Morris Lubricants

Guidance notes for safe oil storage

Follow the Oil Care Code. If you use or store oil on your site, remember this simple advice.

Site your storage tank within an oil tight bund wall on an impervious base. Make sure that valves and pipes are contained within the bund.
Make sure that the bund has no drain which would allow oil to escape.
Don&rsquo t overfill your tank. Check the amount of oil already in the tank before receiving a delivery.
Supervise all deliveries. Stop the delivery if there are any leaks or overflows.
Clearly mark all pipework to show the type of oil and where it leads, and lock all valves and gauges securely after a delivery.

If an oil spill occurs
Try to stop the oil from entering any drains or watercourses using earth or sandbags to absorb it. Never hose it down.

Any earth or absorbent contaminated with oil must not be disposed of as general waste.
Contact your local registered Waste Contractor for advise on safe disposal.
If you are unable to adequately deal with the spill yourself contact the national 24 hour Oil Spill Hotline on 0800 80 70 60

CONTROL OF POLLUTION (OIL STORAGE) REGULATIONS 2001

Did you know?

Oil can seep through soil and contaminate groundwater and therefore drinking water supplies. Over half (55%) of closures of drinking water abstractions occur because of oil contamination. This adds to the cost of water bills.
The oil from one car oil-change is enough to contaminate 5 million litres of water and can cover a four-acre lake.
It is estimated that more than 13,000 tonnes of waste oil is lost into the UK environment every year.
The Environment Agency currently deals with more than 35,000 pollution incidents a year in England and Wales. Nearly a third of these are oil or fuel related.
The annual cost of investigating and cleaning up oil spills in England and Wales is 1.4 million.

CONTROL OF POLLUTION (OIL STORAGE) REGULATIONS 2001

These regulations came into force 01 March 2002

Purpose:
To reduce incidents of oil related water pollution by:

Setting design standard for all above-ground oil storage containers
Installing of ?bund? or ?drip tray?

Those affected:
Anyone storing oil above ground in volumes greater than 200 litres on industrial, commercial and institutional premises except under the circumstances below

Exceptions:

a) if the oil is waste oil

b) in any container situated in a building or wholly underground

c) in any containers with a storage capacity of 200 litres of less

d) on any premises used

i)wholly or mainly as a private dwelling if the storage capacity of container is less than 3500 litres

ii) for refining oil

iii) for the onward distribution of oil

e) on any farm if the oil is for use in connection with agriculture

Note: although it is not a requirement of these Regulations for storage tanks that are sited within a building to be bunded, the Environment Agency of Local Authority may still insist on containment measures.

Those with custody or control of above-ground oil storage facilities must:

Provide and maintain to minimum standard at all times:

a secondary containment system ?bund?

or ?drip tray? (for oil drums and mobile storage equipment)

Prevent any leaks or spills onto or into the ground from an individual tank or other facilities by ensuring good tank design standards, including pipe-work.

Oils Covered:
Heating, lighting, power generation, vegetable, lubricating oils, petrol, diesel etc.

Tank Location:

At least 10 metres away from watercourse or drain.
Avoid roof storage level

Tank:

Tested to recognised standards BS5799 Part 5 (steel tanks) and OFST100 (polyethylene tanks)

Bund requirements:

Minimum 750 mm between tank and bund wall
Minimum 600 mm between tank and base
Marked with product type and tank capacity

Every part of the tank to be within the bund including:

Valves, taps, filters, vent pipes, and the filling point
An overfill warning device is recommended.

Bund construction:

Construction to include lining of material impermeable to the oil stored.

Pipe-work should not pass through bund wall, unless:-

Sealant around the pipe is resistant to attack
Overall integrity is not compromised

Bund should include rainwater sump and a system set up to regularly remove accumulated rainwater. This water should be considered contaminated and disposed of accordingly.

There should be no outlet direct to drain, sewer or watercourse

Bund Capacity:

For single tanks - 110% of the total volume.
For two or more tanks - 110% of the largest tank or 25% of the total capacity of all tanks (whichever is greater).

(10% margin is intended to take into account a couple of factors, including loss of total contents due to vandalism, sudden tank failure or leaks, overfilling and allowance for rainwater, etc.)

Drip trays for Drums and IBC?s

Must have a capacity of 25% of the total volume of containers