Bulk Transporter turned to International Liquid Terminals Association (ILTA) president Kathryn Clay for help with previewing this year’s ILTA conference amid the ever-changing trade show landscape caused by the COVID-19 crisis, which recently forced National Tank Truck Carriers to shift its Tank Truck Week to a virtual format.
The following is Clay’s report on the association’s intent to safely host the 40th Annual ILTA Operating Conference and Trade Show Nov 16-18 at the Marriott Marquis in Houston TX (along with BT’s breakdown of conference sessions and post-conference training), and her take on ILTA’s multi-tiered response to the coronavirus pandemic.
MANY experts say the key to successfully coping—or even thriving—during a difficult time is to find the silver lining in the situation. The coronavirus pandemic has presented challenges to the liquid terminal industry, but it has also demonstrated the resilience and importance of the industry to the economy overall.
ILTA has been hard at work to support its members as they pivot to address COVID-19 related challenges. Our work has focused on four main efforts: Providing a forum for peers to exchange successful strategies in reacting to the new constraints; advocacy to remove regulatory burdens emerging from the special circumstances of the crisis; leveraging the high visibility of storage markets during recent market imbalances in our communication strategy; and finally, folding in all of this new knowledge to enrich the educational content of our annual conference and trade show.
Before sharing examples on the first three of these fronts, let’s start with the 40th Annual ILTA Operating Conference and Trade Show, to be held Nov 16-18 at the Marriott Marquis in Houston. We know how important our annual event is to tank and terminal professionals and the companies that provide them with products and services. We want our industry community to know that we are here for them.
As ILTA Chairman Kip Middendorf, who is also vice president and managing director of Wolf Lakes Terminals, noted when the decision was made: “For many companies, current constraints are causing planned construction, inspection and maintenance work to be delayed until later this year, or even into early 2021. Hopefully, the new timing for our annual event will make sure terminal company decision-makers have the opportunity to see and purchase products and services they will need for that work.”
This year, ILTA also is proud of the depth and breadth of knowledge represented in our conference speakers. These experts will address topics related to best practices and new technologies relating to terminal operations, health, safety and environmental requirements, and business and professional development topics. To learn more about ILTA 2020, view the conference agenda and speaker bios, and register, visit ilta.org.
ILTA knows safety is always at the heart of the industry’s work, and we will continue to monitor guidance from public health authorities and adjust our plans for the show as appropriate. We are confident that holding our annual show in 2020, adjusted for our current circumstances, is the best way for us to serve the industry during these unprecedented times.
Attendees at this year’s event will notice significant changes to promote the health and safety of all participants. For example, facial coverings will be required throughout the venue, one-way traffic and social distancing markings will be present throughout the trade show floor, and the number of people in conference sessions or on the show floor at any one time will be limited. Conference rooms will be sanitized between each session and special sanitation breaks will be observed on the show floor. ILTA is also implementing many other approaches to encourage social distancing, such as providing maps with charted routes for “walking meetings” in the green space near the venue.
Monday sessions
The first day of the conference features these sessions on the EHS, Operations, Leadership and Professional Development tracks:
- 8:20-9:20 am, four sessions: “Clearing the Air: Environmental Permitting & Compliance Issues,” Brian Burdorf, Rob Ferry, Trinity Consultants; Keith Ocheski, Buckeye Partners; David Kennebeck, Magellan Midstream Partners; “Digital Transformation and High Tech Terminal Operations,” Tennyson Reed, Acuraflow; Kevin Kupitz, Qi2 Elements; Clint Collins, Veritank; Christopher Amstutz, Emerson Electric Co (Invited); “Global Overview of Tank Storage Markets,” Tony Quinn, Tankbank International*; Patrick Kulsen, Insights Global; “Managing Multiple Generations in Your Workforce,” Warren Wright, Second Wave Learning.
- 9:30-10:30 am, four sessions: “ESG Reporting: Best Practices for Engaging Your Stakeholders on Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability,” Carolyn Clemmens, Antea Group; Clifton Ferrell, Vopak Americas; “The Five Pillars: Elements of a Successful Tank Turnaround,” Pat Stanton, RLG International; “Cybersecurity: You’re More Vulnerable Than You Think,” Moderator: Rear Adm Roy Nash, USCG (Ret.); Russell Roberts, TSA; John Felker, CISA; Rear Adm Richard Timme, USCG; Stuart Jones, Lucknow-Highspire Terminals, LLC; “Mastering Your Memory,” Tyler Enslin, Tyler Enslin International.
