News

A road traffic accident in Malvern caused a car to leave the road and crash into a heating oil tank in a nearby garden causing the contents to be spilled.

The tank contained approximately 1,000 litres of domestic heating oil, which was spilled as a result of the accident. Although no one was injured, the fire brigade were called to the scene to deal with the huge quantity of spilled liquid. They managed to stem the leak but needed further assistance with the spill clean-up. The watch manager on duty, Saul Bolton, told the Malvern Gazette that because of the nature of the spill and the huge quantity of fuel oil that was spilled onto the ground, the Environmental Protection Unit at Evesham needed to be called.

He stated:

"While we waited for them to arrive, we managed to stem the flow of oil by blocking the culvert with mud,"

When the Environmental Protection Unit arrived, they used spill control equipment such as absorbent booms to soak up the spilled liquid to minimise the environmental impact.

A huge diesel spill in Whitehaven marina at the weekend, led to a section of the harbour being cordoned off until the spill was contained and controlled.

The spill in Whitehaven harbour was noticed on Friday and the lock gates quickly closed to stop the spilled liquid finding its way out to sea. Early estimates on the quantity of spilled diesel estimated the amount to be in the region of two thousand litres.

The north end of the harbour near the Tesco superstore was taped off while the spill response took place. Specialist spill response equipment was used by the response team, including pumps to siphon the liquid out of the water.

The operation carried on into the night, with temporary lighting erected to aid the response. The vessel the diesel spilled from was still being sought late on Friday night, with no vessels allowed to leave the harbour until it had been found. Samples from all vessels have been taken to aid in the search for the vessel responsible. However, this proved to be difficult because of the large number of vessels in the harbour due to the rough conditions at sea last week.

An oil spill in Long Beach harbour early last week left clean-up crews working against the clock to remove the oil from the harbour.

More than 15 clean-up vessels attended the scene after oil leaked during the refuelling of a ship at the container terminal wharf on Sunday evening. The spill response it seems was excellent, with spill containment booms quickly deployed around the vessel.

An aerial survey of the spill the morning after the accident showed that most of the spill had been contained.

Coastguard Petty Officer Matt Schofield stated:

"It doesn't appear there's much if any free-floating oil or (petroleum) sheens beyond the immediate area,"

The spill didn’t disrupt shipping in the area and was quickly brought under control by the spill response vehicles on Monday afternoon.

Spill response systems

If spill response systems are put in place, the effective clean-up of a spilled substance can be efficiently handled. Using the right spill clean-up equipment and having employees that are trained in how best to handle spills of different substances can really make a difference to your business and the environment.

A suspected chemical spill at a business in Aberdeen meant that a specialist hazardous waste materials team were deployed to the suspected spill site.

When a woman complained of feeling ill at the site in Torry, the fire brigade, police and the chemical response team were called to the John Ross Salmon Ltd on Sinclair Road. After a thorough investigation by the team no leak was found.

One of the business owners, John Ross, stated:

“There was no chemical leak. There was a girl taken to hospital unwell.”

The woman was taken to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary where she was treated for chemical inhalation. Grampian Police later confirmed the woman was ok and a minor incident concerning chemicals had taken place.

Spill control devices

If your business uses chemicals, you need to have procedures in place to cope with a chemical spill. Spill stations located at various points around your factory can contain spill absorbents, spill containment devices and PPE so you can effectively cope with any spill you may have. If you look online you will be able to find appropriate products for the types of hazardous liquids you use.

A chemical spill at a freight depot in Haydock resulted in several employees on the site being taken to hospital.

Emergency teams were called to the Rhys Davies Freight depot on Monday evening after the spill was noticed. More than 30 fire-fighters attended the scene and called upon the services of a specialist hazardous materials handling team to assist with the chemical clean-up.

The employees who suffered from breathing difficulties were taken to a nearby hospital to be checked over by medical staff. The specialist team used various chemical spill control equipment and absorbents to clean up the spill which was quickly and efficiently dealt with.

No information has yet been released regarding the constituents of the chemical substance that leaked.

