Here’s an example of what happens when UST regulations are ignored. Two California businessman accused of violating multiple UST requirements have been conditionally banned from owning or operating gas stations in California and are on the hook with other defendants for up to $4.25 million in fines and fees, following a multi-year investigation by the State Water Resources Control Board.

Fortunately no one was injured at an explosion at a 7-Eleven gas station under construction in Philadelphia on March 12. The gas tank had been removed but contractors were working on removing beams on the island with a torch when apparently residual fuel in lines caused the blast.

ABC News Story

Moral of the story: always be careful while working at a UST site and always perform continuous vapor monitoring until the job is complete.

The West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection recently re-approved our Class A/B UST Operator Training course. The original version, 100% online, has been taken by over 1,200 WV UST operators since 2009. Check it out!

The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality has approved our online Virginia Class A/B UST Operator Training course. Check it out!

UST Training was the nation’s first approved Class A/B UST operator trainer (2003) and we are excited to finally offer VA operators our inspirational and nationally recognized training material.

Aloha Hawai’i Class A/B UST Operators:

Do you want to attend a live version of our Hawai’i Class A/B UST Operator Training course?

If you’re interested, Register Now. Seating is limited.

The UST Training team is saddened to share with the UST world that Steve Purpora, co-founder of UST Training, passed away unexpectedly on February 2, 2019. As noted in the PEI:

Since 2002, Purpora had been the president of Protanic Inc. and Purpora Engineering, the companies founded by his father, William. He was an active PEI member, including service on the Overfill, Release Detection and Release Prevention Equipment Testing Committee and the Vapor Recovery Installation Committee.

Steve was well known in the industry and served on numerous PEI Recommended Practices committees. His efforts in the field of underground storage tanks prevented immeasurable damage to the environment.

We owe a great deal to Steve’s enthusiasm and drive, that helped create the vision that is UST Training today.

Steve is survived by his wife of almost 30 years, Michelle, and their three daughters: Ashley, Samantha and Sydney.

This in from Tennessee…where the UST operator training is free, but not necessarily taken.

The Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation (“TDEC”) issued a proposed Order and Assessment (“Order”) to Warren County, Tennessee (“Warren County”), for alleged violation of certain provisions of the Tennessee Code addressing underground storage tanks (“USTs”). See Case No. UST 18-0118.

More

2018 – What an amazing year we had:

• Our 15th Anniversary: 2003 highlighted the first ever state-approved Class A/B UST course in the nation in Portland, Oregon.
• Almost 10 years ago: in 2009 we launched the first ever-state approved online Class A/B and C courses for Colorado, then Wisconsin and West Virginia.
• 6 years ago: in 2012 we joined up with our host Coggno, to greatly expand the delivery of our online courses.
• Today: We offer 54 state- and Territory-specific Class C UST operator training courses.
• Today: We have 13 state-specific Class A/B UST operator classes. We also link to the remaining states and offer our next best choice for training, even when it’s not us.
• Today: We offer the nation’s only commercially available Class A/B and C UST operator training courses for Indian Country.
• An amazing 30,660 individuals received certificates of completion for Class A/B and C UST operators from our partner Coggno since 2012.
• Several Thousand individuals received live Class A/B and C certificates issued nationwide in over a dozen states since 2003.
• Over 500,000 Class C certificates have been issued nationwide from our major lease clients and resellers.
• 7,800 folks are currently subscribed to our UST Training News Newsletter.
• Almost 38,000 visitors came to our web page since January.
• Over 1,700 folks received UST Resource Bundles over the last five years.
• We’ve logged 300,700 total hits on our Tank Savvy Minute videos on YouTube since 2012.

Thanks to each and everyone of you who helped make this a super successful year!

UST Training announces a formal partnership with the Oregon Fuels Association (OFA), creating some great benefits for OFA members, including:

• 20% discount off all online Oregon Class A/B and Oregon Class C UST operator training,
• Complimentary annual compliance binders, and
• Free technical and regulatory advice.

UST Training has been working informally with OFA for many years and has been training UST operators in Oregon since 2003. This agreement makes official our years of working together to help Oregon UST operators be the best they can be.

Attention Class A/B UST Operators: There’s a number of new testing requirements for your UST system. Need a simple explanation of what needs testing?

Use this easy to read table below that explains what you must do to comply. But remember: not every rule applies to every UST site. It depends on whether you have certain types of equipment (like an ATG) and whether you use that equipment to comply with the rules.