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Applicant proposes third 30,000-gallon propane tank at 32 Meadows Road; board hears safety and permitting plan
Summary
At a July 14 West Bath Planning Board meeting, an applicant for MWC presented a pre-application to add a third 30,000-gallon propane tank and two new loading areas at 32 Meadows Road; presenters described safety systems, state permitting and an expected construction window.
The West Bath Planning Board on July 14 heard a pre-application from MWC to expand its liquid-propane storage facility at 32 Meadows Road by adding a third 30,000-gallon tank adjacent to two existing tanks and two new loading areas, civil engineer Josh Hedman said.
Civil engineer Josh Hedman of 2nd man engineer described the basic scope: "so they're looking to just add a 3rd 30,000 gallon tank to the, adjacent to the 2 existing 30,000 gallon tanks," and said the proposed tank would sit on an existing gravel area so the project would not add impervious surface.
The nut of the matter for local officials and nearby residents is safety and oversight. Hedman told the board that a fire-safety analysis (FSA) is part of the state permitting process: "There is a fire safety analysis that's required to be done as part of the state permitting for the tanks," and that the FSA identifies nearby sensitive uses such as schools or daycares for review. He also said the project team has confirmed they would comply with the site's existing DEP license and with applicable standards.
An applicant representative explained how the new layout would change operations: the plan adds a loading stanchion for small delivery trucks at one end, a second stanchion at the other end, and moves the offloading point to the center so transport and local deliveries can occur simultaneously. The representative said the offloading process currently takes about 45 minutes and that the reconfiguration will reduce wait time: "It's about a 45 minute process to do that." On construction impacts, the representative estimated a worst-case shutdown of about two weeks but said they expected the closure to be shorter: "It will shut us down. Yeah. Probably, max of 2 weeks, but I don't think it'll be quite that long."
Board members and staff questioned safety systems. Presenters said valves are designed to fail closed and operate with nitrogen actuation, and that the town's fire officials would be briefed on relief-valve procedures. The applicant noted monthly valve checks and that an experienced propane-tank installer will perform the work; Hedman said the state permitting agency will review and must sign off on the installation.
On operations, presenters said the expansion would not increase the company fleet and that newer pumps would be quieter than the existing (2004) pumps. Typical driver hours were given as roughly 7:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with rare winter extremes reported between about 5:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Town staff did not raise objections during the pre-application review. One staff member summarized initial review as: "I don't see any red flags." Hedman and the applicant said they plan to submit a formal application within about a week for placement on the next planning-board agenda; staff explained that if the checklist shows no issues, approval can be granted in a single meeting, otherwise the item would be tabled until required materials are provided.
Votes at a glance: The board approved the meeting minutes as corrected during the same session; the minutes were corrected to show Kate Roberts was present at the June meeting.
The planning board set its next meeting for Aug. 11 and told the applicant to follow the checklist to ensure a timely staff review and potential approval.
