Please be advised that the Petroleum Bulk Storage Bureau will no longer respond to chemical or petroleum spills as of July 28, 2012. Spills should be reported directly to NYSDEC 24 Hour Spill Hotline (800) 457-7362. The Bureau of Water Pollution  will continue responding to sewage spills.

The Petroleum Bulk Storage Bureau administers a program that prevents, identifies, and corrects potential or real incidences of soil and water contamination.  The Bureau assures clean water and soils and an environment free of hazardous materials, by responding to spills and hazardous materials incidents, investigating complaints, enforcing county regulations pertaining to aboveground and underground storage of petroleum (Rockland County Sanitary Code’s Article X), and assuring compliance with federal and state petroleum storage requirements as well (40 CFR 280, 6 NYCRR Parts 612, 613, 614).  Our mission is to “protect county soil and waters so as to protect the public health and environment for the people…”

The Rockland County Department of Health is one of only five (5) local Health Departments statewide to be delegated the authority by NYSDEC to enforce Petroleum Bulk Storage regulations. These regulations are intended to protect soil and water resources through enforcement of provisions which include: registration of existing petroleum storage tanks; proper installation of new tanks; removal of outdated tanks; periodic tank and piping tightness testing; facility inspections; reporting and remediation of tank failures and petroleum spills; and investigation and remediation of petroleum contaminated soil and water.  Every federal, state, county or regulated petroleum tank is inspected at least once every 3 years, prior to facility re-registration. Bureau staff follows up on each inspection violation to assure facility compliance, prior to re-registering the facility. We take efforts to educate as well as enforce. For example, our annual educational Outreach event, which presented updated compliance requirements, was held in March and was attended by over 75 people.

Bureau staff responds to hazardous materials spills; maintains a database to track cleanup progress on those spill events; maintains a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) database for caseload; investigates soil, groundwater and surface water related complaints; responds to chemical emergencies; tracks contamination cleanups, including ground water recovery or soil treatment; participates in environmental health assessments at hazardous waste and voluntary cleanup sites, and maintains files for the state and federal Superfund sites.