EPA Requires Lanai Oil Co. To Protect Hawaiian Waterways from Oil Spills in Proposed Settlement
Kaumalapau Harbor. Photo Courtesy: Go Hawaii
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today announced a proposed settlement with Lanai Oil Company, Inc. for Clean Water Act violations at its facility on Lanaʻi Island. Under the agreement, Lanai Oil is required to pay a penalty of $71,166. EPA believes the penalty will reduce the risk of oil spills from their Lanai Oilʻs terminal to Lanai’s Kaumalapau Harbor and the Pacific Ocean.
“It is critical that companies operating near our waterways develop and follow a spill prevention plan,” said John Busterud, EPA’s Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator. “Our action will help prevent oil spills to Hawaiʻi’s harbors and coastal waters.”
The Lanaʻi facility is located about 200 feet from Kaumalapau Harbor. An EPA inspection in November 2018 found that Lanai Oil had violated the Clean Water Act’s oil pollution prevention regulations by failing to: review and evaluate the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure plan at least once every five years; conduct integrity testing of the aboveground storage tanks; and permanently close out-of-service aboveground storage tanks.
EPA’s oil pollution prevention regulations aim to prevent oil from reaching navigable waters and adjoining shorelines and to ensure containment of oil discharges in the event of a spill. Specific prevention measures include: developing and implementing spill prevention plans; training staff; and installing physical controls to contain and clean up oil spills.
EPA’s proposed settlement with Lanai Oil can be found at: https://www.epa.gov/hi/lanai-
For more information on the Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure program, please visit: http://www.epa.gov/oil-spills-
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