Fuel Tank

The debate over whether gasoline suppliers should replace MTBE with ethanol did not cause a lot of waves in the boating community, but the issue is affecting recreational vessels in ways that have not been widely appreciated, according to boating advocacy groups. Suppliers traditionally have added MTBE (methyl tertiary-butyl ether) to gasoline so it would burn more cleanly. But the additive has leaked into ground water supplies in Maryland and other states, raising health concerns. Many gasoline suppliers, under pressure from state legislatures and facing lawsuits (including one in Maryland)

If you are a boater -- racer, cruiser or fisherman -- by now several weekends have been spent puttering around the marina or storage area in the yard or drive, getting the boat ready for the season.The hull has been inspected, washed and waxed, the bottom painted, the engine de-winterized and tuned.Electrical systems have been checked, including navigation lights, radios, Loran or GPS units. Charts have been updated or replaced. Flares, fire extinguishers and safety kits have been checked and replaced or refilled.

An Annapolis company has won a contract to clean hundreds of underground fuel tanks at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Harford County.The two-year government contract to clean 617 storage tanks and to filterfuel with a new, environmentally safe system could amount to $1.2 million, including subcontractors' work, an Army spokesman said.But the company, Clean Fuels Associates Inc., expects about $600,000 in work over two years.The tanks supply heating fuel for manyof the 2,000 buildings at the Army research center, said spokesman John Yaquiant.

Southern States Cooperative Inc.'s plans for a bulk fuel storage facility in Mount Airy will go to the town board of zoning appeals next week.Also on the agenda are a proposal for condominiums and apartments in Wildwood Park, a senior citizen housing complex, and a request from the owners of a planned Amoco station in Peacock Center for a larger sign than the town allows.The board will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the town office, 110 S. Main St.Southern States plans four 30,000-gallon and three 15,000-gallon petroleum storage tanks on a 6.2-acre site on East Ridgeville Boulevard near Century Drive.

The county Board of Zoning Appeals voted unanimously yesterday against construction of a fuel tank at Sweetheart Cup's Hampstead distribution center because of the threat it would pose to ground water. Cowan Trucking of Halethorpe had asked for a conditional use to build a 12,000-gallon, above-ground diesel tank at Sweetheart's new 1 million-square-foot warehouse along Route 30. Cowan also requested permission to place the tank closer to nearby homes than county zoning laws allow. "As I look at this situation, I don't think there's a legitimate requirement for a fuel station at this location at all," said board member Howard B. Kramer, noting the company's testimony that five to eight trucks would refuel there each day. "Further, if there becomes a requirement, this location is all wrong ... for safety reasons."

Baltimore will pay up to $250,000 for emergency gasoline and oil this winter because several city-operated gas tanks failed to meet the federal government's underground storage tank regulations.The city is one of several municipalities across the state that have not brought underground storage tanks up to code, despite having 10 years to meet the law, state officials said.Yesterday's expenditure, approved by the board of estimates, comes as the city faces a $25 million budget deficit next year.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Space shuttle managers will have one eye on the weather and the other on a temperamental fuel-level sensor as NASA makes its second attempt to launch Discovery this morning. Liftoff is scheduled for 10:39 a.m. The long-awaited 114th shuttle launch would be the first since the Columbia accident 2 1/2 years ago. "All of our hardware is ready," NASA Test Director Pete Nickolenko said. "The launch and flight teams are ready, and our flight crew is ready for a successful mission."

NEW YORK -- Federal investigators said yesterday they had disrupted a plot by Islamic extremists to blow up buildings, fuel tanks and pipelines at John F. Kennedy International Airport, another plan to take aim at America's air travel system and a landmark in its largest city. The arrests of a U.S. citizen from Guyana and alleged accomplices in Trinidad underscored what counterterrorism officials have described as the global spread of the terrorist threat beyond the Muslim countries in the Middle East and Asia associated with al-Qaida and other groups.

State officials have identified fuel tanks at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Aberdeen as at least one potential source of a gasoline additive contaminating that city's public drinking water supply. The Maryland Department of the Environment ordered 7-Eleven Inc. in an Aug. 13 letter to perform additional groundwater and soil sampling at its store at 602 S. Philadelphia Road after "extremely high concentrations" of methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE, were detected beneath the store's underground fuel tanks.

Baltimore County has agreed to pay a fine to settle allegations that officials didn't report a potential leak from an underground diesel fuel tank and didn't properly check and upgrade underground fuel storage tanks at 13 county facilities, authorities said yesterday. The settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency requires the county to pay a $28,968 penalty and install a $90,000 computerized system to monitor the fuel tanks, according to the federal agency. The most serious violation was the failure to report a discrepancy in inventory records for an underground diesel fuel tank at a maintenance shop in Woodlawn in late 2006 and early 2007, according to the EPA. A discrepancy in inventory records can indicate leaks, said Donna Heron, an EPA spokeswoman.