Have the right spill control equipment on site

It’s important to have the right types of spill control equipment on site to cope with spills such as the one at the Haydock freight depot. If you have the right equipment, your spill response times can fall and you can deal with the spill in the most appropriate fashion. It’s important to remember that employee safety is always paramount, so if you don’t know the constituents of a spilled chemical drum, it’s best to call in the experts so your staff aren’t compromised.

If you have a comprehensive spill control policy in place at your industrial site, you will need to make sure that all your employees are briefed on what to do should a spill occur. This may mean investing in additional training or training key employees so they know what to do if you have a spill.

Spill control training can cover:

• Speed of spill response

• Preparation for spills

• Spill management

• Spill asset information

• Training using various spill assets

If you are adequately prepared, you will have the right equipment in place to tackle a spill at your industrial site. And if you have been trained, you will be able to use this equipment properly and will thus minimise the impact of the spill to your place of work and also to the environment.

Spill control training is thus imperative if you use fluids such as chemicals or fuels at your industrial site. You can make sure that the equipment you have is appropriate for the types of liquids you use and you can thus choose appropriate new equipment if needed.

Spill signage

If you have spill control equipment kept at various locations around your industrial site, you will need to let employees know what types of spill equipment you have, where they are located and how to use them.

A good thing to do with any spill control equipment is to provide a spill identification sign alongside the equipment so employees can determine if it is the right kit to use.

Spill kit signs

Spill kit signs can provide clear precise information to anyone who may want to use the spill kit. They can contain information such as “oil only spill kit” or other information identifying what type of spill kit should be used in what scenario.

Wet floor signs

Wet floor signs should always be used if you have a spill. The signs can be placed around the spill area while the spill clean-up procedure takes place. Wet floor signs thus give a warning to employees that there may be a slip-trip hazard and as such are a legal requirement to protect your business interests.

Surface drain signs

If you have drainage on site that connects to the mains drainage system, you may want to highlight the fact that no other liquids should be poured down the drain. To do this you can use appropriate signage which highlights that rain water only should enter the drainage system.

A chemical spill at an industrial site in Liskeard had to be dealt with last week by a team of firefighters donning gas tight chemical protection suits.

The spill at the Pensilva Industrial Estate meant a 50-metre no-go zone had to be set up on nearby roads.

A split drum containing sodium hydroxide was discovered in the rear of a delivery truck on Friday morning. After reacting with other substances on the truck, the drum and its contents had to be dealt with by the firefighters wearing chemical protection suits and using other spill control equipment.

Richard Gibbons, the Cornwall Fire and rescue Service Incident Commander stated:

"The driver had looked in the vehicle and found the chemicals had spilled and were proving a problem.

"One of the containers had leaked chemicals which had reacted with materials on the bed of the lorry, and started to spill to the ground.

"We responded initially with one fire engine from Liskeard. The incident commander on arrival determined that chemicals were involved and requested further assistance.

"We set up a 50-metre cordon for the protection of the public and evacuated the surrounding commercial premises.

"It turned out the risk wasn't high, but we took every precaution to deal with it. Several crews were involved, co-operating with police and ambulance crews, in case there were any casualties, which thankfully there weren't."

The spill clean-up operation was completed in the early evening, with the cordon removed and businesses being allowed to regain entry to their premises.

An oil spill after a crash left roads closed in Stockport, Greater Manchester last week. A large amount of oil was spilt from an Audi TT after the car was involved in an incident on Newbridge Lane last Tuesday.

The accident happened when the car careered over a ramp and the front of the vehicle crashed into a metal grid ripping off the sump plug underneath the vehicle. The engine oil leaked from the vehicle into the road which caused the road to be closed while a clean-up operation took place.

Both the woman driver and her passenger were taken to hospital and were treated for shock; the driver also suffered cuts to her face.

The fire brigade attended the incident and closed sections of the road between St Mary’s Way and New Zealand Road while the vehicle recovery and clean-up took place. The incident happened at around 1pm and the roads were reopened at around 5pm.

Spill control equipment

Having the right types of spill control equipment, including oil spill absorbent pads and pillows can really help in situations when you need to absorb oil spills quickly. They are a necessity at every industrial site.