Don’t Fool Around With Soil Contamination
Many industries use potential soil contaminants in a wide range of manufacturing processes. Yet prevention it is relatively easy, doesn’t require major investment and can be averted with properly trained personnel using the right equipment.
– by Isaac Rudik
Admittedly, it is an extreme example but last July’s discovery of a small amount of loose yellow uranium in the soil under Cameco’s uranium hexafluoride conversion plant near Toronto added another chapter to an ongoing story. Cameco admitted at a public hearing in April that a leak from its plant reached a nearby harbour, groundwater was contaminated and the soil under its parking lot was contaminated, as well.
Yellow cake is nothing to fool around with but, fortunately, few companies deal with radioactive material. Yet many industries do use potential soil contaminants in a wide range of manufacturing processes. For example, in Ottawa in late April, the National Capital Commission closed a portion of Stanley Park near New Edinburgh when lead contamination was discovered in the soil, the site of a former landfill.
The problem with soil pollution is three fold.
First, it makes its way into the ecosystem and food chain when everything from small insects to large animals feed from plants growing in the contaminated soil.
Second, soil contamination can seep well beyond the original contamination site, leaking into ground water and adjacent surface areas.
Third, cleaning it up is incredibly expensive; Cameco is facing the possibility of regulators making it tear down its plant to clean the uranium-contaminated soil under the facility.
Yet preventing soil pollution is relatively easy, does not require a massive investment and can be averted with properly trained personnel using the right equipment.
Many Causes
There are numerous ways soil becomes polluted.
One is solid waste seepage and landfill leaking. Discharging industrial waste into the soil is another method. Applying fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides are another cause of soil pollution.
But the most common chemicals causing soil to become contaminated are solvents, pesticides, heavy medals and petroleum by-products. Other pollutants include metals, organic chemicals, oils and tars, gases, biologically active materials and combustible materials. Problems from these substances arise most often from disposing of industrial waste in landfills or uncontrolled dumps.
Unlike yellow cake and other radioactive material, these components are widely used by industry. And every one of them can make workers sick as well as people living in surrounding areas.
Simple Prevention
There are simple ways to prevent soil contamination from industrial use of hazardous substances.
Organic waste matter requires proper containers and safe storage until it can be disposed of properly at a licensed and regulated treatment facility. Storage units come in countless sizes and many are designed for handling specific types of materials.
Inorganic matter such as paper, plastic, glass and metals should be reclaimed and recycled. While nearly every business has a “blue box” programme – indeed, most municipalities now require one – special recycling containers holding toxic materials need to be used and kept separate from bins full of soda cans and discarded photocopy paper. Their recycling requires special handling or the supposedly empty container can still contaminate the soil.
Industry is being held more accountable by government and consumers alike when it dumps industrial waste into the soil as well as into the air and water. That’s why prevention is cheap and easy; clean-up is hugely expensive and time consuming.
Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc., Canada’s largest provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, institutional and government facilities.
E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Cancer In The Workplace: Soil Contamination’s Lingering Danger.
Cancer In The Workplace: Soil Contamination’s Lingering Danger.
This is the fourth in our series on how workplace health and safety issues can elevate cancer risks, and how to control potential problems. This article focuses on soil pollution.
– by Isaac Rudik
One thing about many cancer-causing toxins used by industry: The risk continues long after they have injured or killed workers. A prime example is the solvent used in paint. A key ingredient is something called “2-nitropropane.” Not only can brief, unprotected exposure to it kill people, once it enters the soil it stays there for hundreds of years.
For example, two construction workers became ill recently after applying an epoxy resin coating containing 2-nitropropane in the confined space of an underground concrete vault. One man died 10 days later and although the second man recovered, he has had persistently elevated levels of a harmful serum in his pancreas. These cases show the importance of both effective industrial education and protective work practices.
Even non-industrial toxins can be deadly.
