PROJECT EXPERIENCE
A Major Central States Railroad
A major central states railroad experienced a diesel spill at a fuel depot due to a large rain storm flooding a catch basin overflowing the basin’s residual fuel into a waterway. As an OSRO certified contractor maintaining the proper qualifications, trained staff and equipment to manage spills on water, HMRI responded to the incident location to provide emergency and site remediation assistance. Action plan objectives included deployment of hard boom to create collection points, placement of soft absorbents at the connection points to minimize possible migration beyond collection points, utilization of floating pumps to push product to the catch points, removal of the fuel from the waterway with the use of a vacuum truck and removal of surface contamination along the banks. After the initial event, Haz-Mat Response provided weekly site evaluations and site maintenance.
Throughout the incident, the client was kept informed of actions taken at the site. A final report, including photos of the site, was provided to the client for their official record.
Water Recovery & Clarification
An industrial manufacturing plant in Kansas City, MO, required assistance with recovery of approximately 70,000 gallons of oil contaminated water resulting from fire suppression operations at their facility. Haz-Mat Response recovered the oil contaminated water into large storage tanks with the use of vacuum trucks and pumps. Site cleaning operations included pressure washing a large concrete pad, with recovery of resultant contaminated water added to the previously recovered fire suppression water.
Since the customer’s wastewater treatment facility could not handle processing the added volume of water, Haz-Mat Response filtered the recovered water using bag filters and a one ton carbon vessel, thus, allowing the filtered water to be released to the treatment plant on a scheduled basis.
Debris from the fire and storage tanks clean out were solidified by Haz-Mat Response crews. The debris and drums containing the carbon media used to scrub the water were placed into roll-off containers which were then transported to the customer’s designated landfill.
After an initial orientation of the plant, Haz-Mat Response crews were allowed to operate with indirect supervision. Operational objectives and coordination of the project were left to the Haz-Mat Response’s Project Manager.
Butane Tanker Rollover
A Haz-Mat Response crews were asked to respond to the scene of a rollover accident in Wichita involving a pressurized tanker containing butane. Upon arrival at the scene and after meeting with local emergency responders for accurate, current site situation, the crew assessed the tanker’s damage finding a small leak in the liquid line and structural damage to the tanker. The technicians exited the hot zone to update the local emergency response agencies. The Haz-Mat Response crew provided assistance in the development of an action plan to unload the tanker, control access to the site and remediate the site.
Haz-Mat Response’s Action Plan Tasks & Objectives Included:
- Contacting the shipper to make arrangements for delivery of a second pressurized tanker for product transfer operations.
- Stopped the leak in the liquid line and completed temporary repairs to the tanker while waiting for arrival of the second tanker.
- Upon arrival of the second tanker, worked with a tow truck company to secure the damaged tanker, keeping it in place during transfer operations.
- Assisted with placement of the second tanker and subsequent implementation of proper bonding and grounding.
- Assisted with connecting hoses between the two tankers for commencement of the transfer operations.
Once the transfer began, Haz-Mat responders remained on stand by in the tanker’s hot zone to insure its successful completion. The transfer operation took slightly more than two hours, with successful transfer of 98 percent of the butane. After the transfer, Haz-Mat Response removed their equipment from the site, but remained on standby while the damaged tanker was loaded onto a flatbed trailer for transport back to the shipper’s maintenance yard. The remaining remediation tasks were completed before the crew left the scene.
Paint Spill Inside of Tractor Trailer
A Haz-Mat Response crew was called to an accident site involving a tractor trailer transporting a load of paint, which is considered to be a flammable liquid. The tractor trailer had run off of the interstate, overturning onto its side on a side road.
Upon arrival on site, the Project Manager conducted a site assessment, determining that the 465 five-gallon buckets of paint were not salvageable, that the tractor trailer’s top was destroyed by the paint cans catapulting through the truck as it rolled, and that approximately 1/8 of a mile from the interstate across a side road into a nearby field was impacted with paint.
Haz-Mat Response technicians removed the contamination using dirt moving equipment and four roll-off boxes, enabling the side road to be reopened within 3½ hours. Haz-Mat Response arranged for free roll-off box storage with a near by landowner until proper disposal could be authorized, thus assisting the trucking company to contain costs. Upon receipt of disposal authorization, Haz-Mat Response crews hauled the boxes to a landfill and completed remediation of the site.
Haz-Mat Response’s crew, consisting of a Project Manager, an equipment operator, a truck driver and a laborer, restored the site within 24 hours of the accident.
Gasoline Tanker Rollover
Haz-Mat Response’s crew responded to an accident involving a tanker carrying 8,500 gallons of unleaded gasoline. During the accident, the tractor and trailer become separated. The tractor, after traveling through a ditch coming to rest on its right side on a gravel side road, is destroyed by fire. Although the tanker never caught fire, it sustained heavy damage, including a leak in its vent recovery system.
Upon arrival at the scene, the Haz-Mat Response team met with the local emergency response team. While local responders provided air monitoring and charged fire hose lines as safety measures, the Haz-Mat response team entered the trailer’s hot zone to assess its damage and evaluate transfer options. After exiting the site, the crew met with local responders, outlining the need for safety measures and a transfer plan.
A tow truck was used to secure the tanker during the transfer. The site was bonded and grounded allowing Haz-Mat Response technicians to safely hot tap the tanker and transfer its fuel into a second tanker.
After the transfer was complete and the tanker removed, crews excavated the site, stockpiling the contaminated soil. Bottom samples were taken to insure the site was clean. Haz-Mat Response coordinated disposal of the contaminated soil and backfilling of the site.
Soda Ash Derailment
A railroad official requested use of Haz-Mat Response’s Guzzler vacuum truck to clean up soda ash from a derailment. Upon arrival at the site, the Haz-Mat Response crew found two railcars of soda ash on their side in the railyard’s retarders. The railroad requested that the retarders be vacuumed first allowing signal and track crews to reopen the hump’s operations.
Once the hump was back in service, Haz-Mat Response crews were asked to remove the remaining soda ash from the cars without interrupting the hump’s operation. The crew used a Guzzler vacuum truck and a roll-off vacuum box to remove the soda ash from the cars. The cars were then righted and loaded onto flat cars for transport to repair facility. The soda ash was loaded into roll-off boxes and transported to a landfill for disposal.
Lube Oil & Sodium Hydroxide Train Derailment
Haz-Mat Response assisted with the response and clean-up following a derailment involving leaking railcars of lube oil and sodium hydroxide. The products had flowed into a small stream located within the railroad’s right-of-way. Haz-Mat Response was assigned the responsibility of containing the spill, recovering the product and excavating the site. Tasks and objectives included:
- Part of both the lube oil and caustic product was transferred from the railcars into temporary storage.
- Once emptied, the lube oil and caustic cars were scraped clean by Haz-Mat Response technicians.
- Underflow dams, vacuum trucks and volume pumps were used to recover the spilled product. An estimated 80,000 gallons of high pH water were hauled from the site using 5,000 gallon tankers.
- The excavated soil was stockpiled onsite before transport to the designated landfill.
- A road was constructed for end dumps’ access to the spill area.
- Crew members completed the site’s excavation and final grading.
Throughout the incident, Haz-Mat Response provided the customer with a wide range of equipment including pumps, vacuum trucks, heavy equipment, all-wheel drive site transportation, pressure washers, containment boom, temporary storage, absorbents, poly sheeting, site storage trailers and hand tools. Throughout the four-month project, Haz-Mat Response managed the site with indirect supervision, setting daily and long-term objectives. The initial response required 24-hour operations which were later scaled back to scheduled maintenance tasks.
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