Storage tanks

The MPCA regulates both underground and aboveground commercial storage tanks above a certain size that hold petroleum or hazardous liquids. Tanks must be built and installed to meet a set of technical standards and comply with state rules and permits. The agency assists tank owners and others in meeting requirements, performs inspections, and determines appropriate enforcement actions when it finds violations.

Many industries store petroleum or hazardous liquids in tanks, including service stations, trucking companies, bulk petroleum dealers, pipeline terminals, refineries, utility companies, airports, bus companies, school districts, highway departments, chemical companies, ethanol plants, mines, and pulp and paper mills.

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Registered tank sites

Find registered tanks in Minnesota, including leak sites, and details of tank installation and construction.

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Tank notifications and modifications

Owners of underground storage tanks (USTs) with a capacity of 110 gallons or more and aboveground storage tanks (ASTs) of 500 gallons or more that contain petroleum or hazardous substances used commercially, must notify the MPCA of the existence of the tanks. Tank owners must also notify the MPCA within 30 days of any product change or status change (tank closure, removal, new owner, etc.) at a registered tank facility.

• UST notification form (t-u5-04a)
• UST change in status form (t-u5-04b)
• AST notification form (t-a1-20a)

  Facilities with storage capacity less than 1 million gallons
• Notification of installation or change in status form (t-a1-20)

  Major facilities with storage capacity of 1 million gallons or more
• Tank notification requirements (116.48)

Tanks not subject to notification include:

• farm and residential fuel tanks of less than 1,100 gallons and not used commercially
• heating oil tanks smaller than 1,100 gallons
• flow-through process tanks
• septic tanks
• agricultural chemical tanks

Underground tank notifications

Tank owners or installation contractors must notify the MPCA at least ten days in advance of certain UST activities:

• installation or replacement of regulated USTs, piping, and new dispensers
• permanent tank closure
• change to storage of a nonregulated substance
• new inspection of internal UST lining

If the installation or closure date changes by more than 48 hours, the owner or contractor must re-notify the MPCA of the new date.

• Ten-day advance notice - Installation, closure, lining inspection (t-u5-02)

Leaks and spills

Reporting

Call the Minnesota Duty Officer at 800-422-0798 or 651-649-5451 to report a leak or spill of more than five gallons of petroleum, or any amount of a hazardous substance, from any tank or piping. Tank owners must immediately report spills at their facilities. Learn more:

• Minnesota Duty Officer (MN Dept. of Public Safety)
• Incident response

Clean up

All leaks and spills from USTs and ASTs and associated piping must be cleaned up to protect the environment and public health. The MPCA oversees cleanup actions by companies when petroleum leaks from their aboveground tanks of more than one million gallons capacity.

Delivery prohibition

When a red tag has been applied to a tank's fill cap or fill point, the tank has been designated ineligible. Deliveries to such tanks are prohibited until the MPCA authorizes removal of the red tag.

Environmental audits

Since 1995, almost 700 tank sites in Minnesota have gone through the MPCA’s environmental audit. The program shows tank owners how to inspect their site, find and disclose violations, and correct them within a specified period of time, without receiving a penalty, if certain requirements are met.

• MPCA Environmental Audit Program - Fact Sheet (ea-p1-01)
• Environmental audits
• Underground storage tank system audit checklist (ea-g1-62)

Resources

• Underground storage tanks annual summary (c-prp2-06)
• Underground Storage Tanks (U.S. EPA)
• State Fire Code (Minnesota Dept of Public Safety)
• Ag Chemicals & Fertilizers (Minn. Dept. of Agriculture)

Storage tank compliance and enforcement staff

The MPCA provides technical assistance to help storage tanks owners meet environmental requirements. Contact the compliance staff for your area for assistance.

• Regional map of tank inspectors (t-u1-21)