approaches and market transformation activities.

News The consultation includes the draft Statutory Order in Annex 2 and a partial Regulatory Impact Assessment examining costs and benefits of the various options in Annex 1.

After considering the responses to this consultation, the Government will lay the Order before Parliament in the autumn so that the CERT could commence in April 2008.

Comments on the proposals should be sent by 15 August 2007 (before 1 August 2007) to: Gill Hulatt Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs Zone 3/G16 Ashdown House 123 Victoria Street London SW1E 6DE e-mail: cert2007consultation@defra.gsi.gov.uk

New Enforcement Drive for Council Regulators According to the Cabinet Office, Local Authority Regulators are set to benefit from a new package of powers and support as Government steps up its drive for better regulation.

Council staff responsible for enforcing trading standards, environmental health and alcohol and gambling licensing legislation will be among the main beneficiaries of the recent announcement from the Cabinet Office, which comprises: • publication of the draft Regulatory and Enforcement Sanctions Bill, which paves the way for a more flexible and targeted approach to dealing with those firms that put lives and safety at risk • a major step forward with the Local Better Regulation Office, which has recently been established as a company and announced its management board. It will be up and running by the autumn supporting local authorities in making regulation simpler and more effective • consultation on the final, revised draft of Regulators Compliance Code following feedback from local authority representatives.

The measures will help local authorities deliver on challenges set out in the Local Government White Paper, including greater collaboration across council boundaries and transforming operations to meet the needs of service users.

Around 410 local authorities carry out

an estimated 80% of all business inspections and it is claimed that the moves will potentially save firms in England and Wales an estimated £64 million in unnecessary compliance costs.

The Better Regulation Office (LBRO) will work with local authorities to help identify and spread best practice by issuing guidance to regulators. It will also arbitrate in disputes between local authorities about enforcement action against multi-site businesses.

LBRO has initially been set up as a private limited company to enable it to start work sooner – having already appointed a Chair, Chief Executive and Board, it should be operational by the end of 2007. Based in Birmingham, it will work with local authority trading standards and environmental health services to help identify and spread best practice.

The Regulators' Compliance Code has been drafted as a statutory code of practice and will impact on local authority regulatory work on trading standards, environmental health and licensing. It covers seven areas: • • • • • • •

risk assessment inspection data requirements handling suspect breaches advice supporting economic progress accountability

A first draft was consulted on in 2006 and this final version takes account of feedback from regulators. Government plans to enact the code in autumn 2007 and have it come into force on 1 April 2008.

Cabinet Office 15 May 2007

UK, Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road - Guidance The Department for Transport (DfT) has issued guidance on the Transport of Dangerous Goods by Road Regulations. It aims to help those involved in the transport of dangerous goods.

Background The transport of Dangerous Goods by Road in the UK is governed by the Great Britain regulations (and parallel regulations in Northern Ireland): • Statutory Instrument 2004 No.568: The Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment Regulations 2004 • Statutory Instrument 2005 No.1732:

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The Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment (Amendment) Regulations 2005.

These Regulations are based on the 2-volume European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (‘ADR’), published by the United Nations.The guidance note refers to the Dangerous Goods List in ADR, advising in particular on column 7 (whether goods can be transported as ‘Limited Quantities’ (LQ)), and on Load Thresholds. Other issues covered include: • documentation and tremcards • ADR licences • carrying dangerous goods via other modes of transport • dangerous goods safety adviser • fire extinguishers.

The guidance note can be downloaded in full from:http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/freight/d gt1/publications/notes/dftdgguidanceno te13DfT Dangerous Goods Division Guidance Note 13 May 2007

Draft Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill A draft Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill has been laid before Parliament. This proposed legislation will become the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008.

The draft Bill is accompanied by explanatory notes and forms part of the Government’s drive to achieve better regulation. It gives local authorities new and more flexible regulatory powers to target poor performing businesses where safety and lives are put at risk. It also introduces the Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO).

The departments benefiting from the new powers are expected to be those enforcing environmental health, trading standards and gambling licensing legislation. Part 1 of the Bill extends to England and Wales only. Part 2 of the Bill extends to England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Background The 2005 Hampton Review, Reducing Administrative Burdens: Effective Inspection and Enforcement 27

News identified that good practice in UK regulation could be improved by more effective priority setting by central government, national co-ordination between Government departments and local regulators, plus consistency in risk assessment and enforcement between local authorities. The Review visualised a risk-based approach to regulation and enforcement with the emphasis on proportionality.

The 2006 Macrory Review (Regulatory justice: Making sanctions effective) went on to highlight enforcement inconsistencies and a lack of flexibility in powers available to regulators. The Review recommended a more flexible toolkit of enforcement powers (enabling local regulators to tackle non-compliance in a proportionate and targeted way) with the avoidance of an over emphasis on criminal prosecution.

Key proposals The draft Bill formally introduces a risk based approach to enforcement and better co-ordination between local authorities who deal with national businesses. The existing Home and Lead Authority principles will be put on a statutory footing.

The Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) is established as a limited company (based in Birmingham) which, subject to the Bill becoming law, will become a statutory authority. The LBRO’s role will be to help local authorities by making regulation simpler and more effective; by identifying and spreading best practice as well as issuing guidance to regulators.

The LBRO will arbitrate in disputes between local authorities about enforcement action against multi-site businesses. It will also be empowered to provide financial support to local authorities in relation to the exercise of their relevant functions eg where a local authority, due to resourcing constraints, is reluctant to agree to act as primary authority.

A list of enforcement priorities will be prepared and published by LBRO indicating to which areas local authorities should give priority in allocating resources. Local authorities will be required to have regard to the list of priorities when determining resource allocations.

Whilst LBRO is intended to operate free from Ministerial interference in its day to day affairs, the Minister for the Cabinet Office may issue guidance to the organisation.

The draft Bill introduces alternatives to criminal prosecution and these include: • fixed monetary penalties • discretionary requirements – these are equivalent to what the Macrory 28

Report called variable monetary penalties, statutory notices and ‘undertakings plus’

compliant actions of the defaulter are also proposed (including payment of money).

•

Conclusion The draft Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill will encourage more consistent, targeted and effective regulatory enforcement through the establishment of the Local Better Regulation Office and by virtue of enabling Ministers to confer new civil sanctioning powers on regulators. The emphasis is on regulators taking a proportionate and risk-based approach to the enforcement of regulation.

enforcement undertakings.

A local authority must (with very limited exceptions) secure the consent of the primary authority before taking enforcement against a regulated person action in respect of a breach of a regulatory requirement.

Any disagreement means the matter may be referred to the LBRO. The regulated person also has redress to the LBRO.Powers are introduced to enable regulators to require permanent cessation of activity through the use of a notice (‘permanent cessation notice’).

This could be applied to a manufacturing process, use of a particular piece of equipment, or sale of a particular product. To justify service of such a notice the regulator must be satisfied that the defaulter is carrying on an activity in such a way as to present a significant risk of serious harm to human health or the environment (including the health of animals or plants), that the defaulter is committing a relevant offence in carrying on that activity in that way; and the defaulter has previously been convicted of that offence.Regulators will also be able to require temporary cessation of activity and require a defaulter to cease an activity for a period specified by the regulator through the use of a notice (‘temporary cessation notice’). The regulator will only be able to serve a temporary cessation notice when it has reasonable grounds to suspect that the defaulter, in performing that activity, presents a significant risk of serious harm to: • human health • the environment (including the health of animals and plants); or • the financial interests of consumers • the defaulter is committing a relevant offence in performing that activity The Bill introduces the concept of the E n f o r c e m e n t Undertaking which is intended to encourage remedial action(s) on the part of the defaulter to restore the position, as far as possible, to what it would have been had the offence not taken place. Actions that benefit any person affected by the non-

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The document can be located in full on the Cabinet Office web site at:http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/regul ation/documents/enforce_sanct/res_dr aft_bill.pdf Comments on the Bill can be submitted on-line at:http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/regul ation/enforcement_sanctions_bill Alternatively feedback can be sent by email to: resbill@cabinetoffice.x.gsi.gov.uk or sent to, RES Bill Team, Better Regulation Executive 5th floor, 22 Whitehall London SW1A 2WH. Comments must be received by Wednesday 15 August 2007.Cm 7083 ISBN 978-0-10-170832-6 May 2007

Outgoing SELCOG Chairman Steve Rowe The outgoing SELCOG Chairman Steve Rowe, Surrey CC Trading Standards who has served 8 years at the helm and leaves for a new life in South Africa. He is being presented with a token from SELCOG Colleagues by incoming Chairman David Sommers of Hampshire CC Trading Standards at a recent meeting.

News

Press Releases Hytek- Keeping you up to speed!

Hytek are launching a brand new range of wall mounted and IBC mounted pump kits which are compatible with biodiesel and with the Government committed to reaching EU targets which require 5.75% usage of biofuels by 2010, this is good news.

separate booklet detailing some of the products which are compatible with biodiesel. These are suitable for you to mail to your customers and have space to add your contact details. No Hytek contact details are present. For your free copies please freefax Hytek on 0800 387109 quoting how many you require.

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Hampshire County Council Trading Standards Service has just announced the signing of a Lead Authority Partnership with the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA).

Nick Thomas appointed president of UKPIA Nick Thomas, Director of Corporate Affairs UK & Ireland for ExxonMobil, has been appointed President of the UK Petroleum Industry Association, the trade association representing the nine main oil refiners in the UK. He succeeds the outgoing President John Lynn of Chevron.

The IBC pump kit provides a fast and efficient way to empty an IBC. With a specifically designed bracket, the IBC mounted pump kit is easily moved from IBC to IBC. It can be padlocked for security for the duration that it is needed and is completely compatible with the environmentally friendly, alternative fuel biodiesel.

Hytek’s Project Manager, Robert Davey said, “We have been working closely with our customers who refine biodiesel for over a year now, we have been able to investigate the fuel’s properties and applications to determine compatible equipment with first hand knowledge.”

Also available are various biodiesel compatible filters, hoses and nozzles. In fact, following extensive research and testing, most of the equipment supplied

by Hytek is suitable for use with biodiesel providing it is refined to the European Standard EN14214.

Technical Sales Co-ordinator at Hytek, Adrian Holyomes said, “We have checked the chemical compatibility of all our products with biodiesel so that we are able to inform our customers of the wide range of equipment that is suitable.”

Keen to ensure that everyone is kept up to speed, Hytek have produced a

Trading Standards Partners Business

Nick Thomas has over 30 years of experience working in the oil industry.

He joined Esso UK in 1970 as an economist and worked in a number of assignments including marketing, supply and planning.

In early 2000, he was appointed to the position of International Government Relations Co-ordinator in the Public Affairs Department of ExxonMobil's headquarters in Dallas, Texas. In October 2000 he was appointed as Public Affairs Manager for the Esso and Mobil Companies in Australia, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Pacific Islands.

Nick returned to the UK in July 2003 to take up his appointment as Director Corporate Affairs, UK & Ireland. based at ExxonMobil's head office in Leatherhead, Surrey.

He also chairs the British American Business Inc (BABi) Energy Forum and is a member of the CBI South East Committee.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

The Petrol Retailers Association looks after the interests of independent petrol retailers, who operate a wide range of retail operations including motorway service areas, many of the smaller supermarkets and single petrol stations, including small village garage businesses. The PRA looks after the business interests as well as health & safety and environmental concerns of its members. It provides practical sitespecific advice, as well as national business support benefits. The PRA also represents the views of its members to Government.

The introduction of a Lead Authority Partnership Scheme between the PRA and the county council will make provide a single point of contact and encourage a good working relationship for both parties.

Hampshire County Council will provide advice and guidance on petroleum legal matters through a specialist Petroleum Trading Standards Officer as a point of contact, regularly meet with the PRA to achieve uniformity of compliance standards and enforcement action across the country on the laws relating to filling station and the safe keeping and sale of petrol.

“We believe strongly in the principles of Lead Authority partnerships which involve building productive, sustainable working relationships with businesses” said Assistant Head of Regulatory Services Phil Thomas. “It is imperative for organisations such as the PRA to be able to rely on uniformity from regulators. By communicating through the Lead Authority Partnership, we aim to ensure uniformity and consistency of approach on all relevant legislative matters."

More information about such partnership agreements is available from Phil Thomas on 01962 833676.

Articles

APEA 2007 AGM, Conference, Exhibition and Awards Dinner October 11th sees the APEA open its doors for its annual conference, exhibition and awards dinner at Telford International Centre.

APEA 2007 will kick off with a bang on the 11th October with a keynote presentation from Dr Liam Fox, Shadow Defence Minister.

The morning session will focus on retail issues and their impact on both the operator and the regulator.

Retail trends, petrol station design and outdoor payment systems will be looked at in turn by a panel of experts. Arthur Renshaw from Catalist will set the scene and provide food for thought in his presentation on the future of the UK retail market. This will be followed by David Davis from Minale Tattersfield who will look at petrol station design and how to combine the aesthetic with the functional.

A presentation from Marcus Pomp from Germany’s Scheidt & Bachmann will then examine whether outdoor payment systems are a customer service or an opportunity lost.

Fuels in the Environment, an immensely topical subject will be covered by Stephen Moule of Gilbarco Veeder-Root.

Group Captain Nigel Arnold from the Defence Fuels Group will provide an interesting overview into how the MOD differs from the commercial sector in terms of providing fuel safety. And finally we find out the truth behind the contamination crisis and how enforcement authorities handled motorists’ concerns and journalists’ hunger for a scoop. Martin Williams at Kent County Council will give the view from the Local Authority.

Organisers, Downstream Events, expect over 300 delegates to the conference covering the entire spectrum of the APEA membership from oil companies, independent retailers and supermarkets to local authorities, contractors and equipment suppliers. Says Bob Conlin, Chairman of the APEA, “The event is one day in the year that brings every corner of the industry together for a day of learning and networking.

It’s an effective way of finding out about what’s new in the market and catching up with colleagues.”

IF you haven’t already booked your delegate place please contact roz@downstream-events.com. Places are £35.00 per person which includes all conference sessions, exhibition visit, working lunch, free parking and event directory.

Increase Your CPD Allocation…

Gilbarco proud to sponsor conference for 2nd time….

“Gilbarco Veeder-Root is once again proud to be associated with the APEA by sponsoring its annual conference. We fully appreciate the importance of communication to inform and learn from all the different groups that shape our industry. By pulling together individuals from oil companies, local authorities, supermarkets, retailers and the supplier community, the APEA conference is key to facilitating this.” Stephen Richards, UK Regional Sales Director, Gilbarco Veeder-Root

Delegates attending the APEA 2007 Conference will be awarded 5 Continued Professional Development Hours.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

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Articles

Event Programme at a Glance 0930

AGM Registration

0945

AGM

1000

Exhibition opens

1100

Conference Opening Bob Conlin, Chairman, APEA

1105

Keynote Address Dr Liam Fox MP, Shadow Defence Secretary

1115

Fuelling the New Customer - knowing the customers who visit our forecourts and changing to meet their needs Arthur Renshaw, Catalist

1135

Petrol Station Design - A compromise between the functional and decorative world David Davis, Minale Tattersfield

1155

Unattended Self Service: Customer Convenience or an Opportunity Lost?

Marcus Pomp, Scheidt & Bachmann

1215

Q&A Session

1230

Exhibition & Lunch

1415

The Environment and Our Industry Stephen Moule, Gilbarco Veeder-Root

1430

Fuelling Defence – Managing Safety in an Unsafe World Group. Captain Nigel Arnold, Defence Fuels Group, MOD

1450

Panic at the Pump. Fuel Contamination: an Ongoing Nightmare Martin Williams, Kent County Council

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1515

Q&A session

1530

Exhibition & Tea

1630

Exhibition Closes

1915

Pre- Dinner Drinks sponsored by

2000

Awards Dinner with entertainment sponsored by

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

Articles

TOP SPEAKER LINE UP AT APEA 07….