- 11:20 am-12:20 pm, three sessions: “FLIR Cameras: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly,” Jonathan Wills, Marathon Petroleum Company; Keith Ocheski, Buckeye Partners; “Pressure and Vacuum Systems on Low Pressure (Atmospheric) Tanks,” Justin Phillips, Provenance Consulting (Invited); “Crisis Leadership: Activating Your Organization to Prepare and Respond to Emergencies,” Ernest DelBuono, Hogan Lovells; Mark Irion, Hogan Lovells.
- 1:20-2:20 pm, four sessions: “International Chemical Security: Making Our World More Secure,” David Wulf, CISA; Marguerite Carpenter, INTERPOL*; Caitlin Filippi, FBI; “Staying on the Rails: Preparing for Your FRA Inspection,” Michael Mashburn, Colonial Terminal Group; “Executive Panel – Industry Leaders Offer Predictions for the Future of the Industry,” speakers to be announced; “Employee Engagement: Getting the Most Out of Your Most Important Asset,” Walter Nusbaum, The Nusbaum Group.
- 2:30-3:30 pm, three sessions: “Understanding Fire Protection Requirements for Aboveground Storage Tanks,” Moderator: Rama Challa, Matrix PDM; Virgilio Reyes, Chevron Corporation; Brian Olsen, Phillips 66 (invited); “From Ship to Shore: Understanding New Guidance for Marine Loading Arms,” Ricardo Martinez, OCIMF*; Walter Sonne, Chevron Corporation; “Managing Risk - Insurance Panel,” Christopher Alviggi, NFP Property and Casualty; Carlos Carillo, Allianz Global Corporate and Specialty Insurance.
Tuesday sessions
The second day of the conference features these sessions on the EHS, Operations, Leadership and Professional Development tracks:
- 1-2:30 pm, four sessions: “Regulatory Update: What You Need to Know About Chemical Safety & Terminal Security,” Moderator: Peter Lidiak, ILTA; John King, Breazeale, Sachse & Wilson, LLC; Steve Arendt, JSA Consulting; Jim Belke, EPA; Micah Smith, Conn Maciel Carey LLC; Moderator: Peter Lidiak, ILTA; Todd Klessman, CISA; Lt Cmdr Kevin McDonald, USCG Office of Port and Facility Compliance (invited); Steve Roberts, Chemical Security Group; “The Eye in the Sky: Using Drones to Ensure Safe and Secure Operations,” Moderator: Ronnie Blackwell, Clearpoint Consulting Engineers*; Tres Smith, NuStar Energy; Suzanne Lemieux, American Petroleum Institute; Mitch Istre, Phillips 66; CJ Vinger, SkySkopes Oil; “Planning for Resilience: Terminal Facilities and Natural Disasters,” speakers to be announced; “Manager’s Master Class: Giving Effective Feedback,” Tyler Enslin, Tyler Enslin International.
- 2:40-3:40 pm, three sessions: “Strategic Approaches to Permitting Challenges,” James Stone, Norwest Engineering; Catie Kerns, Stewardship Solutions; Brien Flanagan, Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt; Eric Slifka, Global Partners LP; “Technology Tools for Operations Training,” Duane Shafer, Marathon Petroleum Company (Invited); Marcus Castillo, Marathon Petroleum Company (Invited); Kevin Canaday, Yadnac Consulting; “Waterways Infrastructure: A National Priority,” Maj Gens Scott Spellman, Anthony Funkhouser, Army Corps of Engineers (Invited); Deb Calhoun, Waterways Council, Inc; Jim Walker, American Association of Port Authorities.
- 4:15-5:15 pm, three sessions: “Electrical Safety: Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them,” Micah Smith, Conn Maciel Carey LLP; Aaron Gelb, Conn Maciel Carey LLP; Dennis Mendenhall, Marathon Petroleum Company (Invited); Henry Matthews, Marathon Petroleum Company; “3-D Laser Surveys for High Accuracy Tank Imaging,” Ronnie Blackwell, Clearpoint Consulting Engineers*; D’Arcy Trask, Gauge Point Calibration Inc; “Introduction to BlockChain for Terminal Professionals,” Anjaney Borwankar, Navozyme/The Nautical Institute; Capt Maneesh Varma, The Nautical Institute; Giulio Toscani, ESADE, Barcelona/Pacifico, Business School, Lima; Ansam Okbani, DELVISO-AVOCATS.
