California-like vapor recovery systems eyed for county gas pumps
by Alan Fischer on Dec. 01, 2007, under Local
A gas pump nozzle such as this one at the Wal-Mart near Foothills Mall would need modifications if the county were to require vapor recovery systems.
Capturing gasoline vapors released during the fueling process could make our air cleaner and safer.
It could also cost local stations millions of dollars and drive up the price of fuel for consumers.
The Pima County Department of Environmental Quality has scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday information-gathering sessions regarding the possibility of implementing Stage II vapor recovery systems at gas stations here, said Beth Gorman, program manager.
“Gasoline fumes emit benzene and other volatile compounds that lead to ground-level ozone. We know benzene is harmful to human health,” Gorman said. “We know that by implementing Stage II we would reduce the emissions that could harm peoples’ health and create ground level ozone.”
During refueling, vapors are pushed out of a vehicle’s tank by the incoming fuels. Stage II systems capture those vapors and direct them to an underground storage tank.
Phoenix and California mandate the systems, she said.
The county is gathering information to see if people are interested in requiring Stage II here, Gorman said.
Requiring Tucson’s 270 stations to implement Stage II recovery systems would be a huge financial burden, said Andrea Martincic, executive director of the Arizona Petroleum Marketers Association.
“We estimated about $24 million for all retails sites for just Tucson,” she said. “Its a lot of money; it’s not just a $200 thing that goes on the pump.”
Martincic, whose statewide nonprofit trade association includes more than 850 sales locations around the state, said that 93 percent of Arizona gas stations are independently owned, so the cost of retrofitting stations would not be borne by oil companies. “It is not Big Oil paying for this,” she said.
Most Tucson-area stations would have to tear up concrete to retrofit delivery systems to Stage II, said Lee Jestings, who owns two FastLane Chevron stations in Tucson.
Jestings was unsure of the cost involved, but said, “Anything that entails cutting up concrete slabs and double contained piping is expensive.”
“For some low-volume operations it could be the difference of closing or staying open,” he said.
And the added costs would be spread around, he said.
“You have to recover your money. People are going to have to charge more for fuel to pay for it,” Jestings said. “The customers will feel it too.”
Comments from the meeting will be compiled and presented to the Pima County Board of Supervisors for consideration, Gorman said.
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IF YOU GO
The first session on gas vapor recovery systems will be held from 4-6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the Pima County Natural Resources Parks and Recreation Building, 3500 W. River Road.
The second is from 4-6:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Pima County Public Library Eckstrom-Columbus Branch, 4350 E. 22nd St.
For more information, call Pima County Environmental Quality at 740-3340 or email beth.gorman@deq.pima.gov.
