One of the largest truckload carriers in the U.S. and a long-time Spill Center client was looking at a very expensive bill for cleanup of a diesel fuel spill in Riverside, Calif. - until Spill Center intervened. A Spill Center compliance associate negotiated with the cleanup contractor to save the carrier about $22,000.

In the incident, which occurred in January, a company tractor-trailer was engulfed in flames after an accident that resulted in a spill of about 100 gallons of diesel fuel from a ruptured saddle tank, according to fire department estimates. No injuries were reported.

Normally, the carrier, whose fleet includes more than 7,000 tractors and nearly 25,000 trailers, would have called Spill Center to hire a cleanup contractor and coordinate the response. But a contractor already had been called by a fire official at the scene. The cleanup crew was there by the time Spill Center was notified. Diesel fuel had flowed from the tank along the roadway and curbside, and entered the storm drain system.

The contractor, working at the direction of Riverside Public Works, contained the fuel, cleaned the roadway and gutters of residual diesel fuel, and inspected the storm drain system and impacted lines. Also on the scene were representatives of the city's Office of Risk Management, county Flood Control, state Water Quality Control Board and the police.

The storm drain system was flushed, and about 6,200 gallons of fuel, water and sludge was recovered and transported for disposal, according to official reports. In addition, seven 55-gallon drums of absorbent material and cleanup debris were transported by the contractor. Spill Center completed reports to the National Response Center, California Office of Emergency Services and the Riverside County Dept. of Environmental Health.

Typically the contractor would invoice the City of Riverside, since it was the fire department that called them - and the city would mark it up and invoice the spill generator. But Spill Center Senior Compliance Associate Tracie Murphy contacted the company and asked them to invoice the carrier directly. After several calls to negotiate terms, the contractor agreed.

A spokesman for the carrier expressed his appreciation for the effort that Tracie had put forth in handling the incident. "With multiple state and local agencies on site, the operation became quite extensive in a hurry. We were notified, and Spill Center was brought in after much of the work had already begun," he recounted.

"We had a difficult contractor to work with, and local billing arrangements allowed for multiple markups before any invoice was submitted to us. Tracie took the initiative and found a way to bypass much of the markup - which would have included a 20% markup by the cleanup contractor's holding company before they submitted their invoice to the city," he related.

"The fire department has confirmed for me that the city would have marked that company's invoice up another 20%. Tracie not only got us past the markups, but also negotiated the original invoice down another $4,300. Our total savings, due to her efforts, exceeded $22,000 on this incident," he said.

Sincerely,

Tom Moses
President
Spill Center  

22 Kane Industrial Drive
Hudson, Massachusetts 01749