Environmental Progress - Winter 2003

Environmental Progress : Winter 2003

Nearly 12,000 LUST Releases Cleaned up

More than 22,000 underground storage tanks releases reported to date.

Abandoned UST sites are often eyesores that deter redevelopment in high visibility locations.

In 1987, the Illinois General Assembly approved legislation that established a state Underground Storage Tank/Leaking Underground Storage Tank (UST/LUST) program that included technical requirements for cleaning up releases from USTs. In 1989, the Illinois General Assembly created the UST Fund to provide funds to reimburse tank owners/ operators for their cleanup costs.

From 1987 through 2002, approximately 22,000 UST releases have been reported. Nearly 12,000 releases have been addressed, leaving more than 10,000 releases still requiring remediation. Doug Clay, manager of the Leaking Underground Storage Tank Section, said "We anticipate the cleanup of 4,000 to 5,000 releases over the next five years."

Many UST owners and operators are eligible for reimbursement of their corrective action costs from Illinois' UST fund. To date, the IEPA has approved payment for nearly 16,000 claims, totaling $496.8 million, to UST owners and operators.

Changes tied to overall improvements

Over the years, there have been numerous technical revisions and amendments to reimbursement provisions to improve the LUST program. The most notable was in 1997, with the adoption of the Tiered Approach to Corrective Action Objectives, or TACO, that established a uniform approach to determine cleanup objectives across all of the Bureau of Land's cleanup programs.

The IEPA continues to work to simplify and streamline the process of cleaning up releases from USTs. The Agency expects to be proposing regulatory amendments to the Illinois Pollution Control Board in the spring of 2003 to incorporate into the regulations Public Act 92-0554, signed into law on June 24, 2002. Changes include replacing the Site Classification system with Site Investigation and Corrective Action for UST releases reported on or after June 24, 2002, and increases the amount UST owners and operators can be reimbursed from the UST Fund.

In addition to the regulatory changes required by the recent legislation, the proposed regulatory amendments will likely include changes to the budget and reimbursement process, as well as other areas to improve the LUST program. More information about Public Act 92-0554 can be found on the Internet at http://www.legisl.state.il.us/publicacts/pubact92/acts/92-0554.

Web site provides much information

The IEPA maintains a web site that contains a wealth of information about the LUST program. Included are a database with information on more than 22,000 reported UST releases in the state, publications explaining the LUST program, annual reports, technical and budget/billing forms, applicable regulations, links to related web pages, as well as recent developments in the program. Anyone can access the LUST database via the Internet.

Three U.S. EPA projects are in Illinois

Abandoned LUST sites are usually eyesores to the community and prevent, or at least inhibit, the redevelopment of property, often in prime locations. These sites, referred to as Brownfields or USTfields (if the only issue is a release from an UST) pose unique impediments to the cleanup of contamination and subsequent redevelopment of those properties.

Although other contamination may exist, the majority of Brownfields sites include leaking USTs. The LUST program works with the Office of Brownfields Assistance at the IEPA to address abandoned sites and UST releases. Recently , IEPA received three pilot grants from U.S. EPA, out of 50 awarded nationwide, for demonstrations at USTfields sites to make the most of limited funds to remediate abandoned service stations. The three pilots are for sites in Chicago, Freeport and Waukegan.