Current Argentinean Audits System State of the Hydrocarbons Storage Facilities

In the year 1949, the Law 13660 was approved, and it fixed the capacity of the Executive Branch to regulate the requirements that should complete the elaboration, transformation and fuels storage facilities, to satisfy the security and the populations' health. This fundamental Law was regulated for the first time in the year 1960, through the Executive Order 10877. This Executive Order lays down the basic safety guidelines to be met by large processing facilities, transformation and fuels storage, but not so in regard to the marketing of fuels at service stations and others fuels suppliers. In 1983, the Executive Order 2407 approved the safety standards applicable to service station or fuel suppliers, modify by the Executive Orders 1545/85 and 173/90.

Until the year 1989, the hydrocarbons activity in Argentine was in the hands of the State Company YPF (Yacimientos Petrolíferos Fiscales). Starting from that date, it was approved the deregulation of refineries and fuel suppliers with the Executive Order 1212/89, introducing new companies in the system, like Royal Dutch Shell S.A., Exxon Mobil Corporation, etc. To make an appropriate contralor of the security conditions of these facilities, it was launched in the year 1993, the Security Audits Companies Registration for fuel storages, fuels suppliers, LPG Plants and Petroleum Refineries, with the Executive Order 419/93. This Executive Order came out due to the lack of Government's budget to carry out the inspection activities. This retains the police power by the Energy Department and transfers the inspection costs to the users.

Then it becomes necessary, for the operation of this system, to explain with more clarity the scope of some norms contained in the Executive Order 419/93. Hence, starting from the year 1994 and throughout 10 years, appears the Executive Order 404/94, the Disposition 286/98 and the Executive Order 1102/04. The last one raises the first protocols to be followed by audit firms to conduct the inspections, commonly known as Annex IV and Annex V.

Until 2005, all the regulations set guidelines to verify the security state of fuel storage facilities, and were specifically focused on the environment care with an integrity test of underground tanks and associated pipes, through release detection. Starting from this year, the Energy Department develops the National Program of release control of hydrocarbons air storage tanks and their derivates, through the Executive Order 785/05. This establish integrity controls for air tanks and related pipes, not contemplated by the previous normative. This Executive Order had not been massively implemented, due to lacks in the norm diffusion and explanation, the high costs of the required tests, the shortage of human and/or technicians resources and to the lack of punishment and recognitions policy.

In the year 2008, because of serious irregularities denunciations about the inspections carried out by private audits companies, it was approved the National University Registration for the realization of technical, environmental and security audits by Executive Order 266/08. When this Executive Order is published, many Universities don't have enough capacity to answer this abrupt change in the inspection system.

This promotes that many Universities sign agreements with former audits firms, undermining the basement of the Executive Order 266/08. Some Universities such as the Technological National University (UTN) chooses to operate in independent form with own technical and human resources. Thought the short experience developed in this period, it could be demonstrated the deficiency of the old private audits system. As an example, in a Service Station there was up to 0.90 m of gasoil in the vadose zone of the groundwater. After determining the cause of this spill outs it was deduced that the release detection tests carried out previously by private audits companies, were not well made or directly they were not carried out. According to some fuel companies this situation had been repeated in numerous facilities.

In April of 2009, a judge rules a precautionary action, due to different protection dealings presented by the audits companies, achieving that a mixed system coexists at the present time, and it is operated by National Universities and private companies.

At the moment there are registered in Argentine, approximately 9000 facilities operators (42% distributed in Buenos Aires and 58% in the inland). The National University Auditors registration is integrated by 18 institutions (42% located in Buenos Aires, 58% in the inland), where particularly the Technological National University offers 16 Regional Faculties distributed in all the country. The private auditor registration is integrated by 10 companies (80% in Buenos Aires, 20% in the inland).

For all here exposed, we can say that the controller system of the hydrocarbons storage facilities is in a transition period, which has not achieved to reveal the real state of security and environmental impact of the existent facilities in the country until this moment. In these facts, the private audits companies have a strong responsibility of this situation due the bad quality of the audit works that they were carrying out.