In Coordination with EPA, Aloha Petroleum Completes Improvements to Oil Facility in Maui

In Coordination with EPA, Aloha Petroleum Completes Improvements to Oil Facility in Maui

Work under EPA settlement will protect Kahului Harbor and the Kanaha Pond Wildlife Sanctuary

September 11, 2024

"Aloha Petroleum must improve oil tank safeguards to prevent harmful spills into Hobron Point," said EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman. "Today's action will safeguard public health and protect Maui's precious water resources against the risk of oil releases."

In February 2023, EPA inspected the facility to evaluate compliance with the requirements of Clean Water Act Section 311. Based on that inspection, EPA identified the following violations:

• The secondary containment system was not capable of preventing oil from escaping the system before a potential cleanup could occur. The liner was ripped in multiple locations at the tank farm's secondary containment area.
• The facility failed to provide sufficient secondary containment capacity that would contain the largest bulk storage container and precipitation.
• The facility failed to comply with the applicable industry standards for integrity testing of the additive bulk storage containers and the requirements for qualifications of workers performing the tests and inspections.

Following EPA's inspection of the facility, Aloha Petroleum began work on several tasks to address the violations and completed the work earlier this year.

Aloha Petroleum also applied patch kits to affected areas, applied barriers to minimize the risk of release in the event of a tank failure and installed a monitoring camera system with remote capability in the tank farm. In November 2023, they built a new containment wall, restored the liner, and inspected their small wastewater treatment system. Aloha Petroleum has also been conducting and documenting monthly inspections of the aboveground storage tanks for oil.

This settlement is available for public comment until October 11, 2024: https://www.epa.gov/publicnotices/aloha-petroleum-kahului-maui-hi.

Background

Under the Clean Water Act, EPA established the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) rule to prevent the discharge of oil from non-transportation related onshore facilities into the waters of the United States or adjoining shorelines. Preventing uncontrolled releases at oil storage and distribution facilities reduces safety risks to workers, the community, and the environment.

For more information regarding the spill prevention and preparedness, visit https://www.epa.gov/oil-spills-prevention-and-preparedness-regulations

For more information on reporting possible violations of environmental laws and regulations, visit EPA's enforcement reportingwebsite.

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