Dr Liam Fox MP

Group Captain, Nigel Arnold, Defence Fuels Group, MOD

Arthur Renshaw, Catalist

Stephen Moule, Gilbarco Vedder-Root

David Davis, Minale Tattersfield

Marcus Pomp, Scheidt & Bachmann

Over 45 companies to meet at APEA 2007 ABFAD Ltd

Fafnir GmbH

Orbital Maintenance Services Ltd

Adler & Allan

Fairbanks Environmental

PFS Ltd

Cookson & Zinn (PTL) Ltd

Franklin Fueling Systems

Petroman Environmental Services Ltd

D Berry & Co

Gilbarco Veeder-Root

PetroTechnik Ltd

David Plumb

Global MSI plc

Risbridger Ltd

David McLean Contractors Ltd

GMAP Consulting

Dresser Wayne Pignone

Goodyear

Dürr Technik GmbH

Graphite UK Ltd

Durapipe

Htec

E&S Environmental Services Ltd

Hytek (GB) Ltd

EFS UK Ltd

Indigo Retail

Tanknology (UK) Ltd

Edensure

King Tanktechnik Ltd

Terence Barker Ltd

Environ Europe Ltd

LCM Environmental Ltd

Torex Retail Petroleum & Convenience

Elaflex Ltd

Ledbury Welding

Tokheim UK Ltd

Eurotank Environmental Ltd

OAMPS (UK) Ltd

Toureen Mangan

Roncol Services Ltd STC-Norway Scheidt & Bachmann GmbH Suresite Ltd

And if you need somewhere to lay your head….

Over 600 rooms of varying budget ranges have been reserved for APEA delegates within a 10 minute drive of the conference centre. There are 3 hotels onsite – The Holiday Inn, The International Hotel and Greys. Rooms are being snapped up fast so early booking is advisable.

To reserve your rooms for the event please contact: Event Links on 01952 281 561 and quote APEA 2007 Telford is easy to reach from all parts of the UK. For detailed directions to Telford International Centre, simply visit www.tic.co.uk. The organisers have provided free parking for all visitors to the event.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

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Articles

What’s on Show…?

Revive Your Storage Tanks & Conform To Current Legislation with ABFAD… First time exhibitors ABFAD will be showcasing FUELVAC™ its patented tank lining system installed into existing/new storage tanks (Steel, FRP/GRP & Concrete) above or below ground and tailor made to customer requirements. Systems include a Double Skin lining with a continuously monitored interstitial space, incorporating a class 1 vacuum leak detection system with an integrated vacuum generator.

New BP Contract for Adler and Allan Oil and environmental services group Adler and Allan are very pleased to announce a new contract award from BP Logistics to cover Oil Spill Response nationwide. The contract means A&A will be working closely with BP Logistics teams in support of any emergency works across the UK. The win reinforces Adler and Allan’s nationwide capabilities, customer service excellence and is a just reward for high levels of professionalism and compliance.

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The OAMPS team is looking forward to meeting visitors to its stand at APEA 2007.

eliminates dangerous shock pressures within the tank.

Other product innovations on display will be the RIS-FLANGE system, designed to eliminate large threaded joints and minimise the number of connections inside the man chamber.

The swivel joint at the base of each tank lid allows easy rotation through 360 degrees for alignment with any containment box face. These features combine to reduce leak paths in the man chamber.

FAFNIR to showcase sensor technology for petrol stations The German sensor manufacturer, FAFNIR GmbH will be showcasing highly innovative sensor technology for

Adler and Allan were recently involved in the fuel uplift crisis, handling over 3 million litres of contaminated fuel for Tesco, Morrison and Asda during March of this year. Under extremely tight deadlines and working round the clock schedules, A&A were able to assist almost all of the major supermarket chain suppliers in the UK and turnaround all stocks within the month.

environmental protection at petrol stations.

Alongside tried and tested products, VAPORIX and VISY-X, this year’s product highlight will be the new field display for continuous level sensors, UM-X. This innovative product continuously indicates filling levels of liquids whilst at the same time, safeguards against overfilling.

New Products from Risbridger The company plans to display its comprehensive range of petrol forecourt valves and fittings including; vapour recovery and vapour prevention equipment, PV valves, under pump valves, overfill prevention devices and stage 2 vapour line shear valves.

Visitors can also see its new vent level limiter device, which is supplied as an alternative to conventional ball float valves. This valve is designed to prevent cross over contamination across vent manifolds and incorporates a progressive shut off action which

Specialist Insurer to the Forecourt Industry OAMPS has been providing insurance and support services to companies in the petrochemical/high hazard sector for more than 20 years and has built up a wealth of experience and knowledge that continues to benefit its clients.

The company strongly believes in establishing and maintaining long term commercial relationships with its clients – and as such, offers full support and advice on all areas of protection, training and risk management.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

Preventative Maintenance from Roncol Services Steve Devine and Sadie Clarke of Roncol Services & DrillSafe UK are looking forward to meeting you at APEA 2007 where they will be promoting comprehensive maintenance contracts & preventative maintenance.

Roncol Services provides new & refurbished pumps, installation, stamping, design, commissioning, maintenance and repair services supported by a dedicated team of skilled engineers.

DrillSafe UK - a division of Roncol Services – will outline its involvement with the Stage 2 Vapour Recovery projects.

Steve and Sadie will also be promoting the Visy-Gauge, a simple to install, precision tank contents monitoring system.

Torex Retail P & C to exhibit at APEA 2007 Leading technology and project management provider to the convenience and petroleum sectors, Torex Retail is proud to be sponsoring the Quality Award at this year’s APEA on 11th October 2007.

Torex will also be exhibiting a whole host of innovative solutions at this year’s APEA including the revolutionary CleanAIR solution which will be demonstrated on stand with expert advice from Torex’s P & C team. The CleanAIR solution captures and recycles petrol vapour that evaporates when fuel is dispensed into a vehicle and will help forecourt operators comply with environmental legislation and save money.

New website launch for D. Berry & Co D. Berry & Co will be previewing the launch of its all singing and dancing new Web Site at APEA 2007. After decades of working in the petroleum industry and the success of specialist products such as the ‘ATLAS’ system and ‘EASY RISER’ and the recently developed ‘MONO’ system, the time has come to move on from the typical mundane web sites which have become the norm, to a web site that features a very wide range of products, which can be accessed and purchased through our vast interactive and e-commerce section.

Tank testing and leak detection, inspection of road tanker vehicles and mobile tank cleaning systems will be the features of new APEA exhibitor E&S

Articles Environmental Services on stand 42.

Meet E&S Environmental Services on stand 42.

On stand 49 Elaflex will be showing its ZVA family of automatic nozzles and safety breaks. The “ZVA Slimline” has a stainless steel tipped spout. The W&M approved ZVA Drip Stop has a special valve to reduce diesel contamination. The ZVA AdBlue nozzle has a unique spout to prevent misfuellings. With the ZVA Slimline you can also dispense Ethanol and Bio diesel.

help and support throughout the project - and the monitoring has already proved its worth!: At Harry Tuffins Supermarkets, Ludlow, Tokheim has fitted the most technologically advanced Stage 2 Vapour Recovery systems available.

Paul Delves, Managing Director: “We are a community retailer who likes to be involved in the welfare of our local area and wanted to do everything possible to protect the environment. So we made our choice – Tokheim, and their ECVRSCS solution – it is completely hassle free, and the only system we felt confident would offer the best protection.

These systems are designed to capture the fuel vapours at the point of filling your vehicle - and to take them safely back to the underground tank hence not allowing these volatile vapours to escape to the atmosphere and therefore protecting the Environment as well as protecting our customers, staff and general public”.

Amongst many new and existing products from fuelling and equipment specialist Hytek, a range of stage 2 vapour recovery nozzles and hoses will be on display. As the only UK distributor of UPP pipe work, the company will show their new stainless steel end fittings, suitable for use with Adblue and aviation fuel. Visitors can peruse a

Elaflex’s ZVA GR with new vapour spout 2001 with Coax hose Fuel Storage and Pollution Control Equipment Suppliers PFS Ltd can be found on stand 8 showcasing its range of pipe work, valves, and leak detection systems to the fuel storage industry that are designed to protect the Environment from the accidental spillage or leaks of hydrocarbons.

Ground-breaking Technological Advances from Tokheim Tokheim UK will be educating the market on ground-breaking technological advances in the following technology: • Standard Temperature Accounting • Integrated, wide angled Vidium multimedia technology • Intelligent, integrated self calibrating vapour recovery solutions for the 21st century forecourt environment • Ultra secure Crypto VGA payment solutions • Industry leading, guaranteed contamination resistant Adblue solutions • FuelPOS The company offers powerful testimonials from some of its clients.

Says Alastair Haigh of Tates Limited: “Tokheim carried out a first class installation at our new site in Shrewsbury and provided excellent

Limited will show for the first time its new line of steel manhole covers. The company will also be promoting its pipe GeoFlex Classic for Ad Blue applications and alternative fuels.

Environ Europe is also proud to announce that it has been awarded BS EN 9001:2000 and BS EN14001:2004 for its quality and environmental management system.

New Exhibitor from Germany, Scheidt & Bachmann GmbH will be on hand on stand 39 to talk through its experiences in planning the unmanned BP Solo sites in The Netherlands.

BP Solo Site in The Netherlands Among the innovations on its stand Dresser Wayne will be showing Ovation – its new fuel dispenser.

Dresser Wayne was the first to introduce self-service consoles and fuel blending dispensers to service stations, in-pump card readers and cash acceptors, in-pump radio frequency identification payments systems and dispenser-mounted touch screen payment/communication systems.

selection of test measure cans - ideal for checking forecourt pumps. Hytek also offers a wide range of equipment suitable for use with bio diesel, including hoses, valves and sealants.

At

the

event

Environ

Europe

One of Environ Europe’s new line of steel manhole covers to be shown for the first time at APEA 2007

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

Dresser’s Ovation Supervault sales development continues.

Recognising the benefits of aboveground storage, Ledbury Welding & Engineering committed its resources to the licensed manufacturing of the Supervault.

With two concentric skins of steel (made of lightweight thermal concrete), the Supervault achieves true secondary containment. It's manufactured in rectangular and horizontal cylindrical format and can be compartmented for different fuels. The Supervault MH can be re-located and made operational again within hours. It's already installed in over 60 UK sites.

35

Articles German company Dürr Technik, will

versions of the MEX pumps: a) belt

Fast-growing IT company, Indigo

be exhibiting its oil-free compressors

driven pump 0831-11/600 and b) direct

Retail will be demonstrating a range of

and vacuum pumps, the piston pump

driven

vapour

its products, including Pos camera

MEX, especially developed for Vapour

recovery pumps from Dürr Technik are

control – remotely access to the Pos in

Recovery Systems Phase II mounted in

type approved according to the directive

seconds and .net head office – a web

the dispensers. Dürr Technik offers two

94/9/EC (ATEX).

browser head office system.

version

0544.

All

Awards now in 2nd year........

The Awards Scheme is now into its second year and the Association is delighted to welcome back all four sponsoring companies from 2006, Shell, Toureen Mangan, Torex Retail and TOTAL. New for 2007 is an Award that acknowledges Personal Contribution to the Industry and is sponsored by Elaflex.

Winning companies at APEA 2006: Health Safety & Environment Award:Broham Forecourt Development Innovation Award: Cookson & Zinn

Presentation of the Awards forms the highlight of the Dinner – and the industry is once again looking forward to a highly charged evening! Nearly 550 guests have already booked their place, so be sure to reserve your place as soon as possible. Dinner places are £75 per person and a few remaining tables of 10 and 12 are available. Contact roz@downstream-events.com to make your booking.

Shell – sponsor of the Health Safety & Environment Award “Shell’s sponsorship of the Award underlines our commitment to our three Golden Rules that provide a framework for how staff and contractors must behave in every operation and activity to achieve further improvements in HSE performance”. Michael Hunt, Shell’s Retail HSS Advisor Toureen Mangan – sponsor of the Innovation Award Says Daniel Nolan, Director, Toureen Mangan: “Innovation is the development of new and exciting ideas to bring about improvements to tried and tested practices. At Toureen Mangan, we recognise that our business success has been built upon providing clients with innovative solutions and we are proud to be associated with the APEA 2007 Innovation Award”.

Quality Award: Eurotank Environmental

Broham Forecourt Development

Cookson & Zinn

Torex Retail – sponsor of the Quality Award “We’re delighted to be sponsoring the APEA Quality Award. Pursuing excellence has brought us many rewards which is why we set such a high premium on quality as a means of ensuring business success” Richard Quarmby, Managing Director, Torex Petroleum & Convenience

TOTAL – sponsor of the Customer Service Award “Customer Service is at the heart of everything we do which is why we’re proud to sponsor the APEA Customer Service Award”.Richard Chadderton, Property Services Manager, TOTAL UK Ltd Elaflex – sponsor of the Personal Contribution to Industry Award “Elaflex is delighted to be supporting an Award that recognises a personal contribution to the Industry. The Award will acknowledge an individual’s dedication and drive to improve standards and engineering practice”.

Anton Martiniussen, Elaflex 36

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

Eurotank Environmental

Adler and Allan

Articles THE ASSOCIATION FOR PETROLEUM AND EXPLOSIVES ADMINISTRATION

Company Number: 2261660

ABBREVIATED ACCOUNTS

For the year ended 31 December 2006

I N D E X (page 1) Page No: 1

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR’S REPORT TO THE COMPANY

2

ABBREVIATED BALANCE SHEET

3/4 NOTES TO THE ABBREVIATED ACCOUNTS

INDEPENDENT AUDITOR'S REPORT TO THE ASSOCIATION FOR PETROLEUM AND EXPLOSIVES ADMINISTRATION UNDER SECTION 247B OF THE COMPANIES ACT 1985 We have examined the abbreviated accounts set out on pages 2 to 4, together with the financial statements of The Association for Petroleum and Explosives Administration for the year ended 31 December 2006 prepared under Section 226 of the Companies Act 1985.

This report is made solely to the company, in accordance with Section 247B of the Companies Act 1985. Our work has been undertaken so that we might state to the company those matters we are required to state to it in a special auditor's report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume responsibility to anyone other than the company for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.

RESPECTIVE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE DIRECTORS AND THE AUDITOR The directors are responsible for preparing the abbreviated accounts in accordance with Section 246 of the Companies Act 1985.

It is our responsibility to form an independent opinion as to whether the company is entitled to deliver abbreviated accounts prepared in accordance with Sections 246(5) and (6) of the Act to the Registrar of Companies and whether the accounts to be delivered are properly prepared in accordance with those provisions and report our opinion to you.

BASIS OF OPINION We have conducted our work in accordance with Bulletin 2006/3 “The special auditor’s report on abbreviated accounts in the United Kingdom” issued by the Auditing Practices Board. In accordance with that Bulletin we have carried out the procedures we consider necessary to confirm, by reference to the financial statements, that the company is entitled to deliver abbreviated accounts and that the abbreviated accounts to be delivered are properly prepared. The scope of our work for the purpose of this report did not include examining or dealing with events after the date of our report on the financial statements.

OPINION In our opinion the company is entitled to deliver abbreviated accounts prepared in accordance with Sections 246(5) and (6) of the Companies Act 1985, and the abbreviated accounts have been properly prepared in accordance with that provision.

ENSORS Chartered Accountants & Registered Auditors 46 St Nicholas Street IPSWICH IP1 1TT 25 July 2007

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

37

Articles ABBREVIATED BALANCE SHEET (page 2)

As at 31 December 2006 Note

2006 £

2005 £

2

1,206

1,698

62,241

51,141

228,255

210,001

260,496

261,142

93,264

94,090

NET CURRENT ASSETS

197,232

167,052

NET ASSETS

198,438

168,750

8,840

8,840

Profit and loss account

189,598

159,909

MEMBERS’ FUNDS

198,438

168,749

FIXED ASSETS Tangible Assets

CURRENT ASSETS Debtors Cash at bank and in hand

CREDITORS: amounts falling due within one year

CAPITAL AND RESERVES Capital reserve

These abbreviated accounts have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions for small companies under Part VII of the Companies Act 1985.

Approved by the board on 1 February 2007 and signed on its behalf:

M J Silmon Director

The notes on pages 3 and 4 form part of these financial statements.

