Dave Falatko lives in the shadow of oil storage tanks and worries about their emissions’ impact on his family’s health.“Typically, in the springtime, it smells almost daily, but it depends on the wind,” Falatko said in an interview. “I’ll call it tar. It’s at least petroleum. It has a strong odor to it.”Around 120 oil storage tanks dot the city’s landscape — some active, some dormant — and they’ve been there for decades, holding petroleum products ranging from gasoline to asphalt.Now, the city’s 25,000 residents are more vocal than ever in their worries about the fumes, along with residents of Portland and neighboring communities like Cape Elizabeth and Westbrook. Falatko said, “Should I be here? should anybody be living adjacent to those tank farms? If it was a mistake, then it’s time to admit it and move on.”As an environmental engineer, Falatko has a deep understanding of why and how tank emissions occur, such as a recognizable asphalt odor during road repair seasons.Falatko said, “They have to keep the tar, the asphalt, at a certain temperature, to keep it fluid, to pump it. So, as it cools down at night, they have to reheat it again the next day to ship it out.”In 2019, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced two of the six companies that own multiple tanks, Massachusetts-based Global Partners and Maine-founded Sprague Resources, were exceeding caps on permitted emissions.“We have a public health hazard from toxic emissions,” said State Representative Rebecca Millett, a Cape Elizabeth Democrat, in an interview.Millett wrote the law requiring the Maine’s Department of Environmental Protection to study the emissions for the past year and report to the legislature with recommendations,Millett said, “I think there are times when the air is not safe, and we’re having a really hard time figuring out when that is and why.”DEP’s report published January 3, which would require tank design modifications, found toxic volatile organic compounds, known as VOC's, like acrolein and naphthalene, in vapors emitted by oil and asphalt stored in the tanks. But the quantity and sources of the VOCs, as well as their impact on human health remains unresolved.In addition to DEP monitoring, citizens like Falatko began collecting their own backyard samples at times when they smelled odors and reporting those occasions to South Portland’s Smell My City app.Falatko said, “Our sample from our back porch had high naphthalene in it on a day it was very odorous, and I don’t know if there is a link or not.”Global and Sprague, though singled out by the EPA, are believed to be emitting the lowest amounts of VOCs of the companies involved, according to DEP data obtained by WMTW.In 2019, Global tanks were responsible for an estimated 4 tons of VOC’s, and Sprague, 7-and-a-half tons. South Portland Terminal emitted 44 tons; Citgo, 42; Portland Pipeline, 41; and Gulf, 26. The total, 164 tons, is well below the cumulative 700 tons annually their DEP-issued licenses allow. However, these totals are not real measurements of actual emissions; instead, they are company estimates based on tank volume, activity, and temperatures, all calculated using national industry standards approved by federal and state regulators.A persistent criticism of the DEP study is the location of its fixed air monitoring stations. There are five sites in South Portland, one for each election district, including South Portland High School and Bug Light Park, and some residents complain they capture ambient air too far from the tanks.“You want to know what’s coming out of the tanks right at the source,” Falatko said. “You know, if the wastewater treatment plant in South Portland had a violation of their discharge, you would not go out into the Casco Bay and start sampling water, you would sample right at the wastewater treatment plant.”Global Partners, following a consent decree with the EPA, is the first tank owning company to announce steps to remediate emissions.Catie Kerns, the companies Vice President for Communications, said in a written statement: “We are in the final phase of construction for the enhanced odor controls. The controls will then be calibrated and turned on well before the asphalt heating season begins in the Spring. The enhanced odor controls go beyond regulatory requirements.”WMTW has learned that Sprague Resources has reached a final consent decree with EPA, with the agreement filed in Massachusetts federal court on January 8. It requires the company to limit emissions in South Portland and six other energy facilities in New England.“We have tentative plans to build a system,” Shana Hoch, Sprague’s managing director for marketing and customer experience, said in a written statement. “The cost to implement systems is significant, and we want to ensure we conform to all requirements.”Hoch said the plans would be submitted to South Portland, Maine DEP, and the EPA for review.“Once we have consensus with the town and DEP, we will obtain any necessary permits and build a timeline for implementation," she said.