HERCULES SEEKS ARMY'S OK TO CLOSE FINED STORAGE TANKS

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 24, 1993                   TAG: 9302240324
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV-2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY 
SOURCE: MICHAEL STOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: FAIRLAWN                                LENGTH: Short
HERCULES SEEKS ARMY'S OK TO CLOSE FINED STORAGE TANKS
Hercules Inc. has asked the Army if it wants to close a number of underground storage tanks for diesel oil and gasoline at the Radford Army Ammunition Plant that were the source of a $233,000 fine.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency fined Hercules, the government contractor for the Radford facility, for three violations: failing to comply with release detection requirements, piping that doesn't meet federal standards and poses a risk to the environment because of corrosion, and failure to comply with proper federal guidelines for tank closure.
"Proper closure is the only way to ensure that [underground storage tanks] which are no longer in service do not pose a risk to human health and the environment," said the complaint against Hercules.
Nicole Kinser, public affairs officer for the arsenal, said Hercules plans to appeal the fine.
To comply with EPA standards, Hercules needs to complete closure of five underground storage tank, the EPA complaint said.
Kinser said Hercules is awaiting Army direction before closing the tanks.
The violations are a result of a February 1991 inspection of the Radford arsenal. The EPA penalty was the third against Hercules in less than nine months.
In October, Hercules was fined $165,500 for improper handling of asbestos material at the arsenal. The company also was fined $91,500 in August for failing to properly label, handle and store polychlorinated biphenyls, highly carcinogenic solvents.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB