EPA Penalizes Aloha Petroleum
The company must make $3.25 million in improvements to five facilities to protect against oil spills.
Aloha Petroleum will spend $3.25 million to update five fuel storage facilities statewide after violating the federal Clean Water Act and Clean Air Act at its East Hilo bulk fuel storage terminal.
The company has also agreed to pay a $650,000 penalty to resolve the violations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Wednesday in a press release.
Aloha Petroleum shut down its Hilo East fuel storage facility after failing to install necessary vapor controls and secondary spill containment.
The facility won’t open until the company complies with EPA regulations. The federal agency estimates that may cost $900,000.
The statewide facility upgrades on Oahu, Maui, Kauai and the Big Island include building dikes, berms and basins to catch oil if a tank spills, the press release said.
“This enforcement action ensures that harmful gasoline vapors will be controlled at the Hilo East Terminal,” said Jared Blumenfeld, the EPA’s regional administrator for the Pacific Southwest, in a statement. “And Aloha Petroleum will be upgrading its oil containment basins, which are made of coral rock and too porous to prevent spilled fuel from leaking into the environment.”