*—Indicates likely to participate remotely
Post-conference training
- 8 am-2 pm Tuesday: “Air Emissions from Transfer Operations.”
- 8 am-5 pm Wednesday: “Spill Prevention, Control and Countermeasure and Facility Response Plans,” “Construction of Terminal Tanks,” “Blockchain for Maritime Decision-Makers,” “Air Emissions from Aboveground Storage Tanks.”
- 8 am-5:30 pm Wednesday: “Introduction to Terminals.”
- 8 am-2 pm Thursday: “Introduction to Terminals,” “Air Emissions from Aboveground Storage Tanks.”
- 8 am-5 pm Thursday: “Blockchain for Maritime Decision-Makers.”
Spotlight on terminals
Without a doubt, COVID-19 put terminals in the spotlight. With drivers worldwide heeding public health guidance to stay at home, gasoline, diesel and jet fuel demand plummeted. At the same time, producers, especially Russia and Saudi Arabia, flooded the market with crude oil. The result was a dramatic drop in world oil prices and sharp increases in the amount of crude oil and petroleum products in storage. Tank storage soon approached full capacity, presenting immediate operational challenges.
Market analysts, who in recent years gave only a passing nod to weekly storage inventory reports, began reporting on them in earnest. The spotlight on terminals became even brighter at the end of March when West Texas Intermediate crude oil went into negative territory as a direct result of storage. The Energy Information Administration, the statistical arm of the US Energy Department, even expanded its weekly report to include estimates of US crude oil storage capacity utilization.
The collapse in demand rendered an extraordinarily flexible industry hampered at full capacity. The liquid terminal industry began taking action. For example, ILTA members took every opportunity to consolidate existing stocks at storage facilities. Pipeline operator Enterprise Products Partners began offering two-way shipping along a crude oil pipeline connecting the Gulf Coast and storage terminals in Cushing, Oklahoma, in a move to give oil companies more storage options to cope with the global supply glut and rapidly filling storage stocks. And oil traders were storing record volumes of oil on ships as onshore storage filled. Some terminals investigated switching liquid food storage tanks to petroleum product storage.
The US Department of Energy (DOE) awarded contracts to store a total of 23 million barrels of crude oil in the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, its emergency stockpile, to help alleviate the oversupply situation. Considering the exceptional market circumstances, ILTA had no objection to leasing space in the reserve to commercial interests. In a letter to President Trump and the Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, ILTA said as much, but noted that once normal market conditions were re-established, ILTA would oppose further government actions in commercial storage markets. “Allowing government-owned storage into the market constitutes a subsidized storage service that could place private commercial storage operators at a competitive disadvantage,” ILTA said in an April 29 letter.
Connecting members
The industry did not have much time to plan and implement strategies to manage the new realities it faced. Like most industries, the liquid terminals’ first challenge was protecting its workers and contractors. This was complicated because—as an essential industry—liquid terminals had to do so while ensuring that operations continued unabated and safely. Still, terminal managers and others in leadership positions quickly put in place measures, including worker travel screening, temperature screening, stepping up facility cleaning and implementing operational changes, all to limit potential exposure to the virus.
Recognizing that peers could serve as the industry’s best ally during difficult times, ILTA convened regular terminal-member COVID calls and set up a website to post government guidance, best practices, lessons learned, and provide a forum for members to ask questions and share ideas. For example, some terminals began offering full-service tank fill-up for tank trucks to reduce touch points and maintain social distancing. Many limited work to focus on critical tasks and outfitted workers in personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure that the terminals could stay open for business to continue their essential services.
As scientific understanding of the virus grew, the industry adapted to evolving guidance from federal and state health officials and regulators, and it sourced protective equipment and cleaning solutions, which, at times were scarce but necessary to stay opened, especially early in the pandemic.
During a mask shortage, ILTA sourced masks and shipped them to members. Faced with cleaning solution shortages, members offered recipes and advice to make their own. This forum also gave ILTA staffers insight into the regulatory needs of the industry, and ILTA followed up with advocacy work over the past several months. It also allowed terminal operators to stay in close contact, either directly or through ILTA, with regulators and other federal, state and local government officials to exchange information, identify challenges and resolve issues to ensure continued safe operations, critical to COVID-19 response.
