MPCA penalizes Master Transfer Co. for spill-reporting violations

For release: Jan. 29, 2012

Contact: Sam Brungardt, 651-757-2249

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MPCA penalizes Master Transfer Co. for spill-reporting violations

St. Paul, Minn. -- A Brooklyn Park trucking company, Master Transfer Co., has reached an agreement with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) resolving the company’s failures to report petroleum spills in June 2010 and January 2012.

On June 30, 2010, MPCA staff investigated a complaint that petroleum had been spilled at the Master Transfer facility at 7211 Winnetka Ave. N. At the time of the investigation, the company was operating a tanker truck to transport and dispense diesel fuel to service its operations and had a 2,000-gallon, double-walled aboveground tank for storing and dispensing diesel fuel. The company had never notified the MPCA of the storage tank's existence within 30 days of its installation, as is required by law, nor was the tank clearly labeled, showing the substance stored and the tank's capacity, as Minnesota rules require.

The MPCA inspector found that on June 27, 2010, another company had an overfill of approximately 50 gallons when it transferred diesel fuel to a Master Transfer tanker truck at the Master Transfer facility. Although the other company immediately began cleanup activities, neither it nor Master Transfer reported the spill as required by law. Master Transfer reported the spill on June 29, only after City of Brooklyn Park staff observed and reported evidence of the spill.

Master Transfer again failed to report a spill on January 14, 2012, when one of its trucks hit a stoplight post at the intersection of Highway 81 and West Broadway in Brooklyn Park. The incident resulted in a spill to the soil of about 40 gallons of diesel fuel from the truck’s damaged saddle tank.

Minnesota law requires that anyone spilling a substance or material which, if not recovered, would pollute waters of the state, to immediately report the spill to the MPCA via the Minnesota Duty Officer. This enables MPCA staff to evaluate the adequacy of the spill response by the responsible party and, if necessary, require additional cleanup measures.

As a result of the settlement, Master Transfer Co. has developed a spill-response plan, submitted documentation verifying that it will immediately report releases to the Minnesota Duty Officer, trained its staff on spill-reporting requirements and spill-response procedures, and submitted documentation that it has properly cleaned up and managed the soil at its facility that was contaminated by spills of diesel fuel. Master Transfer also paid a $10,000 civil penalty to the MPCA.

A stipulation agreement such as this one between the MPCA and Master Transfer Co. is one of the tools that the MPCA uses to achieve compliance with environmental laws.  When calculating penalties, the agency takes into account how seriously the violation affected the environment, whether it is a first-time or repeat violation, and how promptly the violation was reported to the appropriate authorities. The MPCA also attempts to recover the calculated economic benefit gained by failure to comply with environmental laws in a timely manner.  For a comprehensive list of enforcement actions by the MPCA, go to the agency’s Quarterly summary of enforcement actions webpage.

Broadcast version:

A Brooklyn Park trucking company, Master Transfer Company, has been cited by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for two failures to immediately report spills of diesel fuel to the proper authorities.

In accordance with its agreement with the M-P-C-A, Master Transfer Company has developed a spill-response plan and instructed its employees on proper spill-reporting and spill-cleanup procedures. In addition, the company has paid a ten-thousand-dollar civil penalty to the M-P-C-A.

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