G. Cronin & Sons, Inc.

George Cronin Sr. (center) with his two sons, George Jr. (left)
and Michael, who are set to guide the company into the future.

Bulk Facility for the Future

Cronin Oil invests in modem bulk facility hoping to secure its future

(published in the Yankee Oilman, August 1992)

In the late '80s, George Cronin and his two sons, George Jr. and Michael, huddled in the office of their fuel oil business in Norfolk, MA, to discuss the future.

He had launched the business in '61spurred by a dream, not daunted by the decades of hard work ahead of him-and built it into a prosperous enterprise.

By the late '80s, however, the company was perched at a crossroads. While George Sr. had taken ill, his two sons were eager to add to their father's labor.

While he had reservations about the future of the business, they – college-educated and eager to shepherd the company – were bright-eyed at the opportunities the future presented.

So it was in the company's office, amid a 20-acre stretch of family property, that the three debated their future. And perhaps for the first-time, the two sons outvoted their father.

They decided to replace the company's 28-year-old underground storage tanks with a $250,000 bulk facility.

That decision was not inconsequential for G. Cronin Oil. Now, the company is well positioned for the future: it acted in advance of federal UST regulations scheduled to be implemented in '98, has what has been described as the most modern bulk fuel oil facility in the region, and has an "irrepressible" impetus to sell fuel oil ever more diligently $250,000 worth of debt.

"It's a big commitment," says George Sr. "But we wanted to stay in the business. We felt this is something that had to be done, especially because the tanks were 28 years old."

Mark of Modern Engineering

The Cronins' forward thinking not only secured the company's future; it also offered Bill Ridel of Hall Equipment Corp., Quincy, Mass., and Lorrimer Armstrong, Jr., of WEB Engineering Associates, Inc., Cohasset, Mass., the opportunity to design and build a facility using some of the most modern bulk plant concepts.

"To me, you're looking at the most modern bulk plant in New England," says Ridel. "Even with the new AST regs coming, they won't have to do nearly anything. The only thing they'll have to do is put in overflow protection in a few years."

The facility consists of 7 tanks with a 50,000 gallon capacity for fuel oil, a 10,000 gallon capacity for diesel, and a 4,000 gallon capacity for kerosene.

It employs bottom loading; has a 4,000 gallon, underground oil-water separator tank; is partially enclosed by an expansive roof and a dike that could contain 110% of its capacity in the event of a major spill; and is tucked into the landscape so that it's not even visible from the road that runs by Cronin Oil. All the valves and fitting are made of cast iron steel.

Bottom loading represents a key advantage, says Ridel, because it reduces the level of risk the company puts itself in the risk of spilling oil and the risk that a driver climbing atop the truck could fall and injure himself. Bottom-loading systems also require less maintenance than top loading ones, he says.

The system is set up so drivers can fill the tanks and the trucks simultaneously, which enhances fueling efficiency. It uses two pumps-one for fuel oil, the other for diesel-which are controlled by a solenoid valve and a Scully loading system. The diesel and kerosene tanks are hooked up to pumps, from which the company sells the two fuels on a limited retail basis.

It's unlikely that even if there were a spill at the facility that any oil would permeate the containment area, according to Armstrong. To construct the base of the containment area, Ridel used three different pours of cement, for the footing, the floor, and the wall floor. He also used a self-sealing material at the expansion joints.

The facility's roof, moreover, is expansive enough to divert water away from the tank; on a day after a heavy rain, there was minimal water on the floor of the facility. The loading area has four containment areas, from which water is channeled into the oil water separator. And all the pipes have thermal relief valves, which ensure that they can withstand thermal expansion in the summer months.

"There is no water problem. It's clean. It's neat. You have visual contact with all the pipelines to look at. Even if somebody came in at night and tried to open up the nozzle, the flow control pipe would close the system down," says Ridel.

Investment in Company's Future

Water containment is of heightened importance for Cronin because Norfolk relies upon wells for water. If oil from the company's facility found its way into those wells, it could spell disaster for the town and the company.

This threat was one of the major reasons why the company decided to remove its USTs and invest in the aboveground facility.

The facility, he says, puts the company in a good position to sell fuel oil in a business climate that is dramatically different from '61. When he started the company, it was on a stable foundation: oil prices were predictable and environmental regulations were a thing of the future.

The '73 oil crisis shook that foundation, however. Now, oil prices are subject to sometimes volatile international forces, heating oil is bought and sold daily on the futures market, and environmental regulations can be as potent as a recession in affecting a company's fate.

George Sr. maintains the new facility gives the company reliable storage and a flexibility that will become increasingly in demand. The facility was set up so the diesel tank could be used for fuel oil storage if the company found itself in need of addition fuel oil storage, for instance.

The company has already seen the advantages of the new facility: the company has been able to enhance efficiency so much that it has taken one truck off the road.

This efficiency is in large part the result of better truck loading and tank filling capabilities, he says.

In fact, the company was able to take that truck off the road, even though it decreased the size of its storage capacity from 60,000 gallons of fuel oil with the USTs to 50,000 gallons with the new facility.

"The size of the storage isn't important, says Ridel. "It's how you handle and operate the storage. It's all in the scheduling."

Adds George Sr.: "To operate efficiently in this business we have to be flexible. We deliver to our customers with just three delivery trucks. We used to have four, but by modernizing we were able to take one off the road."

This has also enabled the company to reduce the number of trips to the rack, he says, which means that instead of paying drivers to make the costly trek to Providence, RI, they're paying them to deliver oil.

(left) Before: Cronin Oil had 60,000 gallons of fuel oil storage in 28-year-old USTs.

(right) After: The company is now equipped with a modern bulk facility, which
gives it 50,000-gallon capacity for fuel oil storage and greater loading efficiency.

###

Back to the News Page.