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Ruvalcaba, Cesar <br /> From: Ruvalcaba,Cesar <br /> Sent: Friday,August 2,2019 11:56 AM <br /> To: 'Dana Schmidt' <br /> Subject: STI certified inspector concern - Not identifying UST as AST- San Joaquin County <br /> Environmental Health Department- CA- PR0523161 <br /> Attachments: Periodic Integrity Test Certificate.pdf, DSCF1504.1PG; DSCF 1505.1PG; DSCF1506.1PG; <br /> DSCF1507.1PG; DSCF1508.JPG <br /> Hi Dana, <br /> I was working with our Aboveground Petroleum Storage Act Technical Advisory Group(APSA TAG)in California to see if <br /> there was a formal process to report suspected STI certified inspectors who may be certifying tanks that should not be <br /> certified.The response I received was that I should contact you only for this instance,since you will be retiring and that <br /> the general STI email should be used in the future. <br /> Here is what I have encountered. <br /> During an APSA inspection of the SPCC plan a 10,000 gallon diesel tank was observed at the facility. What was said to be <br /> an STI certified inspection report was presented. The presented report is attached.The report states that the there was <br /> no UL serial 11 on the tank.After the inspection, I called the testing company SPC Corporation. It was stated that the <br /> report was a STI report generated by a STI certified inspector. During later conversations it was stated by SPCC Corp that <br /> there was another inspection conducted on the 10,000 gallon tank in 2016,and that the tank was observed to not have <br /> issues under the STI standard.The 2016 report was requested but has not been provided.As specified in Chapter 7 <br /> section 7.1.2 of the STI standard "The inspector or the inspection company shall develop detailed checklists that <br /> identify,record,and document all aspects of each inspection.",the checklist was requested but none have been <br /> provided. <br /> As can be seen from the attached pictures,the 10,000 gallon tank was suspected of being a recycled UST or at least not <br /> meeting the venting requirements required by fire codes.The matter was referred to the local fire district.The local fire <br /> district conducted an inspection on the tank and found that the tank had a UL listing which identified it as an UST. <br /> SPC Corp has inspected that tank again,during the last couple of months,and has now alerted the tank owner that the <br /> tank cannot be used saying they concur with the findings of the fire inspection. <br /> The concern is that the SPC Corp inspected the tank twice before,according to them under STI standards,by a STI <br /> certified inspector and never identified any issues to the tank owner.Speaking to Paul McWhorter,CEO of the company, <br /> he stated that no issues were identified since the APSA regulations had allowed the use of the tank at the time. Paul was <br /> reminded that APSA regulations do not touch on this subject matter,it is found in fire code. <br /> From what I can gather the STI certified inspector in question would be Todd W. McWhorter AST-135013.As you can see <br /> the provided"STI Report"is not certified by an inspector. I will continue to ask for the detail on the 2013 report and <br /> request the 2016 report as well as the 2019 report. <br /> I am not sure what other information you would need,feel free to contact me for what you may need. I was hoping to <br /> have more information by now,but none has been provided. <br /> 1 <br />