Petrol stations cannot be left behind in environmental conservation because they are the largest producers of carbon wastes that contribute to global warming due to the emission of greenhouse gases. Petrol retailers are therefore in constant quest of coming up with working environmental policies with necessary health and safety measures while at the same time satisfying the needs of their customers. The environmental management system adopted should be geared towards bettering environmental criteria, mitigate health and safety requirements while still enabling the venture to break even (UNEP/IPIECA, 1995). It is imperative, for purposes of posterity that Shaq petrol station builds a working relationship with its financial investors, the local people in the neighborhood, its customers and the staff in general. For the aforementioned to be actualized Shaq petrol station will have to integrate into their system environmental policies that cut on operational costs; entice the environmentally aware individuals in their attempt to show they are environmentally conscious; be proactive on matters about health, environment and safety; differentiate the services Shaq offers from those of its competitors; Shaq petrol station should also contemplate going for the services of environmental accreditors and after which decide on whether they should make the report on environment assessment private or public. This will help in improving the management of environmental issues. The benefits will encompass saving on operational costs because there would be minimal legal tussles, lower insurance premium, a few insurance claims and insurance premiums; efficient ways of implementing environmental policies with good public relation coverage; good management practices and coordinated flow of information concerning customer inflow; availability of proof that the venture is meeting regulatory health and hygiene requisites.
Formulation of policies and a show of commitment is not a guarantee that environmental performance will meet the demands of both the business venture and law. Environmental policies should have some point of convergence with management aspects in order to fully address environmental performance (Training Resource Package, 1996). Health, safety and environment management system to be adopted by Shaq should entail leadership and commitment; policy and strategic objectives; organization, resources and documentation; evaluation and risk management; planning, implementation and monitoring and finally conducting of review (UNEP/DHA, 1996). Effective implementation of management system calls for proper ventilation of the current practice, involvement of every employee in the organization and development of proper communication channels and proper training. Management is supposed to show their commitment to environmental conservation by clearly articulating the objectives and policies; allocation of adequate resources; provision of motivation; making sure they fully participate; delegation of responsibilities and ensuring utmost accountability and finally instituting proper communication channels. Shaq’s Health, safety and environmental safety management system policy and strategic objectives ought to guarantee consistency, relevance and at par with other competing partners’ policies and objectives. Environmental training of the staff should be packaged with policy, plans and management; objectives, targets, performance; local, national and international environmental issues; legislation, consents and compliance, procedures relating to operation, prevention of pollution; use of chemical in waste management: emergency response and reporting. The environmental impact assessment should identify legislation; critically describe environmental baseline; classify areas deemed sensitive; assess the risks that are to be encountered; come up with the effects of the projects; attach value to the impacts of the project; select an environmental option that is best practicable; investigate the possible ways of solving the effects of the project on the environment; evaluate the residual impacts; consideration of contingency planning; coming up with a management plan that constitutes monitoring, consultation, reviewing and taking of audits. Risk evaluation and management involve preoccupation with description of the project; identification of hazards and consequences; evaluation of the magnitude of the consequences; establishing the probability of the consequences and eventual management of risks. Environmental planning principles should entail preparation of environmental profile, carrying out impact assessment, evaluation of risks involved, integration of the environment with design, preparation of project environmental plans, formulation of compliance programs, and initiation of monitoring programs. Shaq’s environmental plans, programs and procedures should integrate aspects of consultation and communication, prevention and control of pollution, management of waste, targets set and levels of performance, ways of monitoring and ensuring there is compliance with the set-out policies, waste management, decommissioning and rehabilitation. Shaq should adopt a way of monitoring its objectives that guarantee effectiveness of planning decisions, gauge efficacy of operational procedures, confirm compliance with statutory and corporate requirements and be able to formulate expected changes. In order for Shaq to have an up to date environmental management system they have to do audit that ensures feedback is got; proper documentation; efficient reporting and communication; verification of laid out ways of combating environmental degradation; close monitoring of programs; facilitation of means of conducting awareness and training, procedures, standards and targets.