38

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

APEA to Celebrate 50th Anniversary In 2008, the Association for Petroleum & Explosives Administration will be 50 years old and we are planning for our Conference, Exhibition and Dinner. We will be assisted by Downstream Events who have helped us to gain new heights in our annual event and they again will be on hand in supporting what promises to be a fantastic time for all our members.

To commemorate the anniversary we shall be looking back over the past 50 years and reflect on what has happened in the downstream petroleum industry over this time. When you think of the rise and fall in the number of Petrol Filling Stations and the market place where they exist now is vastly different. The way they operate, the way they are legally controlled and the items offered for sale have changed dramatically over the last half century.

To demonstrate this we need your help.

Do you have any old photographs? Do you have any memorabilia from yesterday like the old lighted pump heads displaying the logos of the oil companies? Do you have any tales to tell that you may remember? Were you a Regulator years ago and how did you find the job then?

If you have worked outside the UK what was it like in your country, did you have petroleum laws and standards to work to? Do you have any of those funny moments that you can share with us?

42

As Editor of the Bulletin I have decided to make the September 2008 issue the special commemorative issue so any written submissions on our history or letters will be reserved for that particular edition We want this to be your celebration and we would like to see as many members as possible involved in some manner. So to get involved give one of us a call or e-mail to discuss what is it you have We are going to have some fun next year - so get involved.

Brian Baker APEA Bulletin Editor Direct:+44 (0) 1908 252332 Mobile: +44 (0) 7932 785 166 Fax: +44 (0) 1908 252319 e-mail: brian@brianbaker.plus.com Emma Faure or Fiona Horan Downstream Events Direct: +44 (020) 8932 4505 Mobile: +44 07788453007/+44 07879684010 e-mail: emma@downstream-events.com fiona@downstream-events.com

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

Articles NOTES TO THE ABBREVIATED ACCOUNTS (page 3) For the year ended 31 December 2006

1.

ACCOUNTING POLICIES

a)

Basis of Accounting The financial statements are prepared under the historical cost convention and in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard for Small Entities (effective January 2005).

b)

Tangible Fixed Assets Depreciation is provided at the following annual rates in order to write off the cost of each asset over its estimated useful life: Computer and Office Equipment Fixtures and Fittings

– 33 1/3% on cost – 25% Reducing Balance

c)

Foreign Currencies Assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated at the rate of exchange ruling at the balance sheet date. Transactions in foreign currencies are translated at the rate ruling at the date of the transaction. All differences are taken to the profit and loss account.

d)

Cash Flow Statement The company qualifies as a small company under the Companies Act 1985. The directors have elected to take advantage of the exemption under FRS1 not to prepare a cash flow statement.

e)

Financial instruments Financial instruments are classified and accounted for, according to the substance of the contractural arrangement, as either financial assets, financial liabilities or equity instruments. An equity instrument is any contract that evidences a residual interest in the assets of the company after deducting all of its liabilities.

NOTES TO THE ABBREVIAED ACCOUNTS (page 4) For the year ended 31 December 2006

2.

TANGIBLE FIXED ASSETS Computer & Office Equip £

3.

Fixtures & Fittings £

Total £

Cost At 1 January 2006 Additions Disposals At 31 December 2006

19,558 (14,439) 5,119

4,938 4,938

24,496 (14,439) 10,057

Depreciation At 1 January 2006 Charge for the year Disposals At 31 December 2006

18,739 272 (14,439) 4,572

4,059 220 4,279

22,798 492 (14,439) 8,851

Net Book Value At 31 December 2006 At 31 December 2005

547 819

659 879

206 1,698

COMPANY LIMITED BY GUARANTEE The company is limited by guarantee. In the event of the company being wound up, each member has undertaken to contribute such amount as may be required, but not exceeding £1, to the assets of the company.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

43

Articles

PETEL Circulars – Current List • LAC Number: 65/5. Fees for Petrol

• LAC Number: 65/33. Status of HSE's

Licences: Health And Safety (Fees)

guidance

Regulations 2002

following the introduction of the

document

HS(G)41

APEA/IP guidance document • LAC

Number:

65/7.

entry into domestic property

compartment deliveries • LAC number 65/52. Demarcation

Petroleum

Licensing Authorities - powers of

• LAC number 65/50. Guidance on split

guidelines for vehicle recycling sites • LAC Number: 65/34. Leak detection in tanks and pipework

• LAC number 65/54. Petrol filling stations - autogas installations

• LAC Number: 65/8. Used petrol dispensers

• LAC Number: 65/38. Lead authority partnership scheme: London fire & emergency planning authority and

• LAC Number: 65/9. Portable petrol

stations and autogas installations

Tesco stores limited

containers • LAC

• LAC number 65/54a. Petrol filling

• LAC number 65/55. Petrol filling

Number:

65/18.

Electrical

isolation of petrol dispensers

• LAC Number: 65/39. Petrol filling

stations - safety implications of

stations - road tanker deliveries -

leaking drop tubes & vapour retention

ignition of petrol vapour by thermite

device

reaction • LAC Number: 65/19. Disused petrol • LAC

tanks

• LAC Number: 65/39b. Petrol filling

• LAC Number: 65/19a. Disused petrol tanks - to be read in conjunction with PETEL 65/19 • LAC Number: 65/21. The Carriage Of Dangerous

Goods

By

Road

Regulations 1996: approved tank requirements API bottom loading adaptors • LAC Number: 65/23. Lead authority partnership scheme: the petroleum (consolidation) act 1928: Asda stores

stations - road tanker deliveries -

number

65/56.

Petroleum

enforcement - current local authority partnership schemes (laps)

ignition of petrol vapour by thermite reaction

• LAC number 65/57. Surrey county

• LAC Number: 65/41. The petroleum (liquid methane) order 1957 • LAC Number: 65/44. Modernising petrol legislation

council trading standards and ESSO Petroleum Company Limited • LAC number 65/58. Petrol filling stations - guidance on managing the risks from fire and explosion

• LAC Number: 65/45. Petrol filling stations surface water drainage:

• LAC number 65/59a. Petrol filling stations

constructed wetlands

-

dispensing

control

measures

ltd and west Yorkshire fire service • LAC Number: 65/46. Lead authority • LAC Number: 65/26. Petrol filling

partnership scheme: London fire &

stations - safety concerns regarding

emergency

planning

stage 1b vapour recovery

(LFEPA)

and

authority

• LAC

number

65/61.

Petroleum

(Consolidation) Act 1928 (PCA) -

• LAC Number: 65/27. Priority planning • LAC

Number:

Dangerous

stations

stations - autogas installations

Sainsbury's

supermarkets ltd and risk assessment at petrol filling

• LAC number 65/60. Petrol filling

65/47.

Proposed

Substances

And

petrol

filling

stations.

Model

conditions of licence

Explosive Atmospheres Regulations • LAC

number

65/62.

Petroleum

65/28.

partial abolition of petroleum licence

Recommendations in the report into

fees. Advice to petroleum licensing

(Consolidation) Act 1928 – Petrol

the Bontddu petrol incident

authorities

filling stations – Licence renewal

• LAC

Number:

periods – Model application forms • LAC

Number:

65/29.

Petrol

dispensers and ATEX

• LAC number 65/48. Authorisation and powers of petroleum licensing officers

• LAC

number

65/63.

Petroleum

(Consolidation) Act 1928 (PCA) –

44

• LAC Number: 65/30. Petrol filling

• LAC number 65/49. Inspection of

stations - stage 1b vapour recovery -

workplace storage and dispensing of

Atmospheres

safety concerns when diesel tanks

petroleum spirit and liaison with

(DSEAR) – Petrol filling stations –

are manifolded with petrol tanks

petroleum licensing authorities

Atypical installations

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

Dangerous Substances & Explosive Regulations

2002

Articles

Assessing the Ground Vapour Risk for Filling Stations

By SLR Consulting associates Ed Stutt and Jon Parry The recent trend in the redevelopment of former petrol filling stations for residential use raises significant technical issues regarding hydrocarbon contamination.

With more public awareness of environmental health issues and the development of brownfield sites it may only be a matter of time before the proximity of active petrol filling stations to neighbouring residential properties becomes a major stumbling block during residential property transactions.

Following the introduction of the Contaminated Land Regulations in 2000 (Part IIa of the 1990 Environmental Protection Act; updated in Defra Circular 01/2006) the assessment of potential contamination liabilities has becomes a key due diligence issue during the sale and acquisition of petrol filling station sites.

Increasing awareness of environmental health issues has led to more attention being focussed on the issue of vapour intrusion to buildings from leaked petroleum products beneath active and former petrol filling stations.

Vapour intrusion is currently a hot issue in the contaminated land community as indicated by several recent publications (CIRIA, 2006), industry workshops (Brownfield Briefing, 2006) and policy repositioning statements (Defra Circular CLAN6/06).

Unfortunately, there is currently an absence of clear UK guidance for proper assessment of this exposure pathway and this often leads to an overestimation of the risks, resulting in expensive and unnecessary further action.

Background SLR Consulting has performed investigation, risk assessment and remediation for over 500 petrol stations in the UK and has particular experience in sampling and modelling hydrocarbon vapour intrusion risks.

Our investigations have indicated that the ground vapour risk to human health from historical petroleum hydrocarbons is generally not as high as predicted from simple modelling of soil and groundwater results. This has often removed the need for unnecessary remediation.

SLR is one of the first UK consultancies to measure soil vapour concentrations of petroleum hydrocarbons routinely. Our data suggest that it is possible to develop a

simple screening approach that, in many cases, will eliminate the requirement for further investigation or remediation.

Context There are a number of scenarios requiring risk assessments that i n c l u d e Figure 1. A typical conceptual model of soil vapour migration (API, 2005). consideration of the vapour risk assessment is also able to vapour inhalation exposure pathway at calculate the potential risk to health petrol filling station sites. The most from petroleum hydrocarbons in common of these is the recent trend in groundwater and this is commonly the redevelopment of former filling determined to be the most significant stations for residential and alternative exposure pathway for people in commercial uses.

Similar risk buildings overlying or adjacent to filling assessments may also be required for station sites. transactions involving properties However, according to recent US adjacent to active filling stations and opinion, the approved modelling during the sale of a site or liability approach adopted in the UK can assessment. Complaints of vapours or overestimate the calculated risks posed nuisance odours by neighbours of by petroleum hydrocarbons by an order petrol stations also regularly trigger of up to 1,000 times (Hartman, 2002), ground investigations to determine resulting in unnecessary additional whether leaking hydrocarbons beneath costs in further sampling, modelling and the site are the cause of the complaint. possibly remedial action.

Each of these situations requires an assessment to determine the level of US Experience risk to human health and/or the The assessment of vapour intrusion environment arising from petroleum from petrol filling stations has hydrocarbons which may be present in undergone significant work in the soil or groundwater beneath the site.

United States over the last five years, The dominant health issue when with a considerable amount of research investigating leaks or contaminated and technical guidance being published land issues associated with a petrol by various organisations such as the filling station is the suspected risk US Environmental Protection Agency arising from inhalation of petroleum (USEPA), individual state authorities hydrocarbons in the indoor air of and the American Petroleum Institute overlying or nearby buildings, for (API). example, site shops or adjacent In the US, the more advanced residential properties. regulatory guidance has produced a The level of risk is determined by series of simple screening criteria called comparing measured concentrations in attenuation or alpha factors, based on a soil and groundwater samples from large database of soil vapour beneath the site with published soil concentrations from numerous site guideline values and assessment investigations. These alpha factors can criteria calculated using commercially be directly applied to field available risk assessment models. If the measurements of groundwater and calculated level of health risk due to hydrocarbon vapour, leading to a vapour inhalation is unacceptable then quicker, simpler and more effective, this can lead to the disruption of site evaluation process. operations and becomes a driver for However, much of the US data potentially expensive remediation and derives from sites where a significant regulatory intervention. vapour intrusion problem already UK technical guidance on existed, such as at industrial complexes contaminated land recommends the or at petrol stations where significant use of a relatively simple model for the fuel leaks had occurred and were calculation of vapour risk from soils. directly related to the typical building The UK recommended model for constructions found in the US.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

45

Articles Direct Soil Vapour Measurement SLR has recently completed an investigation comprising subsurface hydrocarbon vapour sampling at over 40 active and former filling stations. We designed a bespoke soil vapour sampling system, comprising permanent in situ narrow diameter (19 to 50mm) sampling wells, and using gas tight well head fittings and sampling tubing. Soil vapour samples were collected using low flow air sampling pumps and sorbent tubes, for analysis at specialist laboratories (Figure 2.).

Hydrocarbon vapour sampling entails some unique technical challenges. The

Figure 2. Photograph of soil vapour sampling in progess.

detection limits required for BTEX compounds are usually in parts per billion which can be 1,000,000 times lower than those required for conventional ground gas assessment, ie for methane and carbon dioxide.

Issues such as sampling equipment integrity, dilution with ambient air and quality control all have to be carefully considered given the low detection limits required.

Assessment of Results SLR has consistently found that actual petroleum hydrocarbon concentrations in soil vapour were substantially lower than those predicted by risk assessment models.

This is illustrated in the data obtained from four representative sites detailed in Figure 3. This graph compares the actual measured soil vapour concentrations against the model predicted hydrocarbon vapour concentrations deriving from contaminated groundwater for BTEX compounds and petroleum hydrocarbon fractions at the four sites.

The data conclusively demonstrate the overestimation of vapour risk by the commonly available models. The line of fit in Figure 3 represents a factor of 0.001 (10-3) between the model predicted concentration and the measured vapour concentration.

The results show that the majority of this data is below this line, indicating 46

Figure 3. Plot of measured versus predicted vapour concentrations.

that most of the recorded results are 1000 times lower than predicted. This demonstrates the potential for applying similar alpha factors in the UK to those recommended by the USEPA for the initial screening of vapour risk from petroleum hydrocarbons below ground.

Indeed for many components of petroleum products, a significantly less conservative alpha factor (e.g. 10-4 to 10-5) may be applicable, especially when dilution and migration from the subsurface to indoor air are also taken into consideration. These components, that are less likely to find their way into indoor air, are the main constituents of historical leaks of petrol or diesel following the loss of the lighter and more volatile components.

Summary and Conclusions The current standard industry approach to vapour inhalation assessment for hydrocarbons in the UK does not adequately assess this exposure pathway. For a small additional cost during intrusive ground investigations it is possible to install soil vapour monitoring wells which enable the accurate measurement of below ground vapour levels. These have been found to be significantly lower than the concentrations predicted by the commonly used risk assessment models.

Direct measurement of soil vapour removes the conservatism inherent in modelled predictions thus avoiding unnecessary disruption to the operation of active stations and potentially eliminating the need for expensive remedial actions. This sits well with the objectives of sustainable remediation, minimising the often unnecessary dig and dump approach of disposing soil to landfill.

In general, vapour risks to human health arising from petroleum hydrocarbon contamination are often lower than has been assumed. This pathway is only likely to be a significant health issue following sudden releases of fresh fuel resulting from tank or line

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

failure. In most of these cases complaints of vapours from neighbours will be the main risk driver.

It is also likely that the contribution from subsurface sources to hydrocarbon vapour levels in the ambient air at petrol stations will be n e g l i g i b l e compared to forecourt spills and other above ground

sources.

New guidance on this subject area is currently in the pipeline and due next year through CIRIA, which may be of interest to the petroleum retail community in the future.

References API (2005) Collecting and Interpreting Soil Gas Samples from the Vadose Zone. American Petroleum Institute, Publication Number 4741. November 2005 Brownfield Briefing (2006) A Practical Guide to Vapour Intrusion. Training Seminar 11 May 2006.

CIRIA (2006) Assessing risks posed by hazardous gases to buildings. CIRIA Publication C659. Construction Industry Research and Information Association.