Industry advocate
The run on storage caused by major imbalances in petroleum and refined product markets was happening at a time when, in a normal year, terminals would be transitioning storage inventories of winter-grade gasoline blends to lower-volatility summer-grade blends to meet the May 1 compliance date under US Environmental Protect Agency (EPA) rules.
ILTA, after hearing from its terminal operators that the deadline would be untenable without drastic impacts on consumers, worked with other trade associations to urge the Trump administration to relax the summer blending requirements. EPA acquiesced, acknowledging the potential for fuel shortages and escalating summer gasoline prices without the waiver.
In another effort, with National Tank Truck Carriers, ILTA successfully advocated to include fuel distribution workers, including those working in terminals and as tank truck drivers, in the Heroes Fund, a proposed COVID relief provision, that would provide premium pay to reward, retain and recruit essential workers. This bill has passed the House, but still needs Senate approval.
ILTA, working with AFPM and API, worked on a solution to the problem of upcoming out-of-service tank inspections. ILTA and the other groups asked EPA to allow in-service (keeping the product in the tank) inspections of tanks in lieu of emptying, cleaning and inspecting them. EPA rules for tanks with internal floating roofs that are regulated under 40 CFR Part 60 Subpart Kb require once-a-decade out-of-service inspections, which are all but impossible today because tanks are at near or full capacity.
The agency has informed ILTA that it plans to issue a rule that would allow this alternative type of inspection and would finalize it by the end of the year. It also plans to issue an interim policy that would allow tank operators to conduct in-service inspections until the rule is finalized.
Even with the COVID-19 situation keeping Congress and ILTA busy, the organization continued to work its other priority items, including helping to shepherd a three-year reauthorization of the Chemical Facilities Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS) and working to make major improvements to the biennial Water Resources Development Act.
On CFATS, ILTA celebrated success on July 22 after a two-year legislative effort when President Trump signed the reauthorization of the program the day before it was set to expire. ILTA and its member companies have been working toward a long-term reauthorization of CFATS, a critical program aimed at preventing chemicals from being stolen, diverted, sabotaged or deliberately released by terrorists. ILTA had successfully fought efforts to expand CFATS into areas unrelated to protection against terrorism. Its efforts included dozens of meetings with members and staff, letters to Capitol Hill offices and two successful sets of Lobby Day meetings by members of the ILTA Board of Directors with the Department of Homeland Security and with congressional offices.
With the Water Resources Development Act (WRDA), Congress is close to a deal to extend the program that authorizes work on America’s ports, harbors and inland waterways. ILTA successfully urged the House and Senate to authorize close to record amounts to both the Harbor Maintenance Trust Fund (HMTF) and Inland Waterways Trust Fund. It, and an industry coalition, successfully persuaded Congress to direct all money raised by the HMTF each year to dredging projects the following year. This has been a constant source of frustration for the industry, because prior to this, the HMTF had been constrained by the Congressional appropriations process, leaving an unappropriated surplus of more than $9 billion in the trust fund. Requiring appropriations each year should result in more dredging projects and prevent the surplus from growing further. ILTA and the coalition are now pushing for Congress to spend down the surplus.
ILTA and the coalition were also able to change the cost-share mechanism of the Inland Waterways Trust Fund (IWTF), which is used to maintain the nation’s systems of locks and dams. While Congress spends all the money collected each year, it had traditionally required that all projects funded by the IWTF maintain a 50/50 cost share between the IWTF and general revenue. With this formula, there isn’t enough money in the IWTF to fund construction needs in a timely manner. ILTA and the Maritime Coalition asked Congress to reduce the trust fund’s share, and both the House and Senate bills reduce the cost share to 65/35, which will ensure that more projects can be completed faster and more economically.
ILTA has served as a strong voice, calling on regulators, lawmakers and the public to recognize the importance of our industry. Our letters to regulators, press releases and our growing social media presence tell our industry’s powerful story. So, when we look at the silver lining of this otherwise challenging, and sometimes tragic, period, we’re proud that ILTA stepped up to lead on behalf of our members, and that we have delivered outcomes that matter to the continued strength and welfare of the tanks and terminals industry.
ILTA leaders are extremely proud of the association’s members—and the entire terminal community—for the important contribution they make to keep vital supplies flowing even during extremely difficult times. We join in wishing all communities safety and health as the situation continues to evolve, and we hope to see you all in November in Houston.