For example, The New England Journal of Medicine reported 25 years ago that radon, a common radioactive gas emitted by soil, stones and most building materials, may be responsible for as many as 10,000 lung cancer deaths among non-smokers in the United States each year. Follow-up studies reveal nothing to contradict the original findings.
Thus, industry must take special care not to add to the problem – and to ensure that workers are adequately protected as well as minimising the risk of contaminating soil.
Many Potential Sources
A large number of industrial processes use toxic material directly, or employ materials that contain toxins.
These can range from arsenic and PAH’s such as benzoapyrene to garden variety diesel oil products.
Diesel oil can be especially deadly if mishandled. Frequently, soil testing at industrial sites find that the contamination levels from petrocarbons – often diesel products – greatly exceed guidelines mandating clean-up. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that occupational exposure to fuel oils are probably carcinogenic in humans based on animal studies suggesting that repeated contact seems to cause liver and skin cancer.
If diesel products leak into the soil, the cancer-causing by-products take hundreds of years to disappear, spreading their deadly impact into residential areas and farms where they become part of the food chain.
Other heavy metals commonly used by business cause a range of medical problems, both when unprotected workers are exposed as well as if they contaminate the soil around an industrial site. These include heavy metals such as zinc, barium and cadmium – very common in industry – as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzoflourantheme.
Studies indicate that soil contaminated by these minerals and compounds can lead to so-called “cancer clusters” both in the workplace and surrounding communities. A cancer cluster is defined by doctors as “(an) aggregation of relatively uncommon events or diseases in space and/or time in amounts that are believed or perceived to be greater than could be expected by chance.” Many instances brought to the attention of health and environmental regulators are “occupational” in that patients in a cluster are identified in terms of their workplace.
Costly Problems, Inexpensive Prevention
Controlling soil contamination from the workplace and in the surrounding community can be a complex problem. When a hazard is discovered, the clean-up cost is enormous to say nothing of potential expenses resulting from worker illnesses, community problems, fines and lawsuits.
Still, there are ways to minimize and even eliminate the risks:
• Worker education is the always first step to ensure that employees understand what they are dealing with and how to prevent potential problems.
• Ensure that toxic material is stored properly in appropriate sealer containers or rooms.
• Install self-contained treatment filters to capture inadvertent spills and run-offs.
Some of this is simply common-sense, some is already required by law and some – such as installing plant site water treatment facilities – is under serious consideration by regulators. A workplace audit where risks are involved will reveal ways to minimize potential problems.
Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc., Canada’s largest provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, institutional and government facilities.
E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354.
This is the fourth in our series on how workplace health and safety issues can elevate cancer risks, and how to control potential problems. This article focuses on soil pollution.
– by Isaac Rudik
One thing about many cancer-causing toxins used by industry: The risk continues long after they have injured or killed workers. A prime example is the solvent used in paint. A key ingredient is something called “2-nitropropane.” Not only can brief, unprotected exposure to it kill people, once it enters the soil it stays there for hundreds of years.
For example, two construction workers became ill recently after applying an epoxy resin coating containing 2-nitropropane in the confined space of an underground concrete vault. One man died 10 days later and although the second man recovered, he has had persistently elevated levels of a harmful serum in his pancreas. These cases show the importance of both effective industrial education and protective work practices.
Even non-industrial toxins can be deadly.
For example, The New England Journal of Medicine reported 25 years ago that radon, a common radioactive gas emitted by soil, stones and most building materials, may be responsible for as many as 10,000 lung cancer deaths among non-smokers in the United States each year. Follow-up studies reveal nothing to contradict the original findings.
Thus, industry must take special care not to add to the problem – and to ensure that workers are adequately protected as well as minimising the risk of contaminating soil.
Many Potential Sources
A large number of industrial processes use toxic material directly, or employ materials that contain toxins.
These can range from arsenic and PAH’s such as benzoapyrene to garden variety diesel oil products.
