O6 ENV’s professional Emergency Response Team is available and committed to providing safe, knowledgeable, and economical solutions 24/7.
Our highly trained personnel bring the knowledge and experience of thousands of previous hazardous material emergency responses to each incident. We provide our clients the mitigation and remediation expertise and resources they need to properly protect life, health, and the environment while minimizing the associated response, remediation, and disposal costs. Our core response capabilities include:
O6 ENV was contacted by the Business / Property Owner with a request to provide emergency response services for a warehouse fire. The 125,000 square-foot facilities stored several recyclable materials including nonferrous industrial metals, computers, electronics, lithium-ion batteries, and various metallic powders. O6 ENV was responsible for containing contaminants from the fire that burned for several days as well as building demolition, site remediation, and waste management.
During emergency response operations, O6 ENV successfully prevented contamination from migrating off-site. Crews worked around the clock utilizing vacuum trucks and frac tanks to collect and contain runoff water from firefighting operations. O6 ENV installed a berm lined with absorbent socks around the building foundation for water maintenance during demolition and remedial operations. O6 ENV collected, sampled, and managed the transportation and disposal of more than 230,000 gallons of water.
After the fire, crews demolished all structures still standing to achieve safe access for site investigation activities. O6 ENV formulated and initiated sampling plans and used the analytical data to characterize and develop several waste streams. Crews meticulously segregated materials utilizing hydraulic excavators with various attachments, heavy-duty screening plants, magnets, and manual labor. Water cannons were set up to control dust emissions and daily personnel and perimeter air monitoring confirmed its effectiveness.
Throughout the project, over 7,000 tons of material were containerized and loaded out. O6 ENV estimates that the careful material segregation and creative disposal and recycling alternatives saved the customer over $20,000,000.
Working with hazardous substances can pose hazards in the workplace, which must be managed to ensure employee safety. You don’t want to wait for the chemical release to occur before you have a plan in place to address them.
Employees can be trained on emergency spill response procedures to help them focus on the steps to take to address a spillage. These procedures can also be used to train employees about the dangers of the site as well as what they should do.
Each chemical comes with an SDS which describes its properties and hazards. Every new chemical should be recorded and maintained on site, as well as distributed to all who might come in contact with it. To adequately respond to new hazards, procedures and spill response equipment might need to be updated.
When it comes to a chemical release, there is no substitute for careful preparation. Risk assessments could be used to determine the main release risks at a particular site. A risk assessment would result in spill response kits being placed in high-risk areas.
Training can make all the difference in preventing major environmental disasters. Training programs can be implemented for employees.
During a spill
Effectively responding to a release requires you to understand the scope of the problem. You could ask the following questions:
Spill containment is crucial so they don’t spread outside the immediate area. To prevent chemicals from escaping into the sewers and eventually into the environment, seal off the drains. To prevent spillage from spreading, use booms or other physical barriers.
The size of the chemical spill will determine how it is cleaned up. You can use the small spill kits that you have prepared during the risk assessment phase to clean up smaller spillages. Every kit should contain the appropriate spill absorbent for the chemical in question. You should also stock it with the proper personal protective equipment for the chemicals.
For larger spillages, support may be required from companies that offer emergency spill response services. It is important to seek help immediately. The longer a spillage takes, the higher the chance of environmental damage.
Disposal is as important as spill response and spill cleanup. If the chemical release was hazardous, then the soiled absorbent material should be considered hazardous waste. For environmental protection as well as the safety of workers, it can only be transported to approved hazmat disposal locations. Hazardous materials are not managed by landfill workers.
Depending on the volume of chemical spills and the impact on the environment, it may be reportable to the authorities. To ensure compliance check the regulations for your industry and chemical onsite.
To prevent a spillage from happening again, it is important to conduct an investigation. The investigation can improve the piping inspection program if the source was a failure of a pipe. The investigation results may help improve employee training and procedures if the source was human error. If there was an equipment failure, it may indicate that the equipment is not designed for that service. It is important to replace the equipment in order to prevent another similar failure.
Like most things, there’s always room to improve. You can learn from this experience by evaluating how you responded to the spillage. This will help you improve your response each time, and minimize the potential consequences of future spillages.
Some questions you could ask include:
After a spill response, it is crucial to replenish spill kits.
According to EPA regulations, the term SPCC Plan is “Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plan.” An SPCC Plan is one that has been prepared according to good engineering practices in order to clean up storage tank spillages. These could include gasoline, diesel, heating oil, as well as non-petroleum oil such as animal, vegetable, or synthetic oils.
Federal SPCC plan requirements only apply to storage facilities that have an aggregate aboveground storage capacity of more than 1,320 gallons and where a discharge could also reach a navigable water body either directly or indirectly. The total aggregate storage capacity includes any storage container or tank of 55 gallons or more.
Contact O6 Environmental
As a part of an SPCC plan, proper emergency response planning must take place. O6 Environmental can offer guidance on proper SPCC planning and can be a part of your emergency response.
We also offer comprehensive emergency response cleanup and hazardous waste management services to the private, state & federal sectors. Our track record and over twenty (20) years of industry experience make us a trusted partner in the fight to protect the environment from hazardous substances.