By the 1950s, automobile travel became an accepted way of life. As more and more cars hit the road, more gasoline stations were built. In rural areas, the old country store added fuel pumps to help meet the community's needs for automobile and farm equipment fuel. No one really thought about the problems that would occur when a bare steel tank was buried in the ground. In places with shallow ground water and/or acidic soil, it was just a matter of time before those tanks rusted, developed holes and began to leak.

When petroleum tanks leak, the effects can be disastrous. Harmful constituents from petroleum products can contaminate water wells, as well as soil and surface streams in the area. Also, gasoline fumes can invade homes and businesses, causing health and safety problems.

After families, and sometimes communities, began losing their drinking water supplies from leaking tanks, people began to realize the importance of our ground water as a natural resource.

In 1984, Congress passed legislation requiring EPA to regulate underground storage tanks. The Tennessee General Assembly followed suit and passed the Tennessee Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Act of 1988. These state and federal laws require that, as a minimum, tank systems must be protected against corrosion, have equipment for early leak detection and be structurally sound.

All tanks must meet the new EPA standards by December 1998. Tennessee has made great progress in meeting these standards. When Tennessee first began tracking tanks in 1988, there were over 38,000 tanks in operation. Of these, only 3,500 met the standards. Today, there are 28,000 tanks in operation, and nearly 12,000 of these tanks meet the standards.

Because of stricter standards for both old and new tanks, many businesses have decided to remove or replace their tanks. Since 1988, more than 19,000 tanks have been permanently closed, many of which were old, bare steel tanks no longer in service. Tennessee is one of the few states in the nation to offer financial incentives to tank owners to encourage early compliance.

Since Tennessee's tank program began, more than 2,140 leaking tank problems have been discovered. Unfortunately, these environmental problems are not easily cleaned up. In Tennessee, the average cost to investigate and clean up a leaking tank problem approaches $125,000 and usually takes two to four years to complete. Through July 1994, over 500 leaking tank sites across the state have been cleaned up.

Most small businesses and many large ones do not have the money to pay cleanup costs. Through Tennessee's Petroleum Underground Storage Tank Cleanup Fund, eligible owners can be reimbursed for part of the cleanup costs. Through June 1994, over $43 million has been paid to tank owners to assist with cleanup costs. The fund not only helps ensure that the environment is cleaned up, but it also helps tank owners meet a federal requirement for liability insurance, enabling them to stay in business.