Small service station strife    

 

 

Reporter: Jonathan Ridnell and Terri-Anne Smith

Tuesday, 9 March  2004 

 

Recently, we reported on Lockington's success in opening a community-based bank and service station.

 

Good work to the people of Lockington – but are Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines putting small service stations at risk?

Mayor of Mount Alexander Shire, Councillor Jim Norris, says he fears for the future of small service stations,

and thus the communities they serve.

"We're being told the EPA are raising the bar to the point where small service stations simply cannot maintain the standards that they require," he says.

"We're talking about checks on the tanks on an annual basis, perhaps, possibly having bores put down alongside the tanks to see if there's

 

any for leakage, so bore logs required – so quite some large costs there."

In response, EPA Regional Manager for Northwest Victoria, John Williamson, says it's not quite that way:

 

"The bar has always been there, but we've now got some clearer guidance on what the bar is for the industry."

He says the new measures for underground petrol tanks are based on year old guidelines designed by both the industry

 

and the EPA.

 

They were necessary, he says, because of the damage a leaking tank can cause to the environment, and by the safety risks it can pose.

While that's understood, it's also clear that small towns have their own issues.

 

As the opening of the community service station at Lockington demonstrates, a small town needs petrol available there,

 

or it risks losing vital business.

 

Since the cost of meeting the new guidelines is proportionally higher for small businesses, can they get some leeway?

"The duty of care remains with the service station operators," Mr Williamson says.

"They mustn't pollute the environment with their operations, they mustn't of course cause an unsafe situation."

He says it's far better to catch the signs of a leaking tank early. He quotes the average cost of monitoring being around $100 per month,

 

while cleanup from a leaking tank could run to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

If a service station discovers that they have a leaking tank, they have only two option, Mr Williamson says;

 

they can either fix the leak or stop selling fuel.

 

Given the potential cost of those options, he says it's important for operators to think about the issue now.

"It's always been that a tank buried in the soil is a sort of set and forget type thing – once it's in you don't have to worry about it –

 

but that's not the case. When it starts leaking, you don't really know that it is leaking and of course,

 

it's only when you see the impact that you've got problems."

To listen to the interview, click the link below.

Listen to:

( Audio in RealMedia format ) |  Requires RealPlayer
EPA Regional Manager for Northwest Victoria, John Williamson, talks to the ABC's Jonathan Ridnell.

                           

Abisha Pty L td    -  Business & Commercial Sales