Containment assembly for fill pipe of underground storage tanks

Claim 1

An assembly for direct attachment in a liquid tight fashion to a manway on an underground storage tank, wherein said assembly provides ready access to a fill pipe from ground level while serving as a secondary containment means and spill containment means for the fill pipe, said assembly comprising: (a) a secondary containment chamber having a sidewall which is cylindrical-shaped with an inwardly extending lower flange at its bottom and further having a plate which is dimensioned for attachment to the secondary containment chamber's sidewall to serve as a bottom wall of the containment chamber and to serve as a cover for the manway of the storage tank; (b) an anchor ring which acts as a permanent ground base for the assembly, said anchor ring attached to an upper open end of the containment chamber's sidewall; (c) a bridging surface cover within the anchor ring to close off the secondary containment chamber's interior, said surface cover having a fill pipe lid which is readily removed to gain access to the chamber's interior for a filling operation; (d) a fill pipe for delivering liquid to the storage tank, said fill pipe positioned within the secondary containment chamber with a discharging end extending through a bottom of the chamber directly into the storage tank and a receiving end terminating near the bridging surface cover; (e) an open top spill compartment positioned within the secondary containment chamber and at the receiving end of the fill pipe so as to encompass the receiving end of the fill pipe to catch any spilled liquid from the filling operation and prevent said spilled liquid and vapors from entering the secondary containment chamber; and (f) an attachment system for attaching the assembly directly to the manway of the storage tank, said attachment system comprising (i) a split ring with two sets of bolt holes, a first set used to bolt the split ring to a flange on the manway and a second set used to bolt the split ring to the chamber's inwardly extending lower flange, (ii) a second ring to sit on a top surface of the chamber's lower flange, said second ring having a set of bolt holes which align with the second set of bolt holes on the split ring and (iii) a set of bolts, wherein tightening of the bolts achieves a secure attachment of the assembly to the manway of the storage tank.