Relevance:
Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) inspections and SPCC Plan
Project Characteristics:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 40 addresses Protection of the Environment. Under CFR 40, Chapter I, Subchapter D, Part 112 (40 CFR 112), which addresses Oil Pollution Prevention, owner or operators of non-transportation-related onshore or offshore facilities engaged in oil storage or production activities that could reasonably be expected to discharge oil into or upon navigable waters of the United States are required to prepare, implement, and maintain a Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Plan. As required by 40 CFR 112, the SPCC Plan must be reviewed and recertified by a Professional Engineer (P.E.) any time the facility undergoes technical changes, or at least once every five years.
Ensolum was retained to conduct a required five-year review of 13 field-wide SPCC Plans in Colorado and Wyoming. Plans were reviewed for overall compliance with current SPCC regulations and updated to reflect changes in owner or operator processes and procedures.
As part of the five-year review, over 500 oil and gas production facilities, saltwater disposal facilities, compressor stations, and gas plants were inspected, reviewed for compliance by a Colorado or Wyoming Registered P.E., and updated as appropriate within the field-wide SPCC Plan. During the inspection, tanks and equipment were inventoried, containment around all SPCC-applicable tanks and containers was measured, and potential areas of environmental concern were noted. Due to the high volume of facilities included in the review, Ensolum utilized a customized mobile application data collection database to increase efficiency in the field and during the compliance review. Standardized figures and calculation tables were provided for each facility in the SPCC Plan. Where deficiencies were identified, Ensolum provided corrective action recommendations for compliance.
Photo 1: SPCC-Regulated Oil Storage Tanks
Final SPCC Plans were certified by the P.E. The P.E. certification is valid for a period of five years, at which point the SPCC Plans will require another full review. The data Ensolum collected during their review will be maintained in the client-specific database and readily available to access or update as needed.
Photo 2: SPCC-Regulated Process Equipment
