Oil Terminal Owners Seek to Defer Inspections as Tanks Fill Up

Oil terminal owners are seeking to delay out-of-service inspections required under federal law as storage fills up across the nation.

With tanks rapidly approaching full capacity due to a massive glut of crude and refined products caused by the lockdown measures designed to slow the spread of the pandemic, operators have been unable to drain them in order to carry out internal checks.

As a result, they’re asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to defer certain inspections until oil demand recovers and storage levels return to normal. Normally, owners remove around 10% of their tanks from service every year for ...