Managing Leaking Underground Storage Tanks: A Spatial Database Approach

Abstract

Leaking Underground Storage Tanks (LUST’s) are a significant source of environmental contamination and may pose several threats to human health and safety. Functional management of the problem at local level is difficult due to the lack of regulatory personnel and the vast number of UST’s facilities. Tracking the status of LUST’s facilities is even more difficult due to the frequent abandonment and reuse of UST’s systems. Spatial databases are suitable to organize location and attribute data for variables that are pertinent to the LUST management problem. A spatial database LUST management system was created and applied to a control group of 25 LUST facilities in the municipality of Bayamón, Puerto Rico. The system is effective to manage the LUST facilities problem in a proactive fashion and can be applied for UST inventory. Potential beneficiaries of this database may include environmental regulatory agencies, emergency management officials, gasoline distributors, and general public. Key Terms - Leaking Underground Storage Tanks (LUST’s), Management, Service Station, Spatial Database.