Burch Oil’s Quick Response is Part of Plan

On Maryland’s environmental permitting website it takes 20 questions just to direct applicants toward the right category of permit they will need. The regulations are complicated and confounding. But as Burch Oil demonstrated this month, compliance produces results.

Burch Oil – Clarke’s Landing

Fast and competent employee efforts supported by local emergency volunteers kept a leak from a faulty valve on a kerosene delivery truck from compromising safety or property on  Burch Oil’s Clarke’s Landing facility above the Patuxent River. The company was praised by regulators for its swift response and successful capture of product.

Burch Oil’s unblemished safety record is not by chance but the result of continuous maintenance, vigilant oversight of regulatory compliance and employee training.

“Burch Oil maintains scores of permits to uphold its history as a responsible corporate citizen and a committed steward of the Patuxent River and the Chesapeake Bay. Our relationships with the federal, state and local regulatory agencies remain strong as evidenced recently by the quick and successful recapture of kerosene leaked from a kerosene delivery truck. We have plans in place to deal with accidents and are proud to see our employees successfully implement our plan,” said Sheri Burch Norris, Director of Marketing.

The company operates numerous storage sites for its products and vehicles, including, since 1956, the Clarke’s Landing storage facility which has always maintained its unblemished safety and compliance history. The Clarke’s Landing facility sits back from the water and officials credit the ditch run with absorbing kerosene before it could reach the river. The ditch permitted quick damming of the product before its release into the waterway.

It took only a few hours to absorb what did reach the top of the river. Most of the leak was captured in soil that was excavated and removed.

“Burch Oil has been in business for 85 years, we’re still a family owned and operated business with deep roots in St. Mary’s County. We take our responsibility to our customers, our employees and our home very seriously,” Ms. Norris said. “We are all fortunate to live on the Chesapeake Bay. At Burch Oil we are proud of our ability to responsibly provide clean energy solutions to this region and intend to do so for generations to come.”