Defra Circular 01/2006. Environmental Protection Act 1990: Part2A. Contaminated Land. September 2006 Defra Circular CLAN6/06. Assessing Risks from Land Contamination – a Proportionate Approach. Soil Guideline Values: the Way Forward. November 2006 Hartman B (2002) Revaluating the Upward Vapour Migration Risk Pathway. LUST line Bulletin 41, June 2002 SLR Consulting web site: www.slrconsulting.co.uk Media contacts: Sally Paynter or Samantha Stagg at James Reed Public Relations, Tel: 0117 929 0405, email: sally@jamesreedpr.co.uk

1 Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes (often used as indicators of the presence of petrol)

Articles

Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928 – Petrol filling stations – Licence renewal periods – Model application forms Health & Safety Executive/Local Authorities Enforcement Liaison Committee (HELA) Subject: Petroleum LAC Number: 65/63 Open Government Status: Open Keywords: fuel retrievers, airfield, bowser, combustion engine test bed, skid mounted combined tank, fuel, petroleum, petroleum licence conditions Issued: 12/06/2007 Review date: 12/06/2010 Introduction 1. Section 2(2) of the Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928 makes provision for a local (licensing) authority (PLA) to determine to period of time that a petroleum licence can remain in force. Prior to the Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) programme to modernise petrol legislation, many PLAs issued licences for periods in excess of 1 year with 3 years being the norm.

2. With the possibility of Phase 2 of the modernisation programme resulting in an abolition of the licensing regime, PLAs were advised to grant/renew licences for a 12 month period to avoid a situation arising whereby licensees could seek a reimbursement for any unused portion of their licences(1).

Abandonment of the modernisation project 3. When, in November 2004, the Health and Safety Commission (HSC) took a decision to abandon Phases 2 and 3 of the modernisation project, the Petroleum Working Group (PWG) recognised that the continuance of the licensing regime placed an administrative burden on both PLAs

and site operators alike. As the PWG was to be abandoned, the matter was referred to the Petroleum Enforcement Liaison Group (PELG) to take forward.

Discussion with industry 4. At the PELG meeting on 26 January 2006, the matter was discussed with the trade representatives of the petrol retail industry(2).

The industry representatives expressed a preference for extended licensing periods for the sole purpose of reducing the on-going administrative burden. The representatives of the sectors of the industry with multiple outlets (the supermarkets and major oil companies) also raised their concerns for work involved in processing and signing individual renewal forms. In this respect they requested that standardised application, transfer and renewal forms should be introduced with the latter designed to simplify the renewal process.

Advice to PLAs 5. For the purpose of reducing the administrative burden (for licensees and PLAs alike), the advice of PELG is for licensees to given the option of: • applying for a new licence to run for a period of 1, 2 or 3 years; and • applying to renewing their licences for a period of 1, 2 or 3 years.

The fee for a 2 or 3 year renewal period should be charged pro-rata of the annual fee set by the current Heath & Safety (Fees) Regulations.

6. Any small losses accrued by the PLAs where licences are granted or

renewed for 2 or 3 year periods would be more than off-set by the significant reduction of 50% or 66% respectively in administration work.

7.Further reductions in the administrative process can also be achieved by: • issuing invoices as an alternative to renewal forms; • where a licensee has more that one site in a PLA’s area, ensuring that all the licences expire on the same date; and • making provision for site operators to pay the fee by (electronic) cash transfer.

Model forms 8. Model application forms for the grant, transfer and renewal of petroleum licences are are available as detailed below as appendices 1 to 3 respectively.

9. The adoption of these forms by all PLAs will be a significant step towards achieving a national and consistent approach to the administration of the licensing regime for petrol filling stations.

Appendix 1 - Model application form available at: www.hse.gov.uk/lau/lacs/6562app1.pdf Appendix 2 - Model transfer of licence form available at: www.hse.gov.uk/lau/lacs/6562app2.pdf Appendix 3 - Model renewal of licence form available at: www.hse.gov.uk/lau/lacs/6562app3.pdf

Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928 (PCA) – Dangerous Substances & Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002 (DSEAR) – Petrol filling stations – Atypical installations forms Health & Safety Executive / Local Authorities Enforcement Liaison Committee (HELA) Subject: Petroleum LAC Number: 65/63 Open Government Status: Open Keywords: fuel retrievers, airfield,

bowser, combustion engine test bed, skid mounted combined tank, fuel, petroleum, petroleum licence conditions Issued: 12/06/2007 Review date: 12/06/2010 Foreword 1. This revision supersedes and

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expands on the original PETEL 65/53, entitled ‘DSEAR - Petrol Filling Stations - Definitions - Fuel Retrievers and Airfields’, issued in October 2003.

Introduction and scope 2. The purpose of this PETEL is to provide: -

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Articles advice on the application of the PCA to refuelling installations that are outside the generally recognised description of a ‘petrol filling station’; advice on construction, installation, maintenance and operation of such facilities where this is not covered by the Blue Guide(1) or the Risk Managing Guide(2); and model licensing conditions for filling stations and other storage facilities where no person is employed to work. .

3. The guidance given in Appendix 1 of this PETEL is, in the main, intended to apply to refuelling installations that require a petroleum licence.

4. Installations falling within the scope of this PETEL are: • Fuel retrievers; • Airfield bowsers; • Skid mounted combined tank and dispenser designed for use at very low throughput sites such as at golf courses; and • Combustion engine test beds Petrol licensing and the enforcement allocation for DSEAR 5. A typical fuelling installations will fall within the meaning of a ‘petrol filling station’ where: • the fuel stored and dispensed is ‘petroleum-spirit’ (petrol)(3); • the fuel stored and dispensed is a ‘petroleum mixture’ (e.g. ‘Bio-ethanol blend fuels’ (BEBF(4)))(5); • the facility incorporates a storage tank and a manual or electrical pump for dispensing petrol for use in motor vehicles, ships or aircraft. This is irrespective of whether the petrol is for retail or workplace or private use; and • the petrol is dispensed from the storage tank directly into the fuel tank of an internal combustion engine.

6. Where the installation meets all of the above criteria, a petroleum licence is required and the enforcing authority for DSEAR is the local petroleum licensing authority (PLA).

7. In circumstances where the ‘petrol filling station’ is not located at a ‘workplace’, that is, where the operator uses the fuel for ‘private use’ and not in connection in any way with a business or employment, the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974 (HSWA) and DSEAR will not apply. The PCA will, however, apply and a petroleum licence will be required. Examples of where ‘private use’(6) applies would be: • a recreational or sporting club were all the maintenance and/or administrative work is carried out on a voluntary basis by the members.

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This example would exclude a golf club which employs a green keeper; and • a benefactor who operates a helicopter partly for his/her own means of transport and partly to offer free rides at charity fund raising events.

An example of the conditions that could be applied to a licence for a fuelling facility located at a place where no person is employed to work is detailed in Appendix 2. For consistency, these conditions are based on the ‘model licensing conditions’ published in LAC 65/61.(7) Fuel Retrievers 8. Fuel retrievers are containers (typically 50 to 80 litres) with an integral mechanical pump (sometimes electrical). They are usually of a trolleylike configuration, with small carrying wheels, so that they can be moved around a workshop or yard easily.

Typically, they are used in the motor vehicle repair sector to extract fuel from vehicle fuel tanks to enable the tank to be safely repaired or replaced. The contents of the fuel retriever are then pumped back into the vehicle fuel tank.

9. Some other operators have a need to refuel vehicles that would otherwise be stranded on site (e.g. car auction operators). They are using fuel retrievers to dispense petrol into a vehicle instead of pouring it from a container, perceiving this as a safer method of working. They apparently purchase petrol in containers from filling stations, pump it from the containers into the retriever, and then pump it from the retriever into the vehicle.

10. In the opinion of the Health & Safety Executive, fuel retrievers are not "storage tanks" within the meaning of DSEAR as their designed purpose is to retrieve fuel in a temporary container of limited capacity; e.g. the container is not a storage tank. Thus, the use of fuel retrievers does not constitute dispensing within the meaning of DSEAR and they do not, therefore, require licensing under the PCA. Fuel retrievers used at a workplace are subject to the full requirements of DSEAR. Fuel Bowsers (including hydrant dispensers) 11. A bowser can be described as a fuel tanker, either self-propelled or towed as a trailer, which is specifically used to transport fuel to aircraft parked on the airfield. It will be equipped with an onboard pump enabling fuel (AVGAS(8)) to be dispensed (through a filter and meter) into the fuel tank of an aircraft.

The purpose of the filter is to remove particulate matter and water.

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12. In some locations, the bowser is used to transport fuel from a storage tank or hydrant to aircraft. This activity would not, by itself, require licensing as the bowser is not being used for storage. However, in some other locations the bowser also constitutes the storage facility for the site where there are no fixed storage tanks on the site. In these situations, a licence will be required. In some instances, the bowser may remain in a permanent position with the aircraft being maneuvered to an adjacent refuelling position.

Note: Where aircraft are refuelled with petroleum-spirit direct from dispensers or hydrants connected to a storage tank, then a licence will also be required.

Combustion Engine Test Beds 13. This type of refuelling facility is found at motor manufacturers and other places where combustion engines are researched, developed and tested.

Typically, the facility will either comprise a storage tank (external) and a pump feeding one or more (internally located) intermediate (header) tanks which feed the engines; or a single engine test bed where the fuel tank is filled from a container. In either case it has been agreed that the PCA will not apply to such a (workplace) process. DSEAR will apply to the storage of petrol and the refuelling activity and will be enforced by the HSE or LA (Environmental Health Officer) as the case may be.(9) Small (Movable) Fuelling Units 14. This type of integral fuelling facility will comprise a storage tank, a pump and a dispenser usually mounted on a transportable platform called a skid.

Typically, the storage tank will have a capacity in the range of 900 to 2500 litres. The unit will meet the definition of a ‘petrol filling station’ if the petrol is dispensed directly in to the fuel tanks of combustion engines like golf carts and lawn mowers.

Note: The definition of a ‘petrol filling station’ will not be met if the fuel is dispensed into a container. If such dispensing arrangements apply, a petroleum licence is not required provided the premises or site is not a ‘workplace’.

Appendix 1 Overview of Control Measures Terminology 1. In this appendix the generic term ‘fuelling unit’ includes airfield bowsers.

Risk Assessment 2. In order to comply with the

Articles requirements of regulation 5 of DSEAR, the site operator (prospective licensee) must carry out a risk assessment, regardless of the quantity of petrol intended to be stored, so as to identify the measures required to prevent fires or explosions. The initial element of the assessment will be to ensure that the fuelling unit is ‘fit-for-purpose’; documents detailing the standard of construction, materials used and test certificates from the manufacture or supplier should provide the necessary evidence. Siting of the unit, separation distancing, hazardous area classification, spillage control, security, maintenance and operating procedures will also need to be covered by the assessment.

Note: As HSWA and DSEAR do not apply to petrol filling stations operated for ‘private use’3& 6, the PLA will need to impose requirements on the licensee to put in place adequate measures to effectively control the risks of fire and explosion arising from the delivery, storage and dispensing of petrol or AVGAS. Unlike ‘workplace’ storage, this anomaly places an obligation on the PLA to carry out a risk assessment in order to determine the extent of the control measures; with the measures being enforced as conditions of licence.

Design and Construction 3. The fuelling facility must be ‘fit-forpurpose’ which, by definition, means that the design and the materials from which it is fabricated are of a standard and quality that will provide an effective containment system throughout its intended working life. All the materials forming part of the containment system (i.e. those which are in contact with, or may come in to contact with the petrol or its vapours) are compatible and will not degrade or prematurely fail.

4. Storage tanks (for above ground use) should not be constructed from plastic materials as this will give rise to problems with effective earth bonding where low flash-point liquids are stored(10).

5. Airfield bowsers constructed after February 2005 should comply with the health and safety, functional and performance requirements of BS EN 12312-5:2005.(11) Separation Distance 6. Separation is an important twofold control measure that is intended to: • protect people and buildings from a fire affecting the fuelling unit; and • to protect the fuelling unit from a fire elsewhere.

7. The fuelling unit should be sited in a well ventilated position separated from the site boundary, occupied buildings, sources of ignition and any process areas by a distance determined from a site specific risk assessment. Guidance on separation distancing is given in HSG176 and the Blue Guide. However, the minimum distance of 1m for a tank capacity of 1m3 given in HSG176(12) is possibly too little; whereas some of the various distances given in Section 4 of the Blue Guide(13) may be too onerous, especially where hand pumps are involved.

8. Some of the factors to be taken into consideration when determining the appropriate separation distance are: • the construction materials of any nearby building; i.e. a building constructed of timber walls would attract a greater separation distance than one constructed with masonry walls; • the flammability or explosive characteristics of the contents of any nearby building; • the physical status of the occupiers of any nearby building; • the use of the land on the adjoining boundary; i.e. a public road or footpath would attract a greater separation distance than fields put to purely agricultural use; and • any physical or thermal protection afforded to the fuelling unit; i.e. a ‘fire wall’ or fire-resisting cladding of the fuelling unit. The latter criteria allowing for any future light-weight innovations in tank protection.

9. Although ‘separation distancing’ and ‘hazardous area classification’ fulfil different functions, the hazardous zones of the latter may exceed the separation distance derived from the former!

Hazardous Area Classification 10. When carrying out a hazardous area classification, the following points will have to be considered: -

of 3m enveloping the refuelling unit should be assigned a zone 2 hazardous area.

Electrical Equipment 12. Any electrical equipment fitted to the fuelling unit or in the associated hazardous areas should be suitably explosion protected for use in the zones as classified.

13. For above ground fuelling units, earth bonding cables will need to be provided on the bowser to equalise electrical potential between the: unit and the road tanker (when deliveries take place); and unit and the equipment or aircraft being re-fuelled.

The resistance, when measured between the termination and the unit or bowser chassis should not exceed 10 Ohm. Spillage Control 14. The on-site location of the fuelling unit and the capacity of the storage tank together with environmental sensitivity will dictate the degree of spillage control measures required.

15. Where it is necessary to provide a means to safely retain any spillages that may occur when the fuelling unit is being replenished or from any possible leakages from the storage tank or ancillary equipment, this can be achieved by locating or parking the unit in a bunded area. The capacity of the bund should be 110% of the capacity of the storage tank.

Security 16. If the site in which the fuelling unit is located is not secured against unauthorised access, the unit should be positioned in a secure compound. The compound should be designed and constructed so as not to impede natural ventilation; robust (metallic) palisade fencing should achieve the desired effect.

the capacity of the storage tank and method of replenishment; i.e. gravity or pumped deliveries; the ventilation system and the location of the vent outlet; and the mechanics of dispensing the fuel; i.e. electrical or manual pump.

17. The gate or gates to any security compound should be outward opening and should be easily opened from the inside when any person is working in the compound. Where only one entrance/exit is provided, the maximum travel distance (from any point in the compound) should not exceed 12m.

11. Generally, the guidance given in Section 3 of the Blue Guide should be followed for road tanker unloading and dispensing; albeit an allowance should be made where manual pumps are used to fill small capacity fuel tanks. At times other than when the fuelling unit is being replenished or when dispensing is being carried out, an area

Inspection & Maintenance 18. The fuelling unit and all its ancillary equipment must be maintained in a safe condition. This obligation can be fulfilled by employing or training personnel who are suitably qualified and understand the hazards associated with the storage and dispensing of highly flammable liquids.

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Articles 19. An examination regime should be in place for the fuelling unit and all its relevant fittings including the earth bonding arrangements. A record of the examination and electrical testing should be maintained in a site register.

Operating Procedures 20. All personnel who operate the fuelling unit should be trained in: • the safe use of the equipment, including filling the storage tank and dispensing into fuel tank etc; • the safe driving and maneuvering of the unit (where applicable); • how to deal with leaks and spillages; • the safe use of any ‘personal protective equipment’ provided; • the actions to be taken in an emergency situation; and • the safe use of the fire extinguishers.

Appendix 2 - Example Licensing Conditions Drafted for petrol filling stations and storage facilities where no person is employed to work. The actual conditions (fire and explosion control measures) will need to be risk assessed and imposed on a site specific basis Part 1 Definitions In the licence and for the purpose of these conditions (except in so far as the context otherwise requires) the following expressions shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them: 1.1 Approved means the acceptance in writing by the Petroleum Licensing Authority.

1.2 Approved Arrangements means those arrangements relating to the design, construction and mode of operation of the licensed premises or aircraft fuelling equipment, which accord with the plans and specifications approved by the Petroleum Licensing Authority.

