Project Spotlight: Boiler Fueling System Upgrade at a Boston-Area Public Housing Development
This project closed a loop that started three years ago.
Three years ago we installed a new aboveground storage tank (AST)-based fueling system at one of two boiler rooms serving a Boston-area public housing development. The project went well and the system has performed.
This latest project, separately bid and awarded, covered the same scope at the second boiler room, plus decommissioning the two aging 15,000-gallon underground storage tanks (USTs) in accordance with MassDEP notification requirements.
What We Built
The new system includes an 8,000-gallon Fireguard double-wall AST, underground supply and return piping to the boiler room, and new interior distribution piping feeding the pump set to the burners. The monitoring package includes interstitial monitoring on both the tank and the underground piping, an inventory probe, and an overfill alarm. Full electronic monitoring providing real-time inventory tracking and leak detection.
We served as the prime contractor and self-performed the majority of the work, including confined space entry UST cleaning with our own field personnel. Simultaneous AST installation, underground piping, and UST decommissioning on one schedule, with one crew.
The UST Decommissioning
We decommissioned both 15,000-gallon USTs, assessed the fuel remaining in one of the tanks, determined it was usable, and transferred it directly into the new AST rather than disposing of it. That recovery eliminated a disposal cost and a replacement fuel purchase in the same move which resulted in meaningful savings for a client managing a public housing portfolio on a fixed operating budget.
Repeat Work
Both contracts went through a competitive process. We completed the first project on schedule, the system has run reliably for three years, and we were the low qualified bid the second time around.
About Petroman
Petroleum Management Services provides full-lifecycle fuel infrastructure services to hospitals, municipalities, universities, and other critical facilities across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Our subsidiary Bullfrog Environmental Solutions handles DOT-compliant transportation and disposal of petroleum waste and other regulated waste streams generated by fuel system operations.
If your facility is operating aging USTs or boiler fueling infrastructure that hasn’t been evaluated recently, we’re glad to take a look.
