On May 24, 2010 at approximately 0815 hours, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) OSC Glenn and U.S. Coast Guard personnel arrived at the Cyril King International Airport in St. Thomas, USVI to meet Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) representatives.  A privately owned vehicle parked at the terminal was found to be leaking diesel fuel from a 100 gallon portable tank located in the bed of the pick-up truck.  The fuel was leaking into a storm drain that leads directly to the Caribbean Sea. 

A parking receipt found inside the vehicle stated that the vehicle was parked at the airport on May 22, 2010.  The owner of the truck, Ronny Hodge of APEX Construction, was contacted.  Mr. Hodge, however, was not on the Island and not expected to return anytime soon. 

The Virgin Islands Port Authority Fire Department arrived on-scene and secured the parking lot, provided traffic control, and provided fire control support as a precaution.  DPNR provided sobent boom, absorbent materials, pads, and tools.  VI Regulated Waste was contacted and pumped the remaining fuel out of the tank.  EPA, USCG, and DPNR cleaned the parking lot with absorbent material, surveyed and secured the drainage area, and removed product located in the bed of the vehicle.  A towing company removed the vehicle and towed the truck to a holding area operated by DPNR.

It is estimated that 25 gallons of fuel was lost from the malfunctioning tank.  Although fuel did not reach the Ocean, heavy rains later in the day could have caused additional concerns should the material not have been removed.

Definition of Terms

Assisting and Cooperating Agencies �  Agencies who are assisting the EPA response, but are not a part of Unified Command.

E Goods � Electronic machines which contain hazardous components.

Emergency Response � any activity undertaken by the Operations Section which mitigated an immediate threat to human health or the environment.

FRP � Facility Response Plan. Under the Clean Water Act, as amended by the Oil Pollution Act, a plan for responding, to the maximum extent practicable, to a worst case discharge, and to a substantial threat of such a discharge, of oil.  Required by certain facilities that store and use large quantities of oil.

Household Hazardous Waste � Small quantity waste from households that contain corrosive, toxic, ignitable, or reactive ingredients is hazardous.  This includes pesticides, paint, solvents, etc

Hazardous Debris � Debris which contains compounds that make it inappropriate for municipal landfill disposal

Monitoring � Using equipment which will give limited real-time information about constituents in environmental media.  This method is used most often for air and water testing.

RCRA � Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. 

RMP- Risk Management Plan.  Under the Clean Air Act, certain facilities with large quantities of toxic potentially air born chemicals whose releases may impact human populations are required to submit to EPA a plan for  hazard assessment, prevention, and emergency response.

Sampling � The process of taking environmental media for  analysis at a laboratory of its constituents.  These tests may require multiple days to complete, but test for a wider array of constituents than monitors.

Small Container � any container with a potential capacity of less than 5 gallons.

TRI � Toxic Release Inventory - A publicly available EPA database that contains information on toxic chemical releases and other waste management activities reported annually by certain covered industry groups as well as federal facilities. This inventory was established under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 (EPCRA) and expanded by the Pollution Prevention Act of 1990.

Unified Command � A structure based on the Incident Command System (ICS) that brings together the Incident Commanders of all major organizations involved in the incident in order to coordinate an effective response, while at the same time allowing each to carry out their own jurisdictional, legal, and functional responsibilities.

White Goods � Large home electronics such as refrigerators, washing machines, and dryers

WW � Wastewater Treatment Facilities