1.3 Avgas means petroleum-spirit for use in piston type aircraft engines.

1.4 Bowser means ‘aircraft fuelling equipment’ used to handle aviation fuels on an airfield.

1.5 Competent Person means a person with enough practical and theoretical knowledge, training and actual experience to carry out a particular task safely and effectively.

The person should have the necessary ability in the particular operation of the type of plant and equipment with which they are concerned, an understanding of relevant statutory requirements and an appreciation of the hazards involved.

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That person should also be able to recognise the need for specialist advice or assistance when necessary and to assess the importance of the results of examinations and tests. A ‘person’ can be taken to mean more than one, or a body corporate or unincorporate. It is therefore possible to appoint appropriate organisations (e.g. insurance companies or inspection bodies) to carry out tasks designated for competent persons.

• the removal or installation of any electrical equipment within the hazardous areas of the licensed premises or fuelling unit; and • the construction of any buildings or works within the hazardous areas or elsewhere on the licensed premises or adjacent to the fuelling unit.

1.6 Fuelling Unit means a bowser or an integral fuelling facility comprising a storage tank, a pump and dispenser mounted on a transportable platform.

1.13 Petroleum-spirit means the same as that defined in section 23 of the Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928.

1.12 Petroleum Licensing Authority means . . . . . . . . (here insert appropriate authority).

1.14 Suitable Container means: 1.7 Hazardous Area means an area where an explosive atmosphere is or maybe expected to be present which requires special precautions to be taken for the construction, installation and use of electrical equipment.

1.8 Inspector means a person duly appointed in writing by the Petroleum Licensing Authority, under Section 19 of the Health & Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

1.9 Licence means a licence authorising the keeping of petroleumspirit issued by a Petroleum Licensing Authority pursuant to the Petroleum (Regulation) Acts 1928 and 1936.

1.10 Licensed Storage Facility means the premises or fuelling unit in respect of which the licence is in force and shall include all buildings or parts of a building, tanks, pipework, pumps, dispensers, drainage, ancillary equipment, and forecourt area within that part of the premises relevant to the storage, delivery and dispensing of petroleum-spirit.

1.11 Material Alterations means any alteration, which could affect the risks from fire and explosion at the licensed premises or fuelling unit and will include: • the change of or cessation of use of the licensed premises or fuelling unit; • the removal, temporary or permanent decommissioning, repair, replacement, modification or installation of any tank used for the storage of petroleum-spirit and any, pipeline or vapour pipeline associated with the storage and dispensing of petroleum-spirit; • the change in use of a tank used to store petroleum-spirit; • the removal without replacement or the installation of any petroleum-spirit pumps/dispensers; • the removal or installation of any part of the site’s leak detection, spillage or delivery control system;

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• a metal container satisfying the constructional and labelling requirements of the Petroleum-Spirit (Motor Vehicles etc) Regulations 1929; or • a plastic container satisfying the constructional and labelling requirements of the Petroleum-Spirit (Plastic Containers) Regulations 1982; or • a demountable fuel tank of a motor boat or similar vessel; or • a United Nations approved container for the carriage of petrol.

Part 2 General Conditions 2.1The licence and licence conditions issued, or copies of these documents, shall be kept on the licensed premises or on the fuelling unit.

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

2.3 The Licensee shall not undertake or permit to be undertaken any material alterations to the approved arrangements, unless the written consent of the Petroleum Licensing Authority has been obtained.

2.4 The Licensee shall as soon as is reasonably practicable, notify the Petroleum Licensing Authority and confirm in writing the details of any: • fire or explosion at the licensed premises or fuelling unit; • significant spillage of petroleum-spirit at the licensed premises or fuelling unit; • actual or suspected leak of petroleum-spirit from the storage tanks, dispensers and the pipework installation at the licensed premises or fuelling unit; and

Articles • other significant incident, which could affect the safe operation of the licensed premises or fuelling unit.

Part 3 Operation and Maintenance 3.1 Except where a petroleum-spirit dispenser is being tested for accuracy or during the course of repairs to the installation or any part thereof, petroleum-spirit shall only be dispensed into the fuel tank of an internal combustion engine, or into a suitable container. Any container used for this purpose shall immediately be securely closed and kept in a safe place.

3.2 All electrical fittings, apparatus and equipment in the hazardous areas and associated equipment in the nonhazardous areas shall be maintained at all times in good conditions. An inspection and test shall be carried out by a competent person at intervals (to be determined by the competent person) to ensure that the aforementioned electrical equipment continues to be in a satisfactory condition. A current satisfactory and complete electrical test certificate or copy shall be kept on the licensed premises and shall be produced to an authorised inspector on demand.

3.3 No electric light, electrical apparatus or appliance likely to ignite flammable vapour shall be installed or used within 3m of the fuelling unit or the road tanker when a delivery is in progress.

3.4 All practical steps shall be taken to ensure that no naked light, fire, flame or smoking is permitted within 3m of the fuelling unit or the road tanker when a delivery is in progress.

3.5 Appropriate steps shall be taken to prevent leaks and spills and to detect the sources of any leaks, including leaks indicated as a result of monitoring petroleum-spirit or Avgas stocks. Small leaks or spills shall be cleared up promptly by the application of dry sand or other absorbent material. All sand or other material used for clearing or containing leaks or spills shall not be exposed to a source of ignition and shall be disposed of safely. If retained for any length of time pending disposal, it shall be kept at a safe place in a closed container. Any other material contaminated with petroleum-spirit shall be treated in a similar way.

3.6 A maintenance scheme to ensure the integrity of the fuelling unit, the presence and effectiveness of safety and emergency provisions and the maintenance of the facility in a condition free from fire hazards shall be in operation.

3.7 Where the petroleum-spirit or Avgas

is stored in an underground tank, consistent, accurate monitoring of the fuel delivered, stored and dispensed shall be carried out by the licensee in order to detect leaks from the tank and associated (buried) pipework.

3.8 The fuelling unit, when in use and when being replenished with petroleumspirit or Avgas from a road tanker, shall at all times be under the control of a competent person.

3.9 2 x 4.5kg dry powder or 2 x 9 litre AFFF fire extinguishers shall be provided for the purpose of dealing with any small outbreaks of fire on, or in the immediate vicinity of the fuelling unit.

The fire extinguishers shall be maintained in accordance with the British Standard BS5306:2003 and must be readily accessible for use at all times.

3.10 An ample supply of dry sand or similar absorbent material in a suitable container with a close fitting lid together with a means for its application must be provided and be readily available to be used in the event of a spillage of petroleum-spirit. The supply must be sufficient to clean-up any spills or leaks of petrol.

Part 4 Record Keeping 4.1 Where the petroleum-spirit or Avgas is stored in an underground tank, the Licensee shall ensure that adequate records are kept of the petroleum-spirit monitoring and reconciliation system or the operation of any other suitable leak detection system or leak prevention system such that any leak of petroleumspirit from the storage tanks or associated pipework is detected before a hazardous situation can arise.

Such records and documents should be retained for a minimum of 12 months and if requested be made available to the Petroleum Licensing Authority as soon as is reasonably practicable.

4.2 The licensee shall ensure that adequate records are kept of the maintenance regime and repairs carried out to the: • petrol installation; including the storage tanks, pipework, pumps and dispensers; • the spillage containment system; including drainage gullies and oil separators.

Part 5 Appeals in Connection with the Licensing Provision of the Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928 5.1 Under Section 44 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, a person who is aggrieved by the decision of the

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Petroleum Licensing Authority by: 1. Refusing to issue him a licence, to renew a licence held by him or to transfer to him a licence held by another; 2. Issuing him a licence on or subject to any term, condition or restriction whereby he is aggrieved; 3. Varying or refusing to vary any term, condition or restriction on or subject to which a licence is held by him; may appeal to the Secretary of State at the Department of Work & Pensions at: Health and Safety Sponsorship Division, 2nd Floor, The Adelphi, 1-11 John Adams Street, London, WC2N 2HT. Footnotes 1. Design, Construction, Modification, Maintenance and Decommissioning of Filling Stations (2nd edition) jointly published by the APEA and the Energy Institute back 2. Petrol Filling Stations – Guidance on Managing the Risks of Fire and Explosion back 3. Section 23 of the PCA back 4. Sometimes referred to a ‘E85’ fuel back 5. Petroleum (Mixtures) Order 1929 back 6. Private use means that the petrol is not stored or used for industrial, commercial or retail purposes. back 7. PETEL 65/61 ‘Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928 – Petrol Filling Stations – Model Conditions of Licence’. back 8. Petroleum-spirit for aviation purposes is often called aviation gasoline or ‘AVGAS’. It is primarily used in piston engine aircraft usually small, either fixed-wing or rotary-wing craft. back 9. Information Document HSE 803/71.

‘Guidance on the Application of the Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations (DSEAR) 2002 to Motor Vehicle Repair’. back 10. Guidelines for the Control of Hazards Arising from Static Electricity ISBN 0 85293 356 5.

Published by the Energy Institute. back 11. BS EN 12312-5-2005 ‘Aircraft ground support equipment – Specific requirements – Part 5: Aircraft fuelling equipment back .

12. HSG176 ‘The Storage of Flammable Liquids in Tanks’ published by the HSE.back 13. Design, Construction, Modification, Maintenance and Decommissioning of Filling Stations (2nd edition) jointly published by the APEA and the Energy Institute

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Articles

History of Petrol Stations – Part 3 Early Acts and Accidents

By Brian Baker Britain 1862.

C a n a d i a n Abraham Gesner had developed a process to distil kerosene (coal oil) from cannel coal and bituminous shale some 15 years previous in 1847.

T h e Pennsylvania Rock Oil Company had Figure 1 Rock Oil Map been formed in 1854 and petroleum spirit had been in use for several years that overtook Kerosene and Whale Oil as the most favoured lighting medium across much of Europe and North America, mainly being imported into Europe by 42 gallon (159 litre) barrels. (Figure 1 Rock Oil Map) Steam Traction was spreading all over Europe as the railways continued their relentless growth to as many towns and cities as fast as available labour could build tracks and steam engines together with the infrastructure to support this mass transport system, found popular by all who could afford to travel in such elegance.

It was therefore inevitable that the abundant use of coal and steam would lead to the early primitive “oils” being discovered through an extraction process.

Indeed, there were many strange inventions being made like the “Hippomobile” a steam driven “vehicle” that ran on hydrogen in 1860 that crawled along but never gained favour as it was difficult to steer. (Figure 2 & 3 Hippomobile Sketch and Horse Drawn Tanker Photo)

in a few minutes. In another, in the same chamber, water thrown on the burning mass by two hoses extinguished the fire with considerable rapidity.

1862 for “Petroleum Candles” at one shilling and four pence per pound and they can be ‘white or yellow’. The advert goes on to quote “The great marvel of the day; clear as crystal and gives a magnificently brilliant light” produced by the London Soap and Candle Company, 76 New Bond Street.

However, some months earlier, concerns were being expressed of the ready ignitability of petroleum. A report, again in The Times on 24 March 1862 had the headline “The Combustibleness of Petroleum” and goes on to state;

Figure 3 Horse Drawn Tanker

“Much discussion and diversity of opinion having recently obtained in Liverpool regarding the risk of storing petroleum now arriving there, some experiments were made on Monday with a view to test the inflammability of the liquid. The experiments were undertaken at the instance of the Watch Committee of the Corporation, was superintended by Major Greig, the Head Constable. Five 30- gallon wooden barrels of crude petroleum, or Rock Oil from Canada and also from Philadelphia were burnt under different circumstances. In every case the combustion was rapid Figure 2 The Hippo-mobile c1860 This Truck ran on Hydrogen and fierce. In two of the experiments made in a confined chamber built for the purpose, Phillip’s An advertisement appeared in “The Fire ‘annihilators’‘* extinguished the fire Times” in London on 15 November 52

*A Phillips Fire Annihilator was invented by William Henry Phillip around 1850. It was a crude type of fire extinguisher that when hand pumped, emitted a jet of gaseous vapour (probably Carbon Tetrachloride otherwise known as “CTC”) This gas was still in existence until early 1971 when it was withdrawn as it was regarded unsafe. When mixed with water it produced hydrochloric acid and when used in a combined space, gave off phosgene gas, a poisonous gas used in World War 1.

Then two (Wooden) Barrels were ignited in the open air, one after the other. In the first, a fire annihilator which was brought to bear on it partially was thrown out of the conductor’s hand, he himself was knocked down and many of the crowd were overthrown in their anxiety to escape from the supposed danger. The Water Hose were then brought to bear on the burning, mass and they soon overcame the flames, which afterwards several times rekindled and re-extinguished”

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Figure 4 James Young

This piece established that a significant problem was known in the handling and storage of petroleum.

In the same year, James “Paraffin” Young wrote to The Times – (Figure 4 Photo of James Young) “Sir, Recent lamentable events and the comments of the press having shown how much the public require information regarding the nature of the distinction between paraffin oil and petroleum and as I first introduced both these substances to the public as illuminating agents, I shall give you a few facts concerning the trade in these substances, the rapid development, of which is I believe, without parallel in the

Articles history of commerce” He goes on “In 1847 I received a letter from Dr Lyon Play-fair C.B. stating that a spring of petroleum had burst out in a coalmine, the property of his brother-in –law, Mr James Oakes, of Ridding Hall, Alfreton, Derbyshire. Dr Play-fair proposed that I should make a chemical examination of this body, with a view of its application Figure 5 Lamp Oil being delivered to a Fishing Fleet in St Ives, Cornwall to some useful purpose” So Britain had an within a few minutes the building itself underground petroleum source as long blew up followed by the explosion of the ago as 1847 but the source found was gunpowder store. It took three hours to soon depleted and ran out. extinguish.

In 1863, at the mouth of the Mersey The same types of incidents were River, Liverpool, a ship called “The occurring in Europe, notably a large fire Hindoo” under Captain Murphy having and explosion in Antwerp, Belgium sailed from Canada, had been partially where fire had broken out on board yet destroyed by heavy storms. Having lost another ship at 10 o’clock in the two of its (sail) masts, it was driven evening that was in dock that not only against the shore and began sinking off ignited but leaked a considerable Taylor’s Bank near Formby. The ship amount of petroleum in the port as well! was carrying 3,000 barrels of “Rock Oil” A report, yet again in The Times in and a fire broke out on board that lead November 1864,showed the massive to 5 members of the crew being killed in increase in the imports of petroleum in the fire with the rest having to abandon the space of a few years from 755 ship and swim to the shore, several tonnes in 1862 to 30,899 tonnes in crew-members suffering extensive November 1864 from the USA alone, burns. whilst the total amount being imported The same year, American papers was over 361,000 tonnes at the of 1864 reported another ship fire on board the Much later in 1908/09, The First L.H. Colton near Cleveland, Ohio.

Departmental Committee Report for the Having loaded her cargo of petroleum Home Secretary were to list the various bound for Liverpool, England, she set uses of petroleum other than the infant sail and after three miles, an explosion motoring of the day. They were; took place that engulfed the whole ship and its contents and the crew had to Dry Cleaning abandon ship though no loss of life was Manufacture of Helmets reported.

Manufacture of Tennis Shoes Accidents involving petroleum were Manufacture of India-Rubber Goods increasing. The London and North Glass Silvering Western Railway Company issued a Manufacture of Paints notice banning the transportation of Manufacture of Asbestos Packing petroleum, Rangoon Oil, Burmah Oil Tyre Making and Repair and any product that is a bituminous substance (including gunpowder) The Committee of that time went on between Holyhead and Dublin as the to register concerns on the use of country became nervous and petroleum spirit in a domestic suspicious of its application. The use of environment and in particular section 329 of the then Merchant hairdressing!

Shipping Act 1864 that allowed for (Note; This Report will be covered in specific exclusions where a company more detail in a later issue of the can refuse to carry dangerous goods.

