Par Mar Oil settles EPA allegations over Huntington facilities

PHILADELPHIA - Par Mar Oil Company has agreed to settle alleged violations of underground storage tank regulations at two of its facilities in Huntington.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency announced Dec. 18 that Par Mar, based in Marietta, Ohio, will pay a $30,855 penalty.

The EPA cited the company for not complying with safeguards designed to prevent, detect and control leaks of petroleum and other hazardous substances from USTs.

Specifically, the agency alleged the company did not comply with cathodic protection requirements, which are designed to prevent corrosion of steel UST systems.

Federal and state regulations require cathodic protection testing every three years, and that cathodic protection be continuously maintained.

The alleged violations were at two facilities in Huntington -- one on 8th Avenue and another on Washington Boulevard -- that have a total of nine USTs used to store gasoline, diesel fuel and kerosene.

The company allegedly failed to perform required cathodic protection testing at these facilities for four to five years, failed to timely repair cathodic protection for a tank at one facility for a year and did not repair it for flexible piping at the other facility for about three months.

The EPA cited Par Mar after an inspection and a subsequent request for information.

As part of the settlement, the company did not admit liability for the alleged violation. The settlement penalty reflects the company’s cooperation with the agency in correcting the alleged non-compliance and resolving the matter, the EPA noted.

According to the agency, leaking tanks are a major source of soil and groundwater contamination.