www.fueloilnews.com | FUEL OIL NEWS | APRIL 2016 15
A NEW BULK PLANT REPLACED
an old bulk plant at Shattuck Oil in
Pepperell, Mass., and project more
than met expectations.
The original plant, on the same site,
was built in the 1920s, and "served
us very well," said Lou Berube, presi-
dent of John G. MacLellan Oil in
Tewksbury, Mass. Shattuck Oil is a unit
of MacLellan Oil. Lou Berube co-owns
MacLellan Oil with his brother Garrett
Berube, who serves as its vice president.
However, there were problems. The
original bulk plant needed about 40
minutes to unload a transport truck,
Berube said. In contrast, the new
plant can unload a transport truck
in "about eight minutes," Berube
said. "It unloads the transports very,
very quickly—and it fills the trucks
very quickly too." The facility loads
Shattuck Oil's seven retail trucks at a
rate of about 500 gallons a minute.
Besides fuel oil, the new plant han-
dles off-road and on-road diesel and
kerosene.
Asked about the total investment in
the new facility, Berube demurred with
a chuckle and offered as an example
one feature that adds to the cost of such
a project: "You've got to put in more
expensive pumps that are bigger."
While the new facility provides solid
operation benefits, it was prompted by
the needs to comply with environmen-
tal regulations.
" S P C C r e q u i r e d u s t o h i r e a n
engineer to bring the old plant up
to speed," Berube said, referring to
the Spill Prevention, Control and
Countermeasure rule that is part of
EPA's oil spill prevention program.
"After a lot of engineering and expense,
and trying to get the plant into com-
BY STEPHEN BENNETT
Shattuck Oil's new facility unloads and loads fuel in minutes
A BULK PLANT BUILT FOR SPEED
PHOTOGRAPHS
COURTESY
OF
TOM
SHATTUCK
The tear-down of the old bulk plant and
construction of the new plant took about
seven months.