Bulletin) (Figure 5 St Ives Fishing Fleet) In 1862, the British government Onto Southwark Bridge Road in decided to react and the world’s first London (a location where a more laws on petroleum spirit came into defining moment in our history would being on 1st February 1862 that was take place in the mid 1960’s) and the aimed at the safe keeping of petroleum premises of John Tilleard & Son, oilmen “and other substances of a like nature” of Great Suffolk Street where in 1864 an (Petroleum Mixtures). Known as the explosion took place injuring several “Petroleum Act 1862 it came into effect persons. They were retailing petroleum on 29th July that year. The new laws products including benzene that was stated that no petroleum is to be kept, being pumped in the basement of this OTHERWISE than for private use, Wholesale Shop when it ignited and within 50 yards of a dwelling house or a

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building in which goods are stored, EXCEPT in pursuance of a LICENCE given in accordance with the Petroleum Act 1862, issued by the local authority.

Any petroleum kept in contravention would be forfeited and in addition the occupier would be subject to a penalty not exceeding £20 for each day during which it is being kept in contravention!

There was a section dealing with the sale of petroleum for illuminating purposes and no person could offer for sale or expose for sale that gives off flammable vapour at a temperature of 100 degree Fahrenheit’s thermometer, (38 degree centigrade) unless the bottle or vessel containing petroleum has a label attached in legible characters as follows; “Great care must be taken in bringing any light near to the contents of this vessel, as they give of flammable vapour”. Any person acting in contravention of this section shall for each offence be subjected to a penalty of 5 shillings.

Section 5 gave powers for Local Authorities to grant (petroleum) licences – “if signed by two or more Persons constituting the local authority and may be for a limited time and annex thereto any Conditions as to Renewal or otherwise which the Local Authority thinks necessary for diminishing the Risk of Damage from Explosion or Fire: and any Licensee violating any of the Conditions of his licence shall be deemed to be an unlicensed person” Under Section 9 – “Petroleum may be searched for in the same manner, under the same Warrants, and subject to the same Conditions in, under, and subject to which Gunpowder may be searched for.” (Undisputable proof of the connection between petroleum and explosives that still exist in the title of our Association today).

“Inspectors of Weights and Measures are empowered to test petroleum and offences are to be tried at the

Figure 6 Sir Frederick Abel (1827 – 1902)

53

Articles

Figure 7 The Abel Closed Cup Apparatus (Modern Version)

Magistrate’s Court and penalties enforced. The mode of testing was recorded in the Schedule”… and reference to Sir Frederick Abel’s Closed Cup Apparatus was NOT mentioned having been invented the device back in 1856.It was not until an amended Petroleum Act of 1868 that we would see a more precise manner of testing flash points, albeit in open cup. (Figures 6 and 7).

By 1866, petroleum had caused an amendment to be issued to the Carriage and Deposit of Dangerous Goods Act which had previously targeted Nytro-Glycerine – also known as Glyonine Oil – that went onto include the carriage of Petroleum under Section 8.

The same year, 1866 saw an amended Petroleum Act issued that mentions in section 3 the terms “Petroleum, Rock Oil, Rangoon Oil and Burmah Oil and any product of them and any oil made from petroleum, coal, schist, shale, peat or other Bituminous substance”. This now indicates that the petroleum market was expanding rapidly with laws being issued readily to keep up with the new ‘discoveries’ now being made together with the range of petroleum derivatives. This Petroleum Act had a Schedule attached setting out the description of the test apparatus that determined the Flash Point, based on Sir Frederick Abel’s prototype.

By 1871 another Petroleum Act was passed by the British Parliament that encompassed all three previous Acts on the matter that were repealed and under sections 4 and 5 set out provisions for Harbour Authorities to be Licensing Authorities in their own right and the Act stipulated certain conditions that were applied to the Master of every Ship “carrying a cargo that consist wholly or partly of petroleum products on entering any harbour in within the United Kingdom and a penalty of £500 would be imposed not to show due diligence on each Master of a Ship” These sections clearly reflect the growing numbers of accidents and fires that were occurring on ships as well as in the ports throughout the land.

54

It has to be said here that no maximum quantities are mentioned, unless kept within 50 yards of a building. It is of note here that in the case of London, the Metropolitan Board of works was to become the enforcing authority on petroleum in the Capital from 1865.

Another piece of legislation, quite unrelated at the time, was to play an evolving role in petroleum matters. The Highways and Locomotives Act 1878 came in to effect which saw the building of roads as we know them some 130 years on that saw local Highway Boards set up and a District Surveyor appointed that had powers to raise charges for the use of “their” roads and that the “ordinary highway” was termed as a Main Road as well as the responsibility as to who was responsible for road repairs, use and repair of Bridges and the power to impose fines for excessive heavy loads that caused damage to the roads.

Each County Highway Authority had powers to make bye laws that lead to the introduction of fines, control of weights of locomotives, including the drawing of any wagon, the number of Horses that drew any wagon, the hours of which locomotives (read mechanised vehicles) could pass over any roads, the revocation of previous Acts stating that any locomotive consuming its own smoke (suggesting that other forms of vehicle were making as presence) and the power to licence such locomotives and the imposition of speed limits the Act went on to become known as the Red Flag Act as the need was introduced for someone to wave a Red Flag ahead of the “locomotive”.

An amendment appeared to the 1871 Act on 11th August 1879 as more precise details had emerged on the test apparatus used for determining Flash Points as the device went from an Open Cup to a Closed Cup Method, the same principle of which is used today that also included the payment of a fee not exceeding Five Shillings paid to the Government to have test carried out on any product purporting to be known as petroleum.

As petroleum demand continued to increase so its availability became more widespread and eventually, petroleum could literally be bought anywhere as Street Traders were very common in Victorian England.

The government decided to control this activity and 27th August 1881 issued the Petroleum (Hawkers) Act 1881 that allowed a maximum of 20 gallons to be conveyed and sold, provided it was in a closed vessel, that the carriage was well ventilated and not allow an explosive mixture to form, that no naked lights or sources of ignition

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were near any carriage, that the carriage was constructed or fitted in a way that petroleum cannot escape from it, especially any escape of petroleum into any building or sewer, that it is stored in a licensed Premises and fire precautions are provided for as well as security and access is controlled.

Here we see that Hawkers (Sellers) of Petroleum were individually licensed to sell petroleum and that the enforcing Authority was the Police or any duly Authorised Officer who could seize the product if necessary. It is of note that the under the definition of Carriage the words “wagon, cart, truck, vehicle or other means of conveyance by land whether drawn to propelled” By 1896, many steam driven and combustion driven vehicle were starting to make their appearances and a new piece of legislation known as the “Use of Locomotives on Highways Act 1896 was issued that remove some of the restrictive conditions from the former 1878 Act as well as calling for one hour before sunrise and one after sunset, the person in charge of a light locomotive (Motor Car!) “ shall carry and attach a lamp to exhibit light and under Section 3, a bell or other instrument to give audible warning of the approach and position of a Carriage.”

Also it set out that the keeping of petroleum spirit as an inflammable fuel may be kept with a vehicle in accordance with the Petroleum Act 1871, provided a levy is paid at the rates of One Ton or more - £2. 2shillings or for Two tons or more, £3 3s. To cap it all the maximum speed limit was set at no more than fourteen miles per hour.

Finally, on 14th August 1903, an amendment to the 1896 Act was made giving offences for reckless driving, display of identification plates, and the Registration of Motor Cars was introduced. The Act went onto introduce the issue of Driving Licenses and the duty to stop in case of an accident. The Act also went onto introduce Road Signs, Fines and Penalties The Highway Code had arrived, motoring was now becoming popular and the need to fill petrol tanks up became a pressing need. Yet, the first ever purpose designed Petrol Station, founded in the St Louis in the USA was still more than 4 years away.

Bibliography The Times Newspaper Archives Free Wickapedia (Various) Parliamentary Archives of the House of Lords Report of the Departmental Committee on Petroleum (1908-1910)

Articles

Should Wooden Barrels be used for Petrol?

A report from the Petroleum Review 8 December 1905 From “The Petroleum World” – December 1905 Before Captain Thomson, late RA., His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Explosives, on December 1st, an inquiry was held into the explosion on board the ketch “Albatross”, of Penzance, off Newtown River, Solent, on 24th August 1905.

The Albatross was registered at Penzance and owned by Messrs.

William Burgoine and John Start, of 7 Brunswick Terrace, Plymouth. On August 11th the vessel was chartered by her Master to the General Petroleum Company Ltd., of London, to load at Thames Haven a cargo of 360 barrels of motor spirit for Cardiff, 300 being a specific gravity of .727, 30 of .721 and 30 of .745. The cargo was shipped on August 16 in wood and iron hoped petroleum barrels, capable of holding 40 gallons each.

The usual Thames Conservancy Notice with regard to loading petroleum and precautions to be taken, were handed either to the Master or Mate, with a special warning not to light the Galley Fire until the hatches had been battened down and the vessel under way. The vessel left Thames Haven on 17th August bound for Cardiff.

On about 21st August some of the barrels got loose in the hold. One of the hatches was removed, the barrels secured and the hatch replaced. The only fire on board the ship was in the Galley Stove, and was kept alight all the time. The Ship’s lights were lighted with matches in the Wheel-House, aft and smoking was allowed on deck. The smell of petroleum spirit was strong and the Crew could not sleep below. Oil was also

brought up by the pumps or showed in the water brought up the pumps.

At about 2 a.m., on August 23rd the vessel experienced strong wind and heavy sea from west-south-west and she was anchored off Ryde Pier (off the Isle of Wight). At 9 a.m. the weather moderated and the vessel proceeded on her voyage.

At 5.30 p.m., she arrived in midchannel off Newtown, half way between Cowes and Yarmouth, Isle of Wight. The crew were standing aft, when a violent explosion occurred in the Hold; flames shot up from amidships and set fire to the ship. The crew could not get to the (life) boat owing to the flames but they were rescued by a boat from the barge Vivian, of Portsmouth and put on board a Yarmouth coastguard boat and subsequently landed at Yarmouth.

The Albatross went ashore on the beach of Hurst Castle and was burnt to the “water’s edge”.

Mr William Burgoine, managing owner, said the cargo was chartered by the Master of the Ship. He always refused such cargoes because of the danger and would have cancelled the one in question if he had known that motor spirit was intended and not naphtha.

Mr John Thomas Taylor, manager of the General Petroleum Company Ltd., said he had instructions to use steel barrels or drums when he had them. The demand for petrol lately had increased considerably and wooden barrels had to be used. He received no complaint that barrels were leaking when the cargo was shipped.

The master said he was under the impression that steel barrels were to be used but said he must have

misunderstood the telegram. His company shipped approximately 20,000 barrels of motor spirit a year, about a third of which was wooden barrels.

Mr Martin Grenfell, the late Master of the Albatross said he received a letter offering a cargo if 360 barrels of naphtha for Cardiff. He did not know motor spirit was meant. His Mate said naphtha was carried in steel barrels and he therefore accepted the Charter.

Two barrels were leaking when the cargo was shipped and they were removed and re-coopered and sent on board again. He did not know the difference between naphtha and motor spirit or petrol.

Mr J.T. Taylor recalled, said, in answer to Captain Thomson, that his company had not since the explosion taken any steps to discontinue the use of wooden barrels for petrol.

The questions asked included in substance the following:

sandwiched in the Business Section of a high street bookseller and was quickly plucked out and purchased. It is the latest version of describing events within the oil industry, mainly upstream I add.

It commences with an interesting discussion on John D Rockefeller’s legacy on the break up of the Standard Oil Company and goes on to explain the origins of oil. However there are similar statements to be found in the famous book written by Daniel Yergin known “The Prize” back in 1991 and much of the text recovers much of what we know though the description of Rockefeller is an interesting one.

The book covers the “carve up” of

Arabia’s oil, the glut of the 1930’s, the Coming of the Cold War, the “Seven Sisters” Cartel, the booms and busts throughout the 20th Century, the Gulf War and the collapse of the Soviet Union and oil prices.

The second part of the book discusses if we are running out of oil and the sketchy forecasts that are often applied.

Finally the book concludes with some interesting Appendices covering Proven Oil Reserves, Consumption Trends and a look at the Large Oil Companies. and a fair bibliography.

I think the book is a bit costly for its 323 pages but if the budget can go that far you are in for a decent read.

• Does motor spirit give off vapour at ordinary temperatures?

• What proportions of vapour and air are explosive and inflammable respectively?

• Was the Albatross a suitable vessel?

• Were wooden barrels in god condition?

• Should wooden barrels be used?

Questions were also asked as to the stowage and as to cautions being given.

Captain Thomson said he would forward his report to the Board of Trade in due course.

Book Review

By Brian Baker The Age of Oil The Mythology, History and Future of the World’s Most Controversial Resource.

By Leonardo Maugeri Praeger Publishers (Connecticut, USA 2006) ISBN 0-27599008-7 Price £27.95 This little gem was f o u n d

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

57

Articles

Interview – Phil Monger, Technical Director Petrol Retail Association

By Brian Baker Phil, it seems you have been in the industry for ever, tell me about your career and when it all started?

Answer: Well Brian, it does go back a long time to the Spring of 1957 when I started working part-time at the Standard and Triumph dealer on Saturday mornings and after school during the weekdays, finally joining the company when I left school that December. My interest in engineering however, was kindled much earlier by a schoolmaster teaching us the history and development of the internal combustion engine.

During my five-year apprenticeship and like all the other apprentices, I took my turn at serving petrol to the motorist, sometimes standing in the middle of the road to fill the offside of the vehicle’s filler from a swing arm pump, which was then pretty standard fitment at most garages.

In 1964 I joined the sales team of Hampshire based Hadley Group until 1969, when I was offered promotion to management with the prospect of developing the forecourt side of the business as a separate profit centre.

From 1969 until the end of 1989 I continued as Group Manager, buying, selling, developing and operating the Group’s petrol stations, after which I joined the Petrol Retailers Association as its technical adviser and in 1997 I was appointed Technical Director.

Was the industry as complex as it is now when you started?

Answer: When I started out, the supply of petrol was part of the service industry rather than retail trade, and apart from major roads, standalone petrol stations were hardly ever heard of. My company built one of the first self-service petrol stations in the county and overnight it seemed that the concentration was on shop sales potential, which attendant operation could never achieve, and which has continued to develop until this present time. A reasonable living was to be had in petrol sales and before the abolition of resale price maintenance, most forecourts maintained the same prices.

The only competition was in the familiar giveaways such as glass tumblers, kiddies toys and seasonal promotions.

58

The arrival of Green Shield stamps introduced national promotions, which ended when the focus on retail prices and the roadside posting of prices started.

You have represented the Petrol Retailers Association for some time. Tell us what the role of the PRA is and how you make sure your members benefit?

Answer: The Petrol Retailers Association was formed in 1987, two years before I joined it. It soon became recognised as the voice of petrol retailing and took on some major challenges such as unfair competition, selective price support and the lack of integrity in the measurement system as it affects the measurement of retail fuels. The PRA also gives direct assistance to members, legal, technical and where necessary carry out conciliation between them and third parties.

Your represent your members on numerous Groups, Committees and Forums. Can you tell us exactly what they are and what contribution you make on behalf of your members?

Answer: I have often been regarded as a committee animal, but it is an essential part of my caring for the interests of members.

The most important of these are the various HSE Committees, which started in 1989 when I joined the committee responsible for the first HSE guidance HS (G) 41. The production of HS (G) 146 and the subsequent review of the petroleum legislation concluded with the introduction of DSEAR in 2002. My ongoing work with the Petroleum Enforcement Liaison Group ensures that independent operators have their interests considered at all times, to ensure proportionality in respect of requirements.

I work on various technical committees at BSI as well as the Energy Institute and National Weights and Measures Laboratories, which between them cover matters relating to the environment, European

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

harmonisation, measurement of fuels as well as training. I should say here that my involvement with APEA has provided a great opportunity for networking within the industry, which has helped enormously in achieving outcomes for members. I also work closely with the various Government Departments in representing members’ interests.

What would you say has been the most dramatic change for your Members over the years?

Answer: Undoubtedly the growth and development of extensive retail operations. Petrol Station operators have become professional retailers.

Fewer sites remain as part of the motor industry, whilst the majority are now connected to the convenience retailing market and a small but growing number with supermarket status.

