The state has ordered a company that stores and ships gasoline to pay a 300-thousand-dollar fine for air-quality violations at a terminal in Waterloo. Williams Pipeline admitted most of the violations charged by the state. The company’s Kelly Swan describes the Waterloo terminal as a “gas station for tanker trucks.”He says it’s basically a “pit stop” for the pipeline system, where fuel from pipelines is put into storage tanks and then is used to fill tanker trucks that will haul the fuel to gas stations. Swan explains the petroleum emissions were caused by the old way of filling tanks, splashing gas into them through hatches in the top. He says they’ve overhauled the way trucks are loaded, bottom-loading fuel so there’s no splashing, and investing three million dollars at the terminal in a new “loading rack” for the trucks. Swan says while modern technology has tightened environmental guidelines and made it easier to measure smaller amounts of pollutants, it also makes it easier for Williams Pipeline to cut down the amount of those toxins that can escape. He says the new loading rack and new technology let the company cut annual emissions from 500 tons to 25-to-35 tons. The company has a permit to handle up to 260-million gallons of fuel at the terminal each year.
