• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.62-73
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• 2004

The current status and problems of UST management in gas stations were reviewed, and suggestions were made for possible improvement of UST management. Regulations and programs relevant through the whole life cycle of the UST, such as construction, installation, operation, and disclosure are insufficient to prevent oil release. The UST requirements are less stringent compared to those of the U.S. and EU members. Current soil test does not seem to be practically effective in detecting soil contamination caused by oil release. The potential for subsurface contamination due to oil release from the UST is estimated from available data other than soil test results. Much higher following future directions and suggestions are made to improve current unsatisfactory UST management: Firstly, increasing the UST requirements - establishing more stringent standards for new UST facilities, and adding new regulatory requirements for existing UST facilities; secondly, replacing current soil test with the tank and piping tests; thirdly, reinforcing programs for supervising the tank construction and installation; fourthly, constructing a system in which independent gas stations can properly manage the USTs; and lastly, educating UST owners and operators, and constructing DB of UST facilities.