I suppose there has been a time when it has been difficult for your Members in what is a fiercely competitive Market Can you share what they may have been?

Answer: The mid nineties saw the introduction of ‘Pricewatch’ and the reactive supermarket promotions. This was also when two-tier pricing became apparent and its devastating effect on independent operators. The growing environmental concerns and legislation has left many operators with unviable businesses and the ultimate decision to sell or close the petrol business.

Conversely this has also led many Oil

Articles Companies to sell some or all of their retail sites to independent operators the like of which has never been seen before, so that today the percentage of dealer owned sites is increasing.

So when you are not travelling around the Country, what do you do to relax?

Answer: I still manage to find a small amount of time for gardening, which keeps me in touch with wildlife, in particular the bird population, which has interested me since childhood. My sedentary lifestyle in meetings or car led to increased weight and high blood pressure. I have corrected both without dieting or medication, by cycling on a

seven mile circuit whenever I am at home in the evening. I recommend it to APEA members, lock the car and get on yer bike!!

And what lies in store for your near future?

Answer: I am still looking to achieve a fairer measurement system for petrol retailers who suffer loss to the gain of others.

We have achieved some success through technical innovation, but the level of protection afforded to consumers needs to be extended to petrol retailers. I do want to reduce my working week and have more time for family and myself. My ninth grandchild

is expected next January, God willing, and they all love their Grandpa. Beats me, but they really do! I have a diploma in psychodynamic counselling and for about ten years I served the local community in this way. I hope to be able to find time in the future to use those skills and insights again as it is very satisfying to help people rebuild their lives. This is not dissimilar to the satisfaction of helping members. I owe it to my wife Mary, whose extensive help has enabled me to cope with the workload, to spend more time together.

Phil, It has been a pleasure and to coin a phrase from your last answer – we all love ya too! What a fascinating career.

Are there pitfalls of Stage II Vapour Recovery?

By Steve Otty of Sira Certification The hot topic of the day is the

Complying

implementation of Stage II vapour

with the

recovery legislation in the UK. Steve

Guidelines T

Otty of Sira Certification looks at the

h

e

guidance available and pitfalls of

Forecourt

complying with the law.

Equipment Federation

Legislation Issues The industry is faced with an uphill struggle

to

comply

with

recent

legislation which requires that all new fuelling equipment installed in the UK be fitted with vapour recovery (VR) systems and that nearly all existing forecourts be retrospectively fitted by 2010.

(FEF)

has

drawn

up

excellent guidelines help

to

set

a

standard

for

retro-fitting w

o

r

k

.

Retro-fit kits are available for certain models (Tokheim retro-fit kit - Image courtesy of Tokheim)

However,

are certified to fixed design criteria,

whilst most dispensers certified under the ATEX Directive (European Directive

It has been demonstrated that a

94/9/EC) since 2003 include the option

conservative estimate for the number of

to fit approved systems, older, existing

sites

types may or may not have facilities for

requiring

modification,

even

accounting for low throughput and

which, in theory, cannot be changed without variations to their certificates.

The

FEF

guidance

requires

that

dispensers, retro-fitted for VR, are ATEX approved. However, in practice,

retro-fitting.

Therefore the problem is minimal for

this could prove problematic. How does

newer designs that are retro-fitted by

the installer know that he has not

the OEM or his direct contractor.

infringed the original safety aspects of

Whilst NWML (National Weights and

However, electrical equipment installed

the

Measures Laboratory) has determined

before the year 2000 will almost

responsibility for the ongoing approval

that the fitting of VR to existing

certainly

National

of the equipment now it does not meet

dispensers will not cause measurement

Standards but nevertheless continue to

its original hazardous zoning safety

issues, this may not be the case when

legitimately remain in service.

criteria? Whilst individual pieces of the

potential site closures, will be around 4000.

be

certified

to

Who

is

taking

system, or indeed a complete system,

looking at the explosion safety aspects of the equipment.

dispenser?

Both ATEX and pre-ATEX equipment

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

can be sourced as complying with the 61

Articles i n d i v i d u a l

the unit verification of several thousand

certificate for that

already installed dispensers.

dispenser – a ‘unit verification’.

The main areas of any assessment

However,

are:

it

is

highly unlikely that the equipment was designed

and

tested

in

compliance

with

today’s standards, namely EN 136171. Starting to test a Fitting VR can be a bit of a squeeze – nimble fingers may be required! (Dresser Wayne Dispenser with VRS II - Image courtesy of Dresser Wayne)

1. Design assessment - examine the existing equipment and the proposed modifications.

2.Assessment

of

the

installation

methodology.

3.Examination and, where necessary, testing of the actual installation.

twenty-year-old

4.Traceability – keeping a record of who

dispenser, on site,

did what and when to the equipment.

for compliance to ATEX requirements, the dispenser as a whole now complies neither completely with the Directive, nor with its original certified documents.

modern requirements would probably result

in

the

destruction

of

the

For more information about the scheme, please contact Sira.

equipment. Nice for the OEMs but not so good for the operator.

The real test will come if and when there is an incident involving a non-

The Legal Aspects

So What can be Done to Comply?

Once modified, the compliance of many of the older UK designs is debatable; in extreme cases certificates may not be available at all from the OEM or certification bodies that are no longer trading and hence the design criteria may be lost. True, the large manufacturers still have a grip on their older dispenser designs, but what if they,

or

indeed

an

independent

operator, need to address a forecourt with a mixture of different dispensers fitted?

The totally compliant route would be

OEM retrofitted dispenser. What the

Sira is a UK Notified Body under the

scheme aims to do is limit the scope for

ATEX Directive and is familiar with

technical and safety mistakes and

problems arising from the ongoing use

comply with the requirements of the

of existing equipment and the pitfalls

FEF code of practice as far as is

that can arise in keeping them in

practicable.

service.

Experience gained in the drawing up

Finally, it has been refreshing to find

of the hazardous area equipment repair

that most OEMs and independent

standards

years

installers are taking the matter seriously

engagement with the forecourt industry,

plus

twenty

and talking to each other. The exchange

has allowed the development of an

of information, whether it be directly or

assessment scheme to aid installers

to the assessment body, such as Sira, is

avoid the pitfalls of retro-fitting of vapour

a vital pre-requisite in maintaining the

recovery systems.

UKs very high safety record. My thanks

for the installer or forecourt operator to

some

to everyone who has been prepared to

extent, we are

To

go over their experiences to help avoid

s a y i n g

future mistakes.

someone has

apply to an ATEX Notified Body for an 62

to get a grip

References:

on

FEF COP for stage II vapour recovery

what’s

going on by

systems 2006

assessing

BS 7117:Part 1 pre-ATEX liquid fuel

individual

dispensers

b

EN 13617-1 – Post ATEX liquid fuel

u

i

l

d

procedures

dispensers

and how these

IEC 60079-19 repair and overhaul of

produce

apparatus

a

used

safe product.

atmospheres.

What cannot

EC

be

equipment

done,

certainly in the timescale available, is

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

Directive for

in

explosive

94/9/EC(ATEX) use

explosive atmospheres.

in

–

potentially

Articles

Managing The Risks of RG22 Foam

By Nigel Plumb and Derren Williams Are you aware of the risks in using the ubiquitous resign generated foam (RG) that is now used almost universally on fuel sites? Is the assumption that it is risk free putting people in danger? Redhill, Surrey based David Plumb @ Co, Devon based LCM Environmental look at this controversial issue.

The intention of this article is not to say that the supporters of the use of RG foam are all wrong, or that there is no place for it on a fuel site, but that it is not risk free, that those risks should be recognised and the appropriate action taken.

Resign generated foam in its many forms – RG22, RG8 and RG30 – is now widely used on fuel sites everywhere.

RG30 is used to encase fuel tanks for extra safety and contamination protection. RG8 is used for filling degassed tanks on a very temporary basis, as it is claimed that it can be completely broken down with water.

RG22 is the most prevalent, as it is widely used for the ‘permanent’ filling of tanks.

RG22 was first developed at a time when the solid fill material of choice was a 20:1 sand/cement slurry. To fill every part of the tank successfully with this, contractors needed to open the top of the tank, pour in the slurry and agitate it; otherwise it would settle as a cone with space all around. Sometimes part of the forecourt had to be dug up if the manhole had been put in the wrong position.

The advantages of RG22 were that it was claimed to be safe, environmentally friendly and could be pumped in through an exiting pipe or a flange on the manhole lid. This made it a big favourite with petroleum officers and oil companies, some of which began to insist on its use.

It was also cheaper than slurry and much lighter, which meant that the eventual excavation of the tank should be easier and less expensive, as there is no need to hire in a crane, a standard excavator can be used..

Since then, the introduction of foamed concrete has eroded some of these advantages, as it is much lighter than its predecessor and has similar flowing properties. This means that, for most fuel site uses, there is now a viable alternative to RG22 that meets the requirements of oil companies and petroleum officers.

The main reason that we need an alternative is that RG foams contain formaldehyde – a probable human carcinogen.

In 2002, formaldehyde was placed on the US Report on Carcinogens 11th edition, compiled by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service and the National Toxicology Program.

Something that holds only a moral power in the UK and EU. In Canada, Urea-formaldehyde foam, which also uses formaldehyde as a curing aid, was used to insulate homes, particularly timber framed houses, but this has now been banned by the Canadian government after occupants began to complain of runny noses and sore eyes.

Because formaldehyde is used as a curing agent, R22 needs to be handled with care at all times, the highest health risk does not occur when the foam is pumped into tanks in its liquid state, but rather when the so called ‘permanently’ filled tanks have to be excavated and removed, to allow a site to be decommissioned and used for some other purpose.

That is why companies such as David Plumb and LCM, which specialise in projects involving the excavation of disused fuel tanks, are the ones leading the fight to get the safety issues around RG foams taken seriously.

Their concerns are two-fold, handling the foam itself, and exposure to the formaldehyde gas that is given off when the tanks are excavated and cut up for disposal.

Says Nigel Plumb, director of David Plumb & Co: “Because of its alleged properties, we were as interested in using RG22 as anyone else when it first came out. Our doubts began to set in when we began excavating tanks that had been filled with the foam and we discovered how difficult and expensive it was to dispose of.

“We began to discover that RG22 can shrink, letting air get back into the tank, which reduces the safety effects of RG22 and speeds up corrosion. We later also discovered that it gave formaldehyde gas a place to gather.

“We have excavated tanks less than three months after they have been allegedly solid-filled with RG22 and the foam had already shrunk

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

considerably. On the other hand, we have excavated tanks that were filled with RG22 two years previously and found that some of the foam was still in a liquid form.

“When our people opened the tanks they found that the fumes were often overpowering and any of our operatives who were unfortunate enough to touch the stuff received an unpleasant and uncomfortable skin rash as a reward. All our people now use a fully protective all-over bodysuit and breathing apparatus when dealing with RG22.”

The lightness of the foam was supposed to make excavation easier, allowing the tank containing the foam to be lifted straight from the ground and onto the back of a lorry.

“Unfortunately,” says Mr Plumb, “we discovered that there are only one or two disposal sites that will accept the RG22 foam still in the tank. Even then, they will only accept small tanks, and then only when they can be placed in a deep part of the landfill site.

“We will only attempt the all-in-one approach when our client insists, as we prefer the more environmentally friendly approach of sending the metal of the tank for recycling. This means that once it has been removed from the ground, the excavated tank has to be cut away, with the metal taken to one site and the RG22 to another – usually a hazardous waste site.”

LCM Environmental encountered similar problems.

Derren Williams began his career with LCM in 1997 by excavating tanks

65

Articles as part of the decommissioning of fuel sites, which is when he first became concerned about RG foams – RG22 in particular.

He has since moved up to become Health and Safety manager, but his interest in the safety issues around RG foam has not diminished.

Says Mr Williams: “RG foam is fine if the tank was never going to be opened again; the problem is that, these days, eventually, many tanks will need to be removed, if the site is to be sold on for development.

“My concern is when we cut the tanks open there is a very pungent smell of formaldehyde and often an irritated feeling in the throat and eyes.

“We now use a different technique where we try to use heavy machinery to open the tanks up, keeping personnel away from the excavation.

“It would appear that the problem lies in the fact that during the curing the foam emits a fair amount of formaldehyde gas, which is trapped in the tank, to be released only when it is cut open.

“Our workforce also initially noticed some irritation through exposure to the foam and, indeed, the manufacturers’ data sheet says it is a ‘light irritant’.“ LCM believes the main problem with that, as well as being an irritant, the material is light and friable, so, if precautions are not taken, it can get under clothing or even be breathed in.

“However,” says Mr Williams, “this part of the problem can be dealt with if contractors are properly forewarned.

Like any other risk, they can deal with it, if they know exactly what they are facing, by elimination in the first instance and where not possible control techniques such as wearing protective clothing, gloves masks, eye protection etc.

“A bigger problem is that fuel sites undergoing decommissioning are normally bounded by roads and pavements, often in built up areas, so there is a danger that the light friable foam can easily be blown off the site.

These days we don’t remove these foams on a day when there is any wind at all.

“However, as I said, the problems associated with the foam itself can be dealt with using some simple precautions. Our real concern is the formaldehyde gas that is given off when the tanks are cut into, as they must be when a site is decommissioned” Experience has shown both companies that, even with RG22, air pockets occur, where the gas tends to concentrate, leading to a burst of gas 66

Hierarchy of dealing with hazards.

1.

Eliminate If the job is hazardous, does it really need doing?

Foam Sampling Drawing

being released when these pockets are breached.

“Proximity is the real problem,” says Mr Williams. “Once formaldehyde gas is vented to atmosphere it will disburse to a harmless level, but if you are close to the tank when it is cut it is more worrying.”

LCM has carried out environmental and personal monitoring, looking at the level of concentration of formaldehyde gas on fuel sites being decommissioned when tanks are cut open.

In one of these tests, formaldehyde sensors were placed at four strategic points on the site. Three produced results of under the recommended level of two parts per million, but the nearest sensor, located 3m from the tank, registered 2.07 parts per million, which exceeds the UK workplace exposure limits (WEL) of 2.0 parts per million, currently listed in HSE publication EH40/2005 Workplace Exposure Limits.

“This indicates,” says Mr Williams, “that steps need to be taken to protect anyone going within that distance.

“We also believe that the two parts per million limit itself needs examination, as there is, in my opinion, no real evidence for this level, one way or the other. Much more research is needed.”

The message from the two companies to contractors is to be aware of the risks and take the right precautions.

Says Mr Williams: “The main problem is the respiratory system and the eyes, so we use a helmet, with a visor and a power assisted respirator.”

Their message to Petroleum Officers and Oil Companies is to not get seduced by the alleged advantages of RG foam, to look at where it is appropriate to use it and where it is not and to bear in mind the hierarchy of dealing with any hazards.

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

2.

Substitute If the job is r e a l l y n e c e s s a r y, then can the hazardous material be substituted with something more benign, such as slurry, foamed concrete or polyurethane, which is now being sold as a substitute in the US, but not in the UK yet.

3. Change working methods Use more machinery to reduce direct contact. Pay more attention to the weather on excavation days.

4. Control Increased use of personal protection equipment (PPE) and paying more attention to containment within the site.

Both companies are of the opinion that, while RG foams have their place in the mix, they should not be seen as the first resort.

“The problem is, says Mr Williams, “that Petroleum Officers tend to lose interest when the tanks have been safely filled. What we would like to see them do is to pay some attention to the plight of the contractors that have to remove the tanks and set out policy accordingly.”

Adds Nigel Plumb: “Some Petroleum Officers are, in our opinion, mistakenly insisting that RG22 is used to temporary fill tanks instead of water or nitro-foam.

In our view this is wrong, as it makes the excavation process more difficult and hazardous, without any safety gain.”

As far as oil companies are concerned, David Plumb and LCM ask them to re-examine their cost/benefit analysis.

“It may be slightly cheaper to use RG22 to fill the tanks in the first place,” says Mr Plumb, “but any savings are outweighed by the extra disposal costs and precautions that have to be put in place.”

