Friday, March 10, 2000
Urgency grows for tank registry
BY LUCY MAY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A massive, above-ground storage tank rupture last week at a company in Morral, Ohio, has authorities in Cincinnati more worried than ever that other tanks here could be on the verge of collapse.
The collapse of a 1.5 million-gallon tank at the Morral Cos. on March 3 was the company's second storage tank failure in less than three months. The rupture has the Cincinnati Fire Division moving quickly to compile information about local tanks, said Fire Prevention Bureau Chief Mike Kroeger.
“It seems like we just can't move forward fast enough,” he said. “This other tank has put much more urgency to the thing.”
Chief Kroeger said he understands that because of costs, some businesses might hesitate to empty tanks if an inspection spots a problem. But he urged companies to spend the money. “Letting the roll of the dice play out is just not a good idea,” he said.
The fire division is asking companies to register tanks voluntarily so that in the event of a rupture, city officials will know more quickly which manufacturers built which tanks.
The idea was inspired by the Jan. 8 rupture at Southside River-Rail in Riverside. That collapse spilled 990,000 gallons of fertilizer solution, most into the Ohio River.
Nobody was hurt in the tank failure here or in the most recent rupture in Morral, near Marion in north-central Ohio.
But authorities worry future ruptures could injure people, destroy property, contaminate drinking water or otherwise hurt the environment.
Chief Kroeger sent a letter asking companies to register their tanks by e-mail last month. The fire division soon will send the letter by registered mail.
The letter now lists six tanks that have collapsed in recent years, at least five because of faulty welds. All were built by Carolyn Equipment Co. of Fairfield or Nationwide Tanks Inc. of Hamilton.
Both firms were owned by Donald C. and Carolyn Walters of West Ches ter. Both firms are now out of business.
The latest collapse at the Morral Cos. spilled liquid farm fertilizer over the tank's protective dike and damaged six nearby tanks, said Bill Goodman, a specialist in the Ohio Agriculture Department's feed, fertilizer and seed division. Mr. Goodman said the company is investigating the cause. Morral Cos. President Daryl Gates could not be reached Thursday to comment. Mr.
The March 3 rupture marks the third collapse this year in Ohio. The first was the Jan. 8 failure here. The other two happened at the Morral Cos. — one in late January. Industry leaders are working to address the issue, said Ed Norris, general manager of Ohio facilities owned by The Andersons Inc.
“We just need to get together as an industry and put a stop to this,” he said.
The Andersons' facility in Maumee had a tank that sprang a leak a couple weeks ago while an Ohio Department of Agriculture inspector was there. Mr. Norris said he's not sure which company built that tank but said the leak was the result of a rusty spot on the tank. Faulty welding has been blamed for the catastrophic tank failures.
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