Was replaced

Town Manager Stuart A. Hurd said an older tank, which FEMA recently said could be among hundreds potentially leaking around the country, was replaced with a new tank in 1991.

“There is very little concern of leak,” Hurd said. “The tank is tested annually or biannually.”

FEMA said last week that there are hundreds of underground fuel storage tanks across the country, located mostly at radio stations, that could be leaking.

The Cold War-era tanks were installed because the government wanted to ensure that radio stations could continue to run by generator in case of an attack by the former Soviet Union. Many of the tanks were built and installed in the 1960s, and store as much as 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel.

The underground tank at WBTN is a 2,000-gallon, double-hulled tank that is rarely used — only during power outages, said Hurd, who was able to obtain information about the existence and condition of the tank from the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation.

Neither Hurd, WBTN officials nor FEMA had any information about the tank last week. FEMA said it was in the process of looking into hundreds of tanks that came under its control years ago from the Federal Communications Commission.

It turns out, however, that FEMA no longer controls the WBTN tank, Hurd said. Southern Vermont College is the current owner, but it will soon be transferred to a nonprofit community group that is in the process of purchasing the station.

“The tank is apparently owned by SVC at the present time and ultimately will be owned by the Shires Media Partnership when the deal is finalized,” Hurd said. “It might have been under FEMA’s control at one time, but some time in the past it came under control of the radio station.”

FEMA said last week that leaking tanks could be located at eight radio stations in Vermont. The other stations located in Vermont that may have leaking tanks are WCFR, Springfield; WDEV, Waterbury; WIKE, Newport; WSTJ, St. Johnsbury; WSYB, Rutland; and WVMT, Colchester.