Remedial Options for Leaking Underground Storage Tanks

Aerobic biodegradation of methyl tert-butyl ether by aquifer bacteria from leaking underground storage tank sites.

The potential for aerobic methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) degradation was investigated with microcosms containing aquifer sediment and groundwater from four MTBE-contaminated sites characterized by oxygen-limited in situ conditions. MTBE depletion was observed for sediments from two sites (e.g., 4.5 mg/liter degraded in 15 days after a 4-day lag period), whereas no consumption of MTBE was observ...

Retroactive Liability and Future Risk: The Optimal Regulation of Underground Storage Tanks

The optimal design of environmental liability policy focuses on two primary policy issues: the cleanup of existing sources of pollution and the definition and enforcement of policies to promote prospectively efficient environmental risk reduction. Through the analysis of a policy toward a pervasive environmental risk -leaking underground storage tanks -we analyze the effectiveness of an existin...

Can environmental insurance succeed where other strategies fail? The case of underground storage tanks.

Private risk reduction will be socially efficient only when firms are liable for all the damage that they cause. We find that environmental insurance can achieve social efficiency even when two traditional policy instruments--ex post fines and risk management mandates with ex ante fines--do not. Inefficiency occurs with ex post fines, when small firms declare bankruptcy and escape their liabili...

Numerical Analysis of the Seismic Response of Underground Steel Storage Tanks

The seismic behaviour of underground structures is generally satisfactory compared to the above-ground ones. However, despite of the buried structure confinement, in recent strong seismic events some underground structure as tunnels, pipelines and tanks suffered high damage; for this reason, a strong effort is focused to evaluate the seismic vulnerability of these structure and to give codes in...

GAO-02-753T Environmental Protection: MTBE Contamination From Underground Storage Tanks