Stage II Vapour Recovery An option - lower cost retrofitting of existing dispenser

By Anton Martiniussen, Elaflex

ZVA 200 GRVP nozzle with integrated vapour/volume control on the nozzle

independent of the fuel flow delivery. There is an ON/OFF function with secure termination of the vapour line which is important when connecting two or more hoses to a vacuum pump. For the “Dry Test” all that is required is to open the valve with a special key and by turning it from position “o” to position “t” to meet the so-called “Kfactor” certification required for the different makes of vapour pumps. In doing so the 100% recovery rate is set.

test which allows for the maximum fuel flow rate for Vapour Recovery. The simulation point for the dry test is set at 40 litres/min so it can also be used on older or weaker fuel and vapour pumps.

It is important to note that not all socalled Vapour Recovery equipment is suitable. It is worthwhile to see what equipment has been installed in other European countries or consult with your pump supplier so to avoid expensive cost later.

You will of course have to fit a vacuum pump and have the necessary pipework done as well as fitting a Coax VR hose and some other key components. The hose is a very important component of the installation.

The kinking of the inner vapour line could shut down your system so a good quality VR hose is important. The most commonly used VR hoses are textile braided. These handle well with all makes of pumps even in cold temperature conditions. The first thing to do is to if you have to upgrade your site is to plan well ahead and to discuss the technical requirements with your equipment supplier. Then get a site survey done. If you leave it too late it might become costly or there may not be enough suitably trained engineers available to do the work. It’s important that equipment fitted has to be approved type and meet the appropriate system efficiency requirements. The FEF organisation which represent leading equipment producers have published a helpful code of practice for Stage II. It’s downloadable for free from their web site at w w w. f e f . o r g . u k Only suitably q u a l i f i e d engineers must retro fit or upgrade dispensers for stage II. It is strongly advised that if you are considering an upgrade you consult with your supplier or with Elaflex for further ZVA 200 GRVP nozzle with gas meter for Dry test and vapour volume setting advice.

The countdown to Stage II implementation is moving relentlessly on. In the trade journals contributors are emphasising that qualifying forecourts will have to be complete by the 1st of January 2010. It’s obviously important that the equipment you are being offered or intending to install is suitable for use. The simplest way to is to ask to see the appropriate system approvals for Stage II. Alternatively you could visit other European countries where Stage II equipment is installed and in large scale ZVA 200 GRVP nozzle showing adjustment key for vapour volume use and see for yourself. flow setting Normally the dispenser Vapour Recovery certification is manufacturers or service companies based on the German TüV certificate will be glad to provide advice. Whilst many stations will be upgraded with new dispensers there are a significant number of dispensers that could be upgraded by retrofitting components and this might keep some costs down.

With some older dispensers it might be less expensive than fitting electronic controls or there may be insufficient space in the dispenser to fit many components.

Of particular interest is the Elaflex ZVA 200 GRVP vapour recovery nozzle.

The difference between this version and the standard ZVA 200 GR vapour recovery nozzle that is normally used is that the vapour volume control can be done on the nozzle itself without the need to fit expensive electronic vapour control devices. You can even do the “Dry Test” on it too. In other European countries this nozzle is extensively used for retrofitting. For the motorist there is no noticeable difference. Some further features of interest is the adjustable control of the vapour volume flow

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

69

concluded to serve for the coming year.

Branches

Mongolia there are 1000 petrol stations Apologies

Eastern Notes on Eastern Branch Meeting &

received

from

five

all to a reasonable standard with very good installations and in particular

members.

instructive diagrams showing what not to

AGM The Branch welcomed Bob Conlin

Friday 4th May 2007

branch this year.

The APEA Eastern Branch meeting and AGM took place on May 4th 2007 at The Limes Hotel, Needham market. The Chairman John Boudry gave due thanks to those that had served during the past year and presented a brief overview on the state of the market. The Branch Secretary

&

Treasurer

Anton

Martiniussen reported on the past years meetings. The accounts were submitted to the members attending and approved as true and correct and were duly approved. The Branch accounts remain in a healthy position. The auditor was reappointed. Copies of the accounts are available to members on request. The Branch sends it’s thanks to all those who attended and in particular to the speakers who came and gave of their time

to

talk

about

do and what to do.

who is the President of the National

Limes Hotel, Needham Market

valuable

upgrading the facilities on the island. In

their

specialist subject.

In any other business – Brian Baker noted that it is the APEA’s 50 year

Bob is a long time

Bob Higgs – Torex TQIPS

member of the APEA. He reminded

Bob talked about the “Clean Air”

everyone of the forthcoming APEA

system, a new an alternative method for

exhibition on October 18th 2007. In his

reprocessing the recovered vapours on

year he is focussing on how to improve

site.

communication with members and how

vapour back to petrol without having to

the APEA continues to be relevant and

lay vapour lines in the ground.

“Clean Air” basically changes

contemporary. He gave an insight into a feature of the APEA’s website which will

Paul Reyner – OPW

be launched later this year and will serve

Paul talked about vapour saver tank

as a useful topic specific discussion

pressure management for Stage II to

forum for questions and debate on

control pressures in the tank by

legislation etc.

extracting the hydro-carbon vapours.

Bob and believes

strongly in the need for the APEA to be a

The system reduces wet stock losses.

conduit of information and a facilitator to connect people in the industry for

Do contact us if you would like to come

sharing technologies and experiences.

and give a short presentation about your

The address is:

products or specialities. The Eastern

apeaissues@apea.org.uk.

Branch members are a friendly bunch and it’s a great place for networking. If

Mark Orr of Petroscope was supported

you haven’t been before try and come to

by Darren Francis on their joint topic on

the next one. We will have two more

internal inspection of tanks and dealt

meetings this year and are looking for

with the important issue of not having to

speakers. If you have a venue which in

put men into the underground storage

any way has anything to do with fuels

tank

and

and you could accommodate approx 29

anniversary this year and that he

management of internal corrosion. The

people we would like to hear from you

welcomes and would like to have ideas

Petroscope

offers

too. We will post the agenda on the

from members to explore on how to

internal inspection of the whole inner

APEA;s web site in October and late

celebrate this. Please contact Brian

UST without requiring entry of persons.

November

directly

The pictures taken are of a high quality.

on

brian.baker@milton-

with

recording camera

of

data

system

keynes.gov.uk

If you’re not sure give me a call on the phone. You can fax us too. Details below.

Mike Knight of Cookson & Zinn talked The Eastern Branch officers duly elected are as follows: Chairman - John Boudry Sec/Tres. - Anton Martiniussen

of his company’s success as winner of

The comments in these notes does not

the 2006 APEA award in the Health and

endorse any products or comments

Safety category for their tank based

made. Nor do they in anyway reflect the

frame assembly and about the addition

view or opinions of the APEA. They are

of a frame on a normal underground

merely intended as a note for general

storage tank and the benefit of the

interest.

feature for the safe unloading and Branch Rep - Ian Taylor

installation of UST’s. It also eliminates

Dates for the Eastern Branch diary.

the need for persons to climb onto tanks.

Committee members John Brooks, Jamie Thompson, Brian Baker, Jacqui Holt

Autumn meeting: Jamie Thompson gave a presentation

Thursday October 25th 2007

on safety on forecourts from Malta to

Early Christmas Lunch: Friday

Mongolia which reflected on what had

December 14th 2007

Auditor

been changed over 15 years ago when

Spring meeting and AGM: A 50 year

Mike Alston

there was little or no legislation in Malta.

anniversary Thursday April 17th 2008

The APEA had been asked by the The election of the officers was

70

Maltese

Government

to

assist

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

in

You will not want to miss out on any of

Branches these so do make a note in your diary

Martin Window of Hampshire

now. Venue, speakers and topics will be

County

notified later and also posted on the

interesting

website. If you are not an Eastern

explaining the origins of the

Branch member you are still most

phrase ‘being hoisted by your own

welcome to attend our events. If you

batard’.

would like to come and / or presentation Secretary

please

give a

contact

Anton

Council

gave

talk,

an

including

(Useful for quiz nights!), and

the

from the history of the original

Martiniussen

Explosives Act of 1875 up until

elaflex@aol.com

current storage, and showed demonstrations of recent informal

Anton Martiniussen

Peter Barlow

testing.

and B5, an update on the status of E10

Branch Secretary/Treasurer

and B10, plus options for possible future Wireless probes

Southern

biofuels.

Rick Bardsley of Gilbarco Veeder-root

Many questions arose regarding this

APEA Southern Branch Meeting 5th July

explained the benefits/cost savings of

subject, and discussions carried on

2007.

installing this type of automatic tank

throughout lunch.

gauge system without having to carry out The summer meeting of the Southern

civils works to install ducting.

The committee would like to thank all

branch was held on Thursday 5th July

the speakers, in particular our

2007 at Weald and Downland Open Air

Chairman,

Museum near Chichester; 27 members

making the long trip down from

were in attendance.

Lancashire.

Bob

Conlin,

for

An opening address was given by the

The next branch meeting will

APEA Chairman, Bob Conlin, covering

be held on Tuesday 23rd

initiatives being addressed by the APEA

October, for which suggestions

in 2007, which included:

for a suitable venue were invited.

• Improving communication.

• Being

more

inclusive,

widening

membership.

• Delivering more member benefits.

Sue Meadowcroft

Rick Bardsley

Branch Secretary Spillage clean-up Joe Attwood of Enviros Ltd. informed

Ireland

Bob explained that a new forum was

the group of their comprehensive

Following a very successful Seminar

being launched on-line to improve

approach to contamination, in conjuction

event staged in Dublin at the end of

industry links, encourage membership,

with regulatory bodies, various methods

May, we recently held an Irish Branch

and promote accommodating change.

of

Meeting in Craigavon, Co. Armagh, -

identifying

problem

areas

and

remediation techniques.

another 1st we might claim – i.e. we

The site address is

think this is the 1st APEA Branch

apeadiscuss@apea.org.uk

Meeting held in Northern Ireland.

Presentations were then given on the

The previous Seminar was well

following topics :

supported with representatives from both the Republic of Ireland

Fireworks storage.

and

Northern

Ireland. Among

attendees was Maureen Briggs of Craigavon Council, who kindly offered the facilities of Craigavon Civic Centre for a future Branch Meeting. We duly accepted – Joe Attwood

hence the recent meeting ensued.

At this meeting Maureen was co-

Biofuels

opted onto the Branch Committee.

Peter Barlow of the PRA gave an

This meeting took stock of the 1st

enlightening presentation of the latest

year’s work of the recently reformed

situation on using additives in both E5

Irish Branch. During this period the

Martin Window

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

71

Branches Branch Committee’s primary objective

Scotland

was to consolidate its existence and

Nothing to report at present

identify items / areas for future activity so as to provide an appropriate and

North East

relevant service to all members on the

Nothing to report at present

island of Ireland.

Branch Representative and Secretary Contact Details

The

Branch

Craigavon

Meeting

held

in

also confirmed that the

issues for attention by Retail Oil Industry

practitioners

in

Northern

Ireland are much the same as faced in the Republic of Ireland viz. - embracing of new technologies / regulation /

Eastern

enforcement / issue with non compliant sites / etc. The Wholesale Sector Depots / Terminals

-

- was noted as a

further area of common concern in the light of the Buncefield incident and the findings of the Report of Inquiry will be of great interest.

The Irish Branch Committee has now a

clearer

mechanics

understanding of

the

of

the

administration

systems prevailing in both the North and South of Ireland and is well placed to address the respective central

Ian Taylor - Rep Fenstanton Manor, Cambridge Road Fenstanton, Cambridge PE28 9HS Tel: 01480 463 739 Mob: 07768 552072 iantaylor@enterprise.net Anton Martiniussen - Sec ELAFLEX Ltd Riverside House, Hoddesdon, Herts EN11 0PA Tel: 01992 452 950 Mob: 07831 595620 email: elaflex@aol.com

work will become the main focus of the Irish

Branch

activity

following

completion of this years reconstituted / consolidation efforts.

It is planned that the current Branch Committee will meet again – possibly in September – and will prepare to hold an AGM before the end of the year. The current Branch Committee can then formally report to the Irish Branch

Tom Hocking - Rep D Berry & Co (PFS) Ltd Unit 130 Middlemore Ind Estate Kentish Road, Birmingham B21 0AY Tel: 0121 558 4411 email: enquiries@dberryandco.co.uk Tom Wigfull - Sec John Wigfull and Co Ltd First Hangings, Blaby Road, Enderby, Leicester LE19 4AQ Tel:0116 2862287 email: wigfullfamily@btinternet.com

new

Branch

Committee

can

hopefully continue to provide for the much needed service of all Members / representation to respective Agencies during 2008 and onwards.

Michael O’Kane

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

Branch Representative

North West Cyprus Nothing to report at present Midlands Nothing to report at present

72

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 Philip Bonny - Rep 205 Dundrum Road Newcastle, Co Down, BT33 0LW email: phil.bonny@suresite.co.uk

North East

members on its work during 2007 and the

Ian Hillier - Rep Inverclyde Council Municipal Buildings, Clyde Square, Greenock PA15 1LY Tel: 01475 717171 Fax: 01475 712747 email: ian.hiller@inverclyde.gov.uk

Midlands

competent authorities – with proposals for improving the ways forward. This

Scotland

David Sutch - Rep and Secretary RSK Group plc Black Lion Court, High Street Congleton, Cheshire, CW12 4AB Tel: 01260 299495 email: dsutch@rsk.co.uk

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

Michael O’Kane - Irish Sec Michael O'Kane Associates Gransha Beg, 27a Gilford Park, Sandymount, Dublin 4, Ireland Tel: +44 353 87 2671675 Mob: +44 (0) 7718 146033 email: mokplusa@eircom.net Cyprus George Gregoras - Rep and Sec Hellenic Petroleum Cyprus Ltd 1st Erecthiou Str., 2413, Engomi Nicosia, Cyprus Tel: +357 22 477000 Fax: +357 22 453792 email: ggregoras@hellenic-petroleum.gr

Training

2007 Course Dates Petrol Filling Stations Construction, Safety and Environmental Protection

10/11 Sept

Dublin

14/15 Nov

Luton

5/6 Dec

Manchester

Wetstock Management

Fireworks and Explosives

31 Oct Glasgow

26 Sept Luton 17 Oct Manchester

Electrical Installations An Awareness

Vapour Recovery

10 Oct Luton

30 Oct Luton

Petrol Filling Stations Risk Assessment, Audit and Inspection

12/13 Sept

Dublion

26/27 Sept

Manchester

12/13 Dec

Luton

27 Nov Manchester DSEAR

5 Sept Manchester

16 Nov Luton 4 day course combining both the above courses to be held in Dublin on 10th to 13th September inclusive, please go to the Training page on the APEA website at www.apea.org.uk for more details

LPG Installations

7 Nov

Cardiff

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

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

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

APEA launch new one day course on Vapour Recovery After some delays, the Government have now committed a date for compliance to the EEC Emissions Directive and in particular, the thresholds for sites that are required to install Vapour Recovery Stage 2 equipment. Consequently work has now been finalised for this new Course to be available Suitable for all Regulators, Petrol Retailers, Contractors, Designers and Consultants, the course covers the legal aspects of European & British Law, Content for Vapour Recovery Permits, a detailed explanation of Stage 1a, 1b and Stage 2 including the various components involved and their function. The course also includes a visit to a site having both Stage 1b & 2 systems More dates are to be released in 2008 so if you are interested, book now to avoid disappointment and be one of the first to learn about this new legal requirement. Please note that places on each course are restricted.

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

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

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

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

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

For details of this and any other training enquiry, please contact: Jane Mardell - Training Coordinator, (contact details on page 3) or Brian Humm, Training Chairman 84 Dunblane Road, Eltham, London SE9 6RT Mobile: 07818 097141 e-mail: brian.humm@london-fire.gov.uk

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507

73

Training

Delegates from the recent Construction, Safety and Environmental Awareness course in Luton

Delegates and site visit photos from the two Risk Assessment, Audit and Inspection courses for Welcome Break at London Gateway and Charnock Richard

Delegates and Sainsbury’s site from Portadown Risk Assessment, Audit and Inspection course.

74

APEA tel/fax 0845 603 5507