RELLC is an organization formed by a group of major oil companies for the purpose of responding to and cleaning up certain releases of petroleum fuels into the ground from retail sites, pipelines, terminals, and other petroleum fuels-related facilities.

The industry has made improvements in underground storage tank systems and technologies, but occasionally these systems do not function properly. Underground storage tank technology today includes double-walled tanks and sophisticated monitoring systems. However, equipment breaks, underground piping can fail, and customers overfill their vehicles, allowing gasoline to get into the environment. When that happens, it is important to discover the release as soon as possible and aggressively deal with it.

RELLC is designed to address sites where there is a known or suspected release of gasoline and other common petroleum fuels and where the potential sources are facilities of two or more member companies. The member companies that formed RELLC are ConocoPhillips Company, ExxonMobil Corporation, Chevron Environmental Management Company, Marathon Petroleum Company LP, Shell Oil Products US, and Motiva Enterprises LLC.

If one member company’s facility is the source of a release of petroleum products, that member company will take responsibility for addressing the problem. However, if there are two or more potential sources, the situation can get confusing, which can cause unavoidable delays in determining responsibility. Since gasoline molecules don’t have brand names on them, we usually are unable at the outset to tell whose they are. Working through the RELLC process eliminates the need to resolve that initial uncertainty and expedites dealing with the contamination quickly, using the most appropriate remediation program to protect people and the environment.

Many of these companies have been invited into the process, and the invitation to join RELLC is open to them. However, several non-member oil companies have entered into Third Party Service Agreements with RELLC to do work at specific sites on an ad hoc basis.

First of all, most, but not all, of the major oil companies are members of RELLC. Secondly, most places you see that sell gasoline are branded franchisees, jobbers, dealers, or licensees who are independent small businesses. So, the likelihood of this situation happening is quite high and has already happened. In such cases, RELLC offers to partner with the non-member entities potentially involved at the site to get it cleaned up as soon as practicable. If the non-members can’t participate, or if they refuse to do so, the RELLC members will deal with the environmental issues and reserve the ability to pursue their legal remedies against the other party(s) later.

The start-up costs of operating RELLC were borne equally by the member companies. Remedial costs are subject to a management fee and are borne by members involved at sites according to their allocated share. Members not involved at a given site bear no financial responsibility for that site. Since 2006, RELLC has been cash neutral and is self-sustaining.

The companies that formed RELLC are constantly looking for ways to improve their core businesses, improve processes, and think of better ways of doing things through strategic thinking, especially where the environment is concerned. The concept of RELLC is a product of the ongoing commitment towards continuous improvement shared by the member companies.