Page 2 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7, 2022 EPA water permits for bulk petroleum storage facilities will protect Chelsea Creek and local communities Permits include provisions to address changing climate impacts and community concerns BOSTON – Under the Clean Like us on Facebook advocate newspaper Facebook.com/Advocate.news.ma Water Act, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has issued five final permits for bulk petroleum storage facilities located along Chelsea River (also known as Chelsea Creek). The reissued permits direct the facilities to take actions limiting stormwater and other non-stormwater discharges that can legally be discharged to Chelsea River and specify management practices designed to OUR OFFICE HAS MOVED TO 519 BROADWAY, EVERETT SABATINO INSURANCE AGENCY 519 BROADWAY EVERETT, MA 02149 PHONE: (617) 387-7466 FAX: (617) 381-9186 Visit us online at: Rocco Longo, Owner WWW.SABATINO-INS.COM control pollution from the facilities. The limits and controls will ensure that the discharges do not hurt water quality, harm plants and animals living in the river or aff ect people’s health. The permits issued by EPA consider impacts of climate change, especially increasing storm severity and fl ooding. These National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits issued by EPA are for the fi ve facilities that receive, store and distribute petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and fuel oil, and they replace permits that were issued in 2014. Petroleum products and additives are received in bulk quantities by ship or barge at marine vessel docks and transferred to aboveground storage tanks located within each facility’s tank farm areas. The petroleum products are transported off - site by tanker truck, ship, or pipeline. The fi ve facilities are Global Companies, LLC Terminal in Revere, Gulf Oil Terminal in Chelsea, Irving Oil Terminal in Revere, Chelsea Sandwich Terminal in Chelsea and Sunoco Logistics East Boston Terminal in Boston. “EPA has worked very hard to update these clean water permits to ensure that the facilities manage water runoff using the best methods to protect health and our local environment, especially as climate change impacts increase this challenge,” said EPA New England Regional Administrator David W. Cash. “These updated permits are based on sound science and policy, and they are designed to advance justice and equity, providing tangible public health benefi ts to local residents who have been overburdened by environmental concerns for far too long. In addition to issuing these permits, EPA will continue working with partners to analyze and help mitigate the cumulative impacts facing communities with environmental justice concerns.” These permits require the facilities to adapt to and mitigate climate-driven impacts – such as fl ooding, sea level rise and more intense storms and storm surge – on facility operations. The permits require each facility to develop a Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP), including an evaluation each year, using updated precautionary data, such as the Massachusetts Coastal Flood Risk Model, of the potential impacts of climate change on discharges of pollutants from its facility. Based on the annual evaluation, each facility must implement control measures, using Best Management Practices that minimize the risk of impacts from major storm and fl ood events, and account for dry weather fl ooding, including flooding caused by sea level rise. To achieve better environmental and public health protection, the permits also include more stringent water quality–based effluent limits, new monitoring requirements for certain parameters based on impairments to designated uses of the Chelsea River and enhanced ongoing ambient monitoring requirements, including a requirement that facilities conduct a bioassessment of ocean depth resources and sediment quality. EPA’s work developing the reissued permits included enhanced outreach to the surrounding communities (provided in multiple languages) when the permits were issued as drafts seeking public comment. There was signifi cant public input calling on EPA to mitigate the adverse eff ects of multiple environmental stressors on the aff ected communities, including Chelsea, Boston and Revere. These impacts – including from water and air pollution – are being borne by underserved and overburEPA | SEE Page 10
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