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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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State
Rep. Dan Surra |
  
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State tank cleanup grant awarded to St. Marys business owner
HARRISBURG, July 10 – State Rep. Dan Surra, D-Elk/Clearfield, announced today that a $5,619 state grant will be awarded to Timothy C. Schneider in St. Marys to reimburse the cost of draining, cleaning and disposing the contents of five underground storage tanks on his property.
The grant is being awarded under the state's Underground Storage Tank Pollution Prevention Program, commonly called the "Pump and Plug" program. Under the program, the Department of Environmental Protection provides grants to encourage small underground tank owners, usually small businesses, to remove the environmental threat posed by unused and unsafe tanks that have not been updated to meet current federal and state technical requirements.
Since the program began in July 1998, more than 900 grants have been approved for nearly $4.6 million. Surra voted last year to reauthorize the grant program, along with another that helps homeowners pay to clean up tanks used for storing home-heating oil, for another five years.
"Storage tanks that are underground and out of sight can present a significant danger to the public if they are leaking or releasing dangerous chemicals into the soil," Surra said. "These two programs help to ensure that businesses and homeowners in Pennsylvania can afford to address leaking or obsolete tanks, and that local, state and federal environmental standards are being met."
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