Help With Serious Acid Spill
Calvin Teixeira, a Spill Center compliance associate, was working the night shift when the phone rang just before 2 a.m. On the other end of the line was a client, a manager of a trucking company based in northwest Ohio. One of its tank trucks carrying a hazardous waste solution of hydrochloric acid had rolled over on the Ohio Turnpike.
Nearly 2,000 gallons of the toxic solution had spilled into a ditch beside the road. Police shut down the highway and residents of 20 homes were ordered to evacuate. The truck driver, who was taken to a hospital, may have fallen asleep at the wheel, police said. A wrecker was on scene to pull the overturned tanker back upright.
The trucking company manager made the call to Spill Center after he received word of the accident by police on scene. They wanted to know how it would be handled. Teixeira spoke briefly with the manager, taking down the location, material spilled, amount and other details. Spill Center would get a cleanup contractor, one with a vacuum truck that could off-load product and suck up spilled acid. Spill Center would also make all the incident reports to local, state and federal authorities.
Spill generators often get so caught up in the rush to clean up a spill that they slip up on the reporting side. That's why we provide comprehensive spill reporting services for jurisdictions throughout the U.S. and much of Canada to help clients avoid fines and penalties for missing reporting deadlines and other compliance issues.
Every Spill Center client has a spill contingency plan tailored to its operations. Kept in a secure, password-protected computer file at Spill Center, the plan can be updated by the client anytime over the Internet. Information on over 3,000 cleanup contractors qualified to handle hazmat spills throughout North America is also kept on file.
Working the Contingency Plan
Teixeira pulled up the client's spill contingency plan which contains contact information on the company, preferred contractors and other details he needed to manage the incident. He contacted a contractor in northern Ohio offering 24/7 emergency spill response and remediation services for hazardous releases.
Teixeira discussed the number of responders and the type of equipment that would be needed with the contractor and provided him with contact information for police and the EPA on the scene. The crew could be there with the right equipment within two hours.
Teixeira next used Spill Center's database to determine which agencies needed reports. He reviewed the regulations covering acid spills in the jurisdictions involved. He knew there was little time to waste. Some jurisdictions have a very tight deadline for phoning in spill reports before incurring a fine for late reporting. In Massachusetts, the window is only two hours after the spill occurs.
Multiple Reports Required
The agency search went quickly. Requirements of some 30,000 jurisdictions are in the Spill Center database. The DOT required a report since the highway was closed. The acid went into a ditch and could impact water, triggering a report to the National Response Center. Teixeira called in reports to the Ohio EPA, local Emergency Planning Committee, Ohio Emergency Management Agency and the National Response Center. He also called the on-scene trooper in charge to inform him that Spill Center was managing the response on behalf of the carrier and a cleanup contractor was on the way.
"The contractor called me once he arrived on scene; then I updated our client," related Teixeira. "The contractor had a four-man crew at the site, with another four-man crew coming with roll-off boxes to hold contaminated soil, absorbent pads and other solid waste. They had to excavate the soil, replace it with clean soil and lay sod," he said. The crews, working at the direction of the EPA, generated 30 full roll-off boxes, each with about 15 tons of soil and waste, noted Teixeira.
From the site, the contractor called with updates, reporting on the scope of work, disposal plans and follow-up testing of the soil. At each step, Teixeira updated the client. At the start of the day shift, he handed the case over to another compliance associate who would send out letters and written reports to the regulatory agencies that require them. Follow-up documentation would also be handled by Spill Center. All spill-related invoices would come to Spill Center to be audited for accuracy.
That was just another day at Spill Center. Clients know that no phone goes unanswered here, even on holidays and weekends. And when it rings in the middle of the night, we have a pretty good idea of what's in store for us.
Become a Spill Center Subscriber
To find out more about Spill Center services and how to become a subscriber, I'd be happy to talk with you. Call me directly at 978-568-1922, x222. Email me at tmoses@spillcenter.com. Or visit the Spill Center website, www.spillcenter.com, where you can enroll online as a client, complete a custom Spill Contingency Plan or find out lots more about our services and benefits to clients.
Sincerely,
Tom Moses
President
Spill Center
22 Kane Industrial Drive
Hudson, Massachusetts 01749 |
