County OKs Interstate fuel-tank plan
Interstate Concrete and Asphalt plans to start construction of two 20,000-gallon fuel tanks at its asphalt plants near Hayden this winter.
The Kootenai County Commission approved Wednesday the company’s proposal to install the tanks as long as Interstate builds a containment area beneath them that would hold 110 percent of the fuel if there was ever a rupture or leak. The containment areas have to have room for storm water. These precautions would potentially prevent any fuel from getting into the Rathdrum Prairie/Spokane Valley Aquifer, which is the sole source of drinking water for 400,000 people.
“I don’t know what the heartburn would be,” Commission Chairman Dick Panabaker said, acknowledging Interstate agreed to follow Idaho Department of Environmental Quality and Panhandle Health District’s containment suggestions.
Commissioner Rick Currie abstained from voting because he missed the July public hearing.
The fuel tanks, which would hold either fuel oil or diesel, will give Interstate the option to use fuels other than natural gas if natural gas prices skyrocket or if there’s a shortage.
“It really depends on the economy,” branch manager Paul Franz said after the meeting. “We don’t know when we will need it, but it gives us an option.”
Interstate currently uses natural gas to power its asphalt batch plants, which heat rock and then mix it with oil to make asphalt for use in road building.
Neighbors and a local conservation group worried about putting the fuel tanks over the aquifer.
That’s why Interstate agreed to build the containment area. The company already had planned to use double-steel wall tanks that have a monitor in the space between the walls to detect leaks from the inner tank. The tanks also will be surrounded by 3,600-pound concrete blocks to protect them from any impacts, such as a truck ramming into them.
Interstate Attorney Dana Wetzel told the commission at the July hearing that these requirements should apply to anyone in the county who wants to put fuel tanks over the aquifer, not just Interstate.
Kootenai Environmental Alliance applauded Interstate for volunteering to construct the extra containment system.
The first tank would be near the site’s entrance on Murphy Road and the other tank would be near Wyoming Avenue. Interstate also wants to convert its other asphalt plants in Bonner County and its concrete plant in Elk, Wash., to use fuels other than natural gas.
Some neighbors near the Hayden plant don’t like the idea of giving Interstate any more privileges. Neighbors often complain about the fuel fumes, dust and noise from the existing plants. Panabaker reminded the group at the July hearing that the fuel tanks won’t change the current operations.