Newsletter

The International Liquid Terminals Association held its annual Operating Conference and Trade Show over May 22-24 at the Marriott Marquis in Houston, Texas. This year’s event featured keynote presentations and conference sessions from industry experts, scholars, and public leaders such as NASA astronaut Capt. Scott Kelly and Executive Assistant Director for Infrastructure Security at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Dr. David Mussington.

The Safety Awards presentation was held after lunch on the first day of ILTA 2023. Dr. Kathryn Clay spoke about the importance of safety culture in the liquid terminal industry as well as the updated safety awards program.

Washington, D.C., May 4, 2023—Following the release of Senator Cynthia Lummis's (R-WY) new bill amending the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA), the International Liquid Terminals Association (ILTA) is pleased with the progress being built around PFAS remediation.

Andrea Simonin, CSP, got her start specifically in the terminals industry in December 2021 when she was hired as the Safety, Health, Environmental and Sustainability Director for Vopak Americas.

“That’s when I really started learning about terminal operations,” Simonin said. “Before joining Vopak, I worked for a consultant company for 15 years, supporting oil and gas clients where I did have some exposure to terminals on some occasions.”

Simonin enjoys that her job allows her to deal with a diverse team of employees who speak different languages and come from different countries.

“I really think you learn a lot and things work out better when you work with a diverse team,” she said. “I also love that I get to travel to so many different countries to support the terminals we have in the Americas, from north to south!”

Over the course of her career, Simonin says the biggest changes she’s seen are currently happening right now.

On April 17, ILTA attended a conference convened by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), International Association of Fire Fighters, and the United States Chamber of Commerce to discuss aqueous film forming foams (AFFF), commonly referred to as PFAS-based firefighting foams. Additional stakeholders in attendance included the firefighting communities, airports, petrochemical industries, farming stakeholders, chemical producers, and liquid storage and terminaling industry.

DoD shared its perspective on compliance with the AFFF transition, indicating extensions would be needed. Specifically, DoD said the military was unlikely to meet the target transition dates and would likely exercise two of the 1-year extensions under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The primary reason for anticipating the needed extensions is the various Air Force facilities and vehicles and officials indicated that foam producers’ supplies are of concern, too, given the massive quantity needed by DoD to address foam needs for all DoD facilities.