Condo Media - June 2017 - 48
The Region
MASSACHUSETTS
Trouble Lurks Beneath the Surface
Underground Storage Tanks May Create Environmental and
Liability Risks for Condo Associations
[by John Shaffer, Esq.]
Do you have LUST? Not "in your heart,"
as former President Jimmy Carter once
confessed, but buried underground, somewhere in your condominium community?
That 'LUST' is an acronym for "Leaking
Underground Storage Tanks," either currently in use or abandoned long ago, that
could have leaked and may still be leaking
fuel oil, gasoline, or other toxic substances.
Few condominium communities have
underground tanks. You won't typically
find them in new construction because
developers who installed fuel storage
tanks usually installed them in basements rather than underground, specifically because of concern about leaks.
But you may find USTs, abandoned or
still in use, in condominiums that were
converted from old apartment build-
48
CONDOMEDIA
ings or commercial structures and now
represent serious environmental and
health concerns and potential liability
risks for community associations.
Toxic leaks from your tank won't pollute only the soil in your condominium;
the leaks can migrate, polluting adjacent
properties and emitting vapors that could
penetrate the basements and lower levels
of buildings on neighboring sites, as well
as your own. Leaks can also seep into the
groundwater, exponentially increasing
health and liability risks. The owner of a
leaking tank would be responsible for the
clean-up costs, as well as for any healthrelated problems resulting from the
leak. And most insurance policies have
pollution exclusion clauses that would
preclude coverage for these damages.
Leaks aren't a theoretical concern. The
Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) tallied 69 UST
"releases" in the state last year, and that's
with strict enforcement of regulations in
place for more than 20 years.
STATE AND LOCAL
REGULATIONS APPLY
Although the federal Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has jurisdiction
over USTs, it has delegated oversight
authority to states that have stricter
regulations, and Massachusetts is one of
them. Additionally, some municipalities
- especially on the Cape, where groundwater pollution is a serious concern-
have stricter regulations than the state.
The state and local regs are detailed and
Condo Media - June 2017
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