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The Southeast District's Storage Tanks section is
managed
by Stephen Brown, Environmental Manager. Phone (561) 681-6668 E-mail:
Stephen.E.Brown@dep.state.fl.us
This section is responsible for ensuring that the
standards for petroleum storage tanks are adhered to via the Complance
Verification and the Cleanup Programs. The standards include
oversight for maintenance, record keeping, release detection, discharge
response, performance standards and financial responsibility.
Petroleum Cleanup
The Florida Petroleum Cleanup Program is managed
within the Bureau of Petroleum Storage Systems (BPSS) in Tallahassee by
four Petroleum Cleanup sections (Teams 1-4) and two contractors with
onsite FDEP oversight (Team 5 - WRS, Inc., and Team 6 - Ecology and
Environment, Inc.), and throughout the state by 14 contracted local
programs (covering sites in 23 counties), with additional support from
the six FDEP district offices.
When
a discharge is reported to the state, a cleanup manager must be
assigned to track the cleanup to ensure that groundwater and soils
are protected. Information about
a petroleum storage
tank discharge should be addressed to the
proper county agency.
Cleanup contracts within
county agencies, are managed out of the FDEP
Tallahassee office,
and the counties in the Southeast District (SED)
that have cleanup contracts, include
Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach Counties.
If a discharge from a petroleum storage tank were to occur at a
facility in one of these counties, a site manager
and professional staff from the respective
county
agency would be assigned to track the cleanup of the contamination Questions
related to these discharges should be directed to the contracted
county agency. If a discharge occurs in any other county
within the SED (i.e., Martin, St. Lucie or Okeechobee counties), the
discharge would be tracked by the SED office. Licensed
professional geologists and engineers from BPSS in Tallahassee
provide technical support to the SED Storage Tank Section to help
track the cleanup of these discharges. Questions related to
discharges in these counties should be directed to staff in the SED
office Storage Tank Section.
Storage Tank Regulation
The Storage Tank Regulation Section is part of the
BPSS in FDEP's Division of Waste Management. In 1983, Florida was
one of the first states to pass legislation and adopt rules for
above-and-underground storage tank systems. Since then, over
28,000 facilities have reported discharges of petroleum products from
storage tank systems. Florida relies on groundwater for over 90
percent of its drinking water needs, and has some of the most stringent
rules in the country. All new and replacement storage tank systems
must have secondary containment, and all remaining single-wall systems
must be replaced with secondary containment systems by 2010.
The FDEP contracts with counties to perform
statewide annual compliance inspections. This also includes
installation, closure and discharge inspections of the petroleum storage
tanks. The SED provides for the management and oversight for six
of these contracts. There are currently no delegations to the
counties in the storage tank program. A contract differs from a
delegation in that contracts provide for the completion of specific
tasks for specific funding. A delegation, on the other hand,
provides for an authorization to act on behalf of the FDEP where there
may be no funding to support the activities.
The compliance contracted counties within the SED
storage tank section includes Martin, St. Lucie, Okeechobee, Miami-Dade,
Broward and Palm Beach counties. The specific county agencies and
their contacts that are managing the storage tank program are referenced
in the information noted below.
Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties have
adopted the state rule in their county ordinances and provide for
enforcement to compel storage tank facilities to maintain compliance
with both state and county rules. Okeechobee, St. Lucie and Martin
counties rely on the SED office to pursue enforcement activities as
needed to ensure compliance.
Note that the storage tank compliance contract
within Okeechobee County includes compliance inspections within
Highlands County. Any discharges from storage
tanks in Highlands County are managed out of the South District Office.
Further information and a list of the contacts for
the six counties within the SED are available at:
More Information on FDEP's Storage Tank Program
If you wish to know more about the Florida Storage
Tank Regulations:
If you need forms or guidance documents:
If you wish to search databases about either
document management systems, storage tank database queries, petroleum
contamination and storage tank facility information:
Southeast District Main Switchboard
(561) 681-6600
Map and Directions
to the Southeast District Office
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Southeast
District Waste Management - Aboveground and Underground Storage Tanks Section
2012 State of Florida