Diesel oil can be especially deadly if mishandled. Frequently, soil testing at industrial sites find that the contamination levels from petrocarbons – often diesel products – greatly exceed guidelines mandating clean-up. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has determined that occupational exposure to fuel oils are probably carcinogenic in humans based on animal studies suggesting that repeated contact seems to cause liver and skin cancer.
If diesel products leak into the soil, the cancer-causing by-products take hundreds of years to disappear, spreading their deadly impact into residential areas and farms where they become part of the food chain.
Other heavy metals commonly used by business cause a range of medical problems, both when unprotected workers are exposed as well as if they contaminate the soil around an industrial site. These include heavy metals such as zinc, barium and cadmium – very common in industry – as well as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzoflourantheme.
Studies indicate that soil contaminated by these minerals and compounds can lead to so-called “cancer clusters” both in the workplace and surrounding communities. A cancer cluster is defined by doctors as “(an) aggregation of relatively uncommon events or diseases in space and/or time in amounts that are believed or perceived to be greater than could be expected by chance.” Many instances brought to the attention of health and environmental regulators are “occupational” in that patients in a cluster are identified in terms of their workplace.
Costly Problems, Inexpensive Prevention
Controlling soil contamination from the workplace and in the surrounding community can be a complex problem. When a hazard is discovered, the clean-up cost is enormous to say nothing of potential expenses resulting from worker illnesses, community problems, fines and lawsuits.
Still, there are ways to minimize and even eliminate the risks:
• Worker education is the always first step to ensure that employees understand what they are dealing with and how to prevent potential problems.
• Ensure that toxic material is stored properly in appropriate sealer containers or rooms.
• Install self-contained treatment filters to capture inadvertent spills and run-offs.
Some of this is simply common-sense, some is already required by law and some – such as installing plant site water treatment facilities – is under serious consideration by regulators. A workplace audit where risks are involved will reveal ways to minimize potential problems.
Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc., Canada’s largest provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, institutional and government facilities.
E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
When Industry Pollutes Water, Nature Can Help Clean Up The Problem.
When Industry Pollutes Water, Nature Can Help Clean Up The Problem.
When a company causes water pollution, it can face heavy fines. Yet there are low cost, ways for businesses to clean up dirty water before sending it into a sewer or the ground. The process is effective and environmentally sound because it uses nature to scrub nature.
- By Isaac Rudik
Not only is the world starting to slowly run out of fresh water, the water that’s available for drinking, washing and other sanitary uses is increasingly polluted and dirty. Municipalities and regions are finding growing pressure being put on their waste water treatment facilities thanks to a combination of manufacturing, agriculture, food processing, soft drink bottling and the general growth in the number of people consuming water.
Even more distressing is that contaminated water is seeping into aquifers and other sources of fresh water.
Scrubbing Bubbles
Companies need to clean contaminated water both for their own processes and before offloading it into the sewers. But it’s not necessary to install acres of costly equipment to do the clean up because nature provides biological products to do the work.
A partial list of available bio-based solutions includes:
· Aqua-One™ eliminates or prevents the most common problems associated with pond and aquarium water quality.
· Bio-One™ cleans up specific hydrocarbon and hydrocarbon-related contaminants.
· Hydro-One Blue™ degrades components in food processing, textile, pulp, paper, wood processing, municipal waste treatment systems, lagoons, RVs, and septic tank wastewater.
· MicroClean-One™ removes grease, oil, or other hydrocarbon surface contamination.
· Safe-One™ reduces odours in feed lot, dairy, swine, and poultry waste treatment processes.
· GreaseClean-One™ digests grease, oil, or other food wastes in pipes, traps, sewers and lift stations.
· Terra-One™ stimulates plant root growth and reduces thatch.
Using biological decontamination products such as these reduces water and operating costs while using a natural “scrubbing bubble” to save the environment and avoid costly clean-ups.
Widespread Problem
A substantial portion of waste entering our water comes from sources such as industrial discharge pipes and municipal sewer outlets or pollutants carried in the atmosphere. Up to 54% of the 170 direct dischargers in Ontario exceed their allowed monthly pollution limits.
Moreover, many industries use municipal sewers and treatment facilities to deal with wastewater and this can overwhelm treatment facilities. This is one of the most serious problems facing the municipal water industry. Worse, municipal facilities may not treat toxic industrial contaminants and it is almost impossible to police sewage discharges.
When dirty water contamination is left for a government facility to “clean up,” large amounts of water are wasted. With ever tighter legislation and the need to save costs cleaning it by yourself is much cheaper and less risky.
Fortunately, new bio-technology makes it easier and cheaper for companies to manage potential problems with bad water damaging the environment while reducing own operating costs.
Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc., Canada’s largest provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, institutional and government facilities.
E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354.
When a company causes water pollution, it can face heavy fines. Yet there are low cost, ways for businesses to clean up dirty water before sending it into a sewer or the ground. The process is effective and environmentally sound because it uses nature to scrub nature.
- By Isaac Rudik
Not only is the world starting to slowly run out of fresh water, the water that’s available for drinking, washing and other sanitary uses is increasingly polluted and dirty. Municipalities and regions are finding growing pressure being put on their waste water treatment facilities thanks to a combination of manufacturing, agriculture, food processing, soft drink bottling and the general growth in the number of people consuming water.
Even more distressing is that contaminated water is seeping into aquifers and other sources of fresh water.
Scrubbing Bubbles
Companies need to clean contaminated water both for their own processes and before offloading it into the sewers. But it’s not necessary to install acres of costly equipment to do the clean up because nature provides biological products to do the work.
A partial list of available bio-based solutions includes:
· Aqua-One™ eliminates or prevents the most common problems associated with pond and aquarium water quality.
· Bio-One™ cleans up specific hydrocarbon and hydrocarbon-related contaminants.
· Hydro-One Blue™ degrades components in food processing, textile, pulp, paper, wood processing, municipal waste treatment systems, lagoons, RVs, and septic tank wastewater.
· MicroClean-One™ removes grease, oil, or other hydrocarbon surface contamination.
· Safe-One™ reduces odours in feed lot, dairy, swine, and poultry waste treatment processes.
· GreaseClean-One™ digests grease, oil, or other food wastes in pipes, traps, sewers and lift stations.
· Terra-One™ stimulates plant root growth and reduces thatch.
Using biological decontamination products such as these reduces water and operating costs while using a natural “scrubbing bubble” to save the environment and avoid costly clean-ups.
Widespread Problem
A substantial portion of waste entering our water comes from sources such as industrial discharge pipes and municipal sewer outlets or pollutants carried in the atmosphere. Up to 54% of the 170 direct dischargers in Ontario exceed their allowed monthly pollution limits.
Moreover, many industries use municipal sewers and treatment facilities to deal with wastewater and this can overwhelm treatment facilities. This is one of the most serious problems facing the municipal water industry. Worse, municipal facilities may not treat toxic industrial contaminants and it is almost impossible to police sewage discharges.
When dirty water contamination is left for a government facility to “clean up,” large amounts of water are wasted. With ever tighter legislation and the need to save costs cleaning it by yourself is much cheaper and less risky.
Fortunately, new bio-technology makes it easier and cheaper for companies to manage potential problems with bad water damaging the environment while reducing own operating costs.
Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc., Canada’s largest provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, institutional and government facilities.
E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354.
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Even Empty Barrels Need Tender, Loving Storage.
Even Empty Barrels Need Tender, Loving Storage.
Supposedly empty barrels and used batteries pose a potentially huge risk – and cost – to companies as they await collection for disposal or re-conditioning.
-By Isaac Rudik
We’ve all seen them as we drive along the expressway or down an industrial street. At the rear of a parking lot next to a factory or warehouse sit a forlorn group of empty barrels, sometimes stacked to the sky, awaiting pickup for disposal or re-conditioning