Oil, Petroleum, and Chemical Storage

Owners and operators of facilities that handle or store oil, petroleum, or chemical products are faced with ever tightening regulations from local, state, and federal governmental entities. They are also faced with dynamic changes to alternative fuels that are produced from new resources and are designed to reduce emissions and our dependence on foreign oils.

C&S's in-house experts understand the codes that affect the handling and storage of these products. C&S also maintains engineers and scientists to design and construct new facilities and upgrade existing facilities. Our approach is to help owners and operators comply with these codes so they can focus on other business matters.

Oil and Petroleum

Depending on the type and quantity of product, oil and/or petroleum may be regulated federally by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) under the Underground Storage Tanks (UST) rule (40 CFR Part 280) or by the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule (40 CFR Part 112).

In addition, some state governmental entities also regulate certain products. For example, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) regulates the registration, handling, and storage of certain petroleum bulk storage (PBS) tanks. For some larger facilities, the NYSDEC requires facilities to meet the state Major Oil Storage Facility (MOSF) regulations.

Chemicals

The handling and storage of chemicals in underground storage tanks is also regulated by the federal UST rule. However, chemicals are commonly stored in aboveground storage tanks (AST), so the federal UST rule typically does not apply, but state programs do apply. In New York, the NYSDEC Chemical Bulk Storage (CBS) rule regulates the registration, handling, and storage of certain chemical tanks.

C&S has extensive experience assisting owners and operators with meeting the regulations pertaining to oil, petroleum, and chemicals. Our services include:

  • Plans, reports, studies, etc.
  • Communication with regulators
  • License and permit applications
  • Preparation of plans and specification (e.g., contract documents)
  • Preparation of project cost estimates
  • Design-build construction
  • Construction management services, including bidding assistance, construction administration and construction inspection services.

We have engineering design experience with the storage of:

  • Heating oils
  • Automotive fuels
  • Aviation fuels
  • Food grade oils
  • Waste oils
  • Numerous chemicals
  • Electrical equipment coolants

Our experience encompasses many different types of tanks constructed of a wide variety of materials and configurations, including:

  • Carbon steel field-fabricated ASTs
  • Shop-fabricated ASTs (carbon and stainless steel, fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP), single and double-wall, fire-resistant, protected, vertical and horizontal, etc.)
  • USTs (steel, fiberglass-reinforced plastic (FRP), steel clad with non-corrosive material, single and double wall, steel, etc.)

C&S also has experience with the following plans, reports, licenses, and permits:

  • Engineering reports
  • Federal SPCC plans and oil spill contingency plans
  • NYSDEC PBS and CBS permits, and CBS spill prevention reports
  • NYSDEC MOSF license applications, including cleanup and removal plans, spill prevention and containment plans, environmental compliance reports, groundwater contingency plans

We also have experience with unique features associated with the storage of flammable, combustible, and hazardous substances, including:

  • Automatic fire suppression systems
  • Fuel management systems
  • Self-service fueling systems (key and card readers, proximity cards, etc.)
  • Inventory reconciliation systems
  • Process and instrumentation controls
  • Cathodic protection systems