Post-Earthquake Assessment – Make sure there aren't any hidden problems!
Last Friday, April 5th, many state residents were stunned by a magnitude 4.8 earthquake that emanated from northern New Jersey. The quake was felt throughout the state, with the epicenter in Tewksbury Township (Hunterdon County). Our neighbors in the immediate vicinity easily felt the quake in eastern Pennsylvania, New York City, and portions of Long Island. News reports stated that most of the northeast (from Baltimore to Maine) felt some tremors.
Since that time, and as recently as yesterday, there have been a series of strong aftershocks.
And at last count, there were approximately 47 aftershock episodes felt since last Friday.
While the quake’s 4.8 magnitude is relatively small in global terms, it is notable for our area. And while there weren’t any bridges that collapsed or roads that split open like we often see in movies (or read about in other quake-plagued parts of the world), there were reports of municipal water main and electrical infrastructure damage.
Those kinds of failures make us worry that something will go overlooked at member facilities – and compels us to offer a homework assignment and a cautionary warning to all our members.
After the quake, we received some anecdotal updates from members on several possible issues that may need to be investigated and addressed.
With this in mind, we thought to compile a rough “safety check list” and associated suggestions to consider post-quake:
Physical Observations:
A visual inspection should be first on your list. Walk around your station and consider if things look loose or broken.
For example, if you spot any broken glass or cracks on the façade of any structures on your property, this may speak to the movement of (and potential damage to) those structures. That should set off a mental alarm to confirm if anything within (or beneath) that structure is also intact and sound (think pipes, electrical conduit, waste water, waste oil, etc)
Another consideration is investigating your canopy, street signs, pole-lighting, and similar structures. Many footed-structures tend to rust or become distorted over time. This can be especially true if there are any drainage issues on/around the object (think gutters on your canopy or potential water pooling in portions of your lot, which indirectly compromise the integrity of your street signs or lighting). While it is not likely that the quake would have caused these structures to collapse, they may have weakened them, created additional “play” in their footings, or even sped up a potential, hidden problem.
While this may all seem unnecessary, remember that not every station ages at the same rate, uses the same exact materials, or had equally knowledgeable contractors when originally constructed.
However, it isn’t only external structures that might need to be investigated. Every facility should confirm that equipment, storage, and other non-bolted down items haven’t shifted or been damaged.
One can easily image a shop lift, hanging hardware mounts, walk-in refrigerator boxes, food shelving, and other such fixtures being impacted and damaged.
Leaks and Monitoring:
An obvious and general concern is to identify any product losses; and they should immediately be investigated and repaired.
Product leaks aside, you should also look for water-related issues. If there is an increase of water in your tanks, spill buckets, etc, it should be investigated and dealt with swiftly. While an outright product leak may be readily discovered, additional water incursions will not likely manifest themselves immediately or without explicitly looking for them.
Take care to look at all containment areas, spill buckets, manway covers, sumps/tank tops, dispensers/dispenser pans, piping/leaking seals, submersibles, and probes. Is anything wrong?
All station owners should perform routine tank tests on all their tanks (gasoline and diesel) to make sure their equipment isn’t damaged (i.e. independent primary and secondary containment testing; pressure decay testing ).
Why is this necessary?
First, because an outer wall breach to a double wall/fiber-reinforced plastic tank’s interstitial monitoring will not be noticeable if your compliance company only tests the primary tank, while gauging the secondary.
Secondly, a pressure decay test will validate that all fittings on the top of gasoline/diesel tanks are still tight (remember that remediation for water intrusion can be very costly).
Of course, it is also equally important to make sure any electrical/ATG monitoring equipment wasn’t damaged, paying close attention to alarms, wiring, and readings. From a compliance perspective, don’t forget that DEP will always come down hard on owners who ignore alarms or don’t take appropriate action when notified of an issue.
Post “Inspection” and Moving Forward:
Some of the items mentioned above might seem obvious and straightforward.
Despite this, and even if everything seemingly “checks out” physically and observationally, don’t stop there.
Rather, it is strongly suggested that your compliance professional and environmental consultant do a more thorough inspection on their next service call to accurately gauge if everything is as it should be.
Better to get an “all clear” from a trusted source with fresh eyes and the proper equipment, than worry that something has gone unnoticed and will come back to haunt you.
It should be stated that the suggestions above are not a complete or exhaustive list of things to look for. They are merely a starting point, and you should always speak with your outside consultants for a more extensive perspective. The main thrust here is that every facility and location is different. Which is also why you shouldn’t ignore taking some proactive steps to investigate if something is amiss.
After all, how often does New Jersey get hit by an earthquake?
Was your location especially “shaken up” during the earthquake? Did you have any damage or discover something was wrong once the tremors stopped?
Let us know and feel free to reach out to Nick (at nick@njgca.org) with any questions or comments.
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