July 8. WV hunts for ‘time bombs’ 4,500 RESIDENTIAL OIL TANKS POSE ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD 1990) News 985-2131 THE WEST Vancouver Fire Department has teamed up with West Vancouver District in a bid to reduce the un- derground fallout from a North Shore environmental time bomb that may have already exploded. West Vancouver has initiated a ground-breaking Operation Oil Tank program designed to systematically locate the thousands of old and hazardous buried resi- denial oil tanks in the municipali- ty. ‘‘We decided that West Van better bite the bullet and try and locate these old tanks.”’ —West Vancouver District Chief Gerry Harrington Under the municipally-funded program, two students will spend the summer rooting out and reveating RUSTs (Residential Un- derground Storage Tanks). Last year, the Association of Professional Engineers of B.C. issued a Statement urging govern- ment to develop guidelines to solve the growing problem of leaking underground storage tanks: The statement followed 1988 News stories that chronicled the threat to local environments from RUSTs. There are an estimated 50,000 home heating oi! RUSTs buried throughout Lower Mainland communities. The majority were installed in the 1950s and 1960s, and a high percentage of the Lower Mainland tanks are located on the North Shore. Over the years the tanks were abandoned as homes switched to natural gas heating, but the lef- tover fuel in most of those tanks has never been recovered. In West Vancouver, building department records show that about 4,500 underground oil tanks, ranging in capacity from 250 to 1,000 gallons, have been installed in West Vancouver resi- dences since 1945. According to West Vancouver District Fire Chief and Operation Oil Tank supervisor Gerry Harr- ington, prior to 1945 home heating oil tanks tended to be in- stalled above ground. The buried steel tanks have an estimated life span of 15 10 20 years before corrosion renders them useless. Small quantities ef leaked fuel damage both health and the environment. The actual amount of abandon- ed fuel jeft behind and now seep- INSIDE: Spiritually Speaking: 18 By MICHAEL BECKER News Reporter ing into local soil and creeks is unknown, But a 1988 Environ- ment Canada study found approx- imately 8,500 gallons of fuel in 126 North Shore RUSTs. Following an incident: reported in the News in January in which oil from a RUST fouled creeks after a backhoe operator punc- tured a buried fuel tank in the 1400-block of Kings Avenue in West Vancouver, the fire depart- ment, municipal staff and = the North Shore Health Department decided to seek out RUSTs. Said Harrington, *‘Doug Allan (West Vancouver municipal clerk) was instrumental in securing council approval for the project. We decided that West Van better bite the bullet and try and locate iiese old tanks. What we're fin- ding is that people are changing residence in West Van on average about every five years and they don't know the history of their property. They move in and the house is on natural gas and as far as they know the house has been on natural gas ever since it was built. But the majority of West Van homes were heated by oil.”" Since Operation Oil Tank began June 25, Craig Mitten, 17, and Gulnaaz Lalji, 18, both of West Vancouver, have visited 180 homes and have found 120 RUSTs. Once located, they are asking homeowners not using the oil tanks to either pump them out, fill them with sand or remove them. Said Gulnaaz Lalji, ‘‘Most of them are very interested and very receptive. A lot of them have complimented us on what we're doing because they are really pleased that somebody is doing something about it.”’ Harrington said the goal of the program for the summer is to identify as many RUSTs as possi- ble and increase homeowner awareness. The B.C. Fire Code states that abandoned underground oil tanks must be pumped out and ‘‘in- erted.”" But said Harrington, ‘tAt this time we do not wish to be too heavy on the enforcement side. At this time it's more of an informa. tion campaign. Towards the end of the summer we will be calling back and asking the people to get with it and next summer there will be a follow-up."* Distribution 986- 1337 4 Leonard on advertising AFFLUENCE & INFLUENCE: 16 pages 2S¢ NEWS photo Tory Peters NORTH VANCOUVER District Fire Department firefighter Len Jensen checks the dummy hanging below him as he is raised up a cliff face during a recent training exercise near Cleveland Dam. Rock climbing and canyon rescue techniques are prac- tised annually by members of the fire department.