Harbor Fuel Fined By State For Violation of Air Pollution Control Regulation

Harbor Fuel was fined this week by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection for failing to obtain an air quality permit before building the relocated fuel tank farm that the state agency said has the potential to emit air contaminants above its air quality permitting thresholds.

The $11,722 penalty was assessed on Harbor Fuel Oil Corporation, which built the seven above-ground petroleum storage tanks and three fuel product loading racks in 2019 and 2020 off Shadbush Road, east of Nantucket Memorial Airport.

The tanks and loading racks are sources of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from fuel products, the DEP stated in its announcement of the penalty. Those VOCs can contribute to ozone formation and some VOCs are toxic and can adversely affect human health and the environment.

“In 2023, Harbor Fuel self-disclosed to MassDEP that it failed to obtain an air permit,” the DEP stated. “Harbor Fuel reported potential emissions of 62.26 tons of VOCs per year and actual emissions of 8.49 tons of VOCs for 2021. State law requires submittal of an air permit application, called a Comprehensive Plan Application, and approval of that application prior to constructing, substantially reconstructing, altering or subsequently operating any facility or emission unit which will result in an emission increase greater than or equal to ten tons per year.”

Dave Fredericks, chief operating officer of Island Energy Services, which owns Harbor Fuel, emphasized that the company self-reported to the state that the proper permit hadn’t been obtained and that it has taken all steps necessary to rectify the situation.

“Our interpretation at the time by our engineers and environmental folks was that we didn’t hit that trigger,” for the permit and vapor recovery, Fredericks said. “Every year we bring people in and review our license and during that process, we realized the way we calculated what’s being released, we were close to the threshold so we self-reported to the DEP. They agreed and said our initial filing was done incorrectly, so we agreed on a plan and submitted that in June.”

Fredericks added that additional recovery equipment will be added to the tanks along with the permit application submitted to the state agency. The low amount of the fine, he said, reflected Harbor Fuel’s response to the situation.

“They gave us significant credit for self-reporting,” Fredericks said. “We called up and said ‘I think we made a mistake’.”