Texas pipeline company to install monitoring systems

March 19 -- A Texas-based pipeline company has been fined $450,000 and has agreed to install monitoring systems after the government said there weren´t adequate emergency plans for environmental accidents at its oil storage facilities.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said NuStar Pipeline Operating Partnership LP, of San Antonio, did not have response plans in place in case of accidents at its storage facilities in Iowa, Kansas or Nebraska. The facilities store about 71 million gallons of oil, the EPA said.

Under an agreement pending in the U.S. District Court in Omaha, the company will spend $768,000 on a supplemental environmental project to install and operate tank volume monitoring and alarm systems.

The oversights were discovered in 2006, EPA said.

"These are some of the largest oil storage terminals not just in the region, but in the United States," EPA Regional Administrator Karl Brooks said. "The importance of complying with requirements for spill responses and emergency preparedness cannot be overstated. Proper preparation for spills and emergencies can help avoid large-scale environmental disasters."

The consent decree is subject to a 30-day public comment period and final approval by the court. A copy is available at http://www.justice.gov/enrd/Consent_Decrees.html.

Contact Waste & Recycling News reporter Amanda Smith-Teutsch at 330-865-6166 or asmith-teutsch@crain.com