Feature Article

                Feature article written for the Spill Center by Richard Stewart

                 

                Six-gallon Diesel Spill Costs Carrier $14,346

                When does a routine over-the-road diesel fuel spill cost $14,346?
                When 28 emergency personnel from two fire departments arrive
                at the spill site in full turnout gear to handle it! That's just the
                situation a driver for one of the country's largest LTL carriers
                found himself in recently. His trailer jack-knifed in an accident
                with another vehicle not far from his terminal in rural central
                Pennsylvania, resulting in a broken crossover line. Based on miles
                traveled since his last fill-up, the driver calculated that he had no
                more than five or six gallons of fuel remaining in his tanks to leak
                out.

                From a practical standpoint, most jurisdictions don't respond to spills
                this small, according to the Spill Center, the environmental claims
                management service which audited the fire department invoices for
                the carrier. Yet the departments have a right by law to be
                compensated when called by police at the scene of the accident.
                Could the driver have done anything to lessen the $14,346 charge
                to his company? Since the carrier was a Spill Center subscriber, he
                should have immediately called the Spill Hotline, even though he
                didn't feel the release constituted a reportable spill, says Tom
                Moses, Spill Center president.

                "A spill that seems very minor can have major consequences," notes
                Moses, a toxicologist and attorney specializing in environmental and
                safety regulatory compliance, spill response management and claims
                resolution. "If the driver had called the Spill Center, we would have
                first contacted the local fire departments to advise them of the small
                quantity of fuel and that we had activated the carrier's contingency
                plan to handle the spill," he says. "Basically we give emergency
                responders enough information to decide to do nothing."

                Moses recommends that a carrier who receives an invoice from a fire
                department to call and ask that the department send a copy of the
                ordinance authorizing it to seek reimbursement. "Often times these
                laws limit reimbursement to certain items, such as equipment, or
                when a named official is on the scene to authorize work," observes
                Moses. "Some ordinances require that the work be reasonable or
                necessary or arising directly from the spill before it is reimbursable."
                Experienced  counsel should determine exactly what the ordinance
                specifies, he adds.

                The Spill Center looks closely at invoices as part of its auditing
                service for subscribers. "Without individual audits, carriers run the
                risk of not recognizing unreasonable charges such as $25 for donuts
                or salary reimbursement for volunteer firefighters." There is a
                growing concern in the transportation industry that local ordinances
                authorizing reimbursement are becoming overly broad and unfair,
                with few limits on the type of costs that can be charged, Moses
                reports. He has been invited to teach a workshop for emergency
                planning personnel in Ohio this summer on billing for emergency
                services.

                About 88% of all spills handled by the Spill Center involve diesel
                from truck fuel tanks -- half from broken crossover lines and half
                from punctured saddle tanks. In saddle tank releases, the average
                amount spilled is 104 gallons. The average cost to clean that up
                nationwide is about $9,200, says Moses. The Spill Center, formed
                in 1990, develops custom contingency plans and provides spill
                management, reporting and compliance documentation, cleanup
                contractor referrals, and other services to limit subscribers' costs
                and liabilities related to hazmat and fuel spills. The Safety
                Management Council offers reduced Spill Center rates for
                members. For more information, contact the Spill Center...

           

         
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