On October 28, 2015, EPA signed an Administrative Order under Sections 311(c) and 311(e) of the CWA ( Order ) requiring the abatement of an imminent and substantial threat of a discharge of oil at Koppers Inc.'s coke tar and petroleum refinery located 50 yards from the Ohio River in Follansbee, WV. EPA's July 21, 2015 inspection revealed inadequate secondary containment for millions of gallons of oil at the facility's North Tank Farm. In addition, Koppers produced documentation of integrity testing for only 2 of the Facility's approximately 92 above-ground oil storage tanks, many of which were rusted and damaged and some of which were installed as long as a century ago. The Facility has an aggregate above-ground oil storage capacity of 16,856,930 gallons, 12,072,127 gallons of which are located in the North Tank Farm.
To abate the imminent and substantial threat, the Order requires Respondent to complete construction of adequate secondary containment for the North Tank Farm by no later than December 31, 2015, and to expeditiously test tanks for integrity in accordance with an EPA-approved plan and schedule, prioritized based on the relative risk of rupture or collapse as determined by a third-party, qualified consultant. The Order provides Respondent with a 5 business-day-period to informally confer with EPA and submit any relevant information for EPA consideration.