How do you train UST operators when most UST systems are different??
The variety of underground storage tanks systems across the country is simply limitless. And after all these years I still marvel at how different a convenience store can be from a federal fueling operation to a private fleet operation to an emergency power generator tank system.
In less than two months this summer I traveled to the following locations and trained operators for:
- A large federal facility with over 100 different individual UST’s. (steel, fiberglass, single-walled, double-walled)
- A collection of rural tank operators in western New York state containing many old single-walled systems.
- A busy modern day convenience store run by an Indian tribe. (double-walled fiberglass and electronic everything)
- A sprawling, mega-capacity federal facility with dozens of buried giant concrete World War II vintage tanks plus a regular gas station.
- An older self serve gas station. (Single-walled –we think–, no concrete tank pad, pressure piping, mechanical leak detector)
We recognize that UST training at every system can be different and we try to train to the most common type system that’s out there, but also include ones that could be easily located at your facility. We actually spend a lot of time thinking about how we can best present the material to the widest audience. We periodically get complaints that the training is not relevant to a particular individual site and just know that we try hard to fit in every type of tank system possible. But it is a challenge given a wide array of systems that are out there.
And those are just the facilities. The audience can be equally as varied. From English-not-as-a-first-language Americans to literally PhD physicists, we interact with all sorts of people every day. We try to be mindful of what might be considered the typical UST operator, however after all these years I’m not entirely sure they exist.
Have an idea about how we can make training more relevant to your UST system? Let us know at [email protected].
