Owners and operators of UST systems installed on or after
October 1, 2008, and all secondarily contained UST systems utilizing
interstitial monitoring in accordance with § 280.43(g), § 280.44(c),
or § 280.45 must comply with the following requirements in order to ensure
that releases due to improper operation and maintenance of secondary
containment do not occur:
(a) The
owner and operator must report and investigate any leak or suspected release in
accordance with Rule 2.5.
(b) Any
regulated substances found within the secondary containment must be removed
within 24 hours of discovery or another time frame determined by the MDEQ to be
appropriate.
(c) All secondary
containment must be inspected for proper operation in accordance with the
following requirements:
(1) Frequency.
(i) Secondary containment equipment must be
tested at installation and before the UST system receives any delivery of
regulated substances and at least once every 36 months thereafter.
(ii) The integrity of all secondary
containment components of a UST that can be observed must be visually inspected
at least once every 12 months.
(iii)Secondary containment equipment must be
integrity tested whenever it is suspected, by visual evidence or other means,
that the integrity of the secondary containment equipment may be in question.
(iv) On or before October 5,
2019., continuously monitored secondary containment shall be visually inspected
at least once every 12 months.
Note: If a containment sump is not the lowest point in a
piping run, then at least once every 36 months the primary piping and the
secondary containment jacket interstitial space shall be integrity
tested.
(2)
Criteria for inspection. At a minimum, the inspection must ensure that the
secondary containment:
(i) Is maintained free
of liquids and debris if the interstice is designed to be dry;
(ii) Appears to be liquid tight with no
cracks, broken seals or other visual evidence of failure; and
(iii) The integrity of the secondary
containment must be tested in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications
and any applicable code of practice listed in § 280.13 if there is
evidence of failure. The presence of fluids other than the substance stored or
the hydrostatic monitoring fluid within the interstice may be sufficient to
require testing of the integrity. If the integrity of the secondary containment
is in question, testing must be conducted unless it can be shown that the
source of the fluid has been determined and the condition has been
corrected.
(3) Criteria
for integrity testing. At a minimum, the integrity of the secondary containment
must be tested in accordance with the manufacturer's specifications and by
filling the secondary containment with water or other suitable liquid to a
level at least four (4) inches above the highest penetration fitting or joint
and at least four (4) inches above the existing groundwater elevation and
checking to ensure that no more than one-eighth inch of liquid is lost or
gained over one (1) hour period. If the secondary containment is not the lowest
point in the UST system, an alternate integrity test method must be proposed.
Alternative test methods may be utilized only if recognized by the MDEQ as no
less protective of human health and the environment than those test methods
listed above.
(4) Records. A
written record documenting the integrity testing and of the secondary
containment must be maintained (in accordance with § 280.35) to
demonstrate compliance with this section. These records must provide the
results of the last two (2) tests required in this section.