Monitoring of environmental management system is important as it is a means of confirming that a corporation’s commitments are met. It entails measuring and recording quantitative data pertaining to quantities and concentrations of discharges and comparing them against Shaq’s standards and layout standards (UNEP, 1998). Monitoring also entails aspects of environmental quality measurements around the location of the venture using biological, physical and chemical indicators. Monitoring also calls for cooperation from the local community by assessment of their grievances. Shaq’s environmental monitoring should be one that ensures that tankers loaded with petroleum possess two hoses: one that injects fuel in the tanker and another that collects vapor that comes from the tanker which will later be taken to recovery unit and recycled back to petroleum. The vapors are an environmental hazard as they contribute to formation of photochemical smog, a major contributor to poor visibility in urban setups. The vapors are also a source of benzene that is carcinogenic. Shaq should also devise a mechanism whereby vapors that come from underground tanks are safely taken to the tankers by two hoses while filling. One horse should be for pumping petrol into the tank and the other for siphoning vapor from the storage tank to the tank. At the time of delivery of fuel from tankers to the storage it is pertinent that the flanges, caps and seals are properly checked to confirm that they are in good state and to avert any possible and subsequent emission of vapor into the environment. Leakage can lead to pollution of water bodies. Shaq petroleum station should ensure that the service station operators are abreast with vapor recovery procedures. A form of environmental monitoring should ensure that vent pipes are extended or all in all moved to avoid the complaints that may come from the neighborhood related to bad odor at the time of tank refueling. Moreover, use of pressure vacuum valves should be avoided at all costs as they risk initiating underground tank leakage especially if they are not properly fitted and calibrated. Supervision of fuel delivered should be done to prevent the fuel from draining into the sewerage system and drainage system. This can be actualized by availing collection traps to collect spilled fuel and take them to appropriate waste collection facilities. Shaq petrol station should also ensure that their thermoplastic and flexible metal pipework used in underground installation are leakage proof, have the right hydrostatic strength and cannot burst due to pressure build-up (ILO, 1992). The piping system should also have the right cyclic pressure and vacuum as per the guidelines spelled out by the accreditation bodies like the Institute of Petroleum Specification for underground pipework system of filling stations. Pipework should also be resistant to crush and puncture, and have some bending radius and low be flexible to temperature changes. Piping system has to be compatible with the fuel to avoid possibility of reactions that may be near-fatal to the lives around. Frequent tests must be conducted on the connectors. Moreover, the piping system should not allow the fuel to permeate through it and swelling. Creep testing should be conducted on the piping system by the staff. Shaq should consider a form of environmental monitoring that has a documented scope and is continually improved. It is supposed to be well established, maintained and be seen to be working.
Putting in place an efficient environmental management system by Shaq will help the venture to become environmentally conscious thereby putting more effort into initiatives that are inclined to environmental conservation. This may be part of a corporate social responsibility that may also act as a marketing initiative. Naturally, many will only want to identify with business enterprises that have the interest of people at heart. This may result in increment of sales as many would want to fuel at Shaq only. Decision-making processes will also be enhanced as there will be a homogenous management team and the employees who work towards realizing one goal (UNEP/IEO, 1990). Personnel will feel overly motivated because of their full involvement in the company’s environmental conservation efforts. This motivation will impact positively their production and the turnover of the company. Shaq petroleum station will cut operational costs as the money that could have been used in legal suits filed by the offended people will be channeled into other noble activities. Product quality will also improve especially if the petroleum station decides to sell petroleum products that are environmentally friendly like sale of petrol with low or no lead at all. When the accreditation bodies carry out quality assurance on Shaqs environmental conservation efforts and find that they are up to standards and eventually make their report public, many people would want to identify with Shaq petroleum station. This will be a boost to its public image. As aforementioned the venture will not be entangled in costs incurred due to liability, insurance and non-compliance charges slapped on them due to non-compliance with the concerned environmental agencies (UNEP, 1994). As a matter of fact Shaq will be center of focus for prospective employees, investors, and customers. Winning the confidence of the regulatory agency will help in reducing regulatory requisites. Moreover, the venture shall develop a good rapport and relationship with environmental groups. Advantages of environmental conservation are divided into the external and internal benefits. The external benefits comprise winning the confidence of the customers and the authorities, better public relations tool, the venture becomes more competitive against its rivals whom they share with the market share, there would be less pollution to the environment and provision of improved products and services. Internal motivation helps in improving service delivery to customers, protecting and psyching up of the co-workers, reduction of emissions such as benzene and vapor, early detection of environmental concerns and coming up with ways of combating them before they blow out of proportion. Internal benefits of instituting efficient environmental management system also ensure that people develop foresight to help in the detection of future environmental hazards. It also guarantees that they would not be entangled in protracted legal battles (UNEP, 1992).
To address the growing concern that leakages in underground fuel storage tanks contribute enormously to contamination of groundwater and death of life forms in soils and human beings, accreditation bodies should come up with legislations that ensure that all underground fuel storage tanks are made of material that cannot be easily corroded. Devices should also be installed that will check on overfills, spills and leakages. Records should be kept and that owners of business ventures should deposit some generous amount of money with insurance companies so that if they happen to spill oil on any water body, or contamination arises due to leakages they can foot the costs of cleaning up the contamination. This should also apply to non-oil marketers like the car rentals who have their private filling stations. In a situation where there has been massive leakage of fuel from underground storage tanks, the owners of such business enterprises have to be forced to excavate the fuel-soaked dirt. The soil has to be subjected to burning to eliminate the petroleum-contaminated dirt. The expenses of course have to be borne by the perpetrators. In such cases, accreditation bodies should also consider instituting legal charges against such offenders. Contaminated grounds should also entail mechanical pumping of air otherwise known as air sparging to contaminated grounds. In the process, a soil vapor extraction system will suck out all the fuel-laced vapors from the soil as these vapors contain benzene that is responsible for cancer development in human being apart from contributing to poor visibility. Another option that accreditation bodies can float to owners of petroleum stations other than the mechanical clean-up after oil spills can be the natural clean-up. It may be preferable in cases where spills do not pose a major health risk to the ecosystem. It is often referred to as natural attenuation (UNEP/UNIDO, 1991). It uses the naturally occurring bacteria to break up components of petroleum and render it less dangerous to the ecosystem. Fertilizer can be used as a source of nutrients for the bacteria, to encourage the growth of bacteria that disintegrates the petroleum. The regulatory measures should be put in such a way that it is not only the petroleum stations that are targeted but also large industrial establishments especially those that use heavy-duty automobiles that consume petroleum. They should be compelled to also minimize fuel spills and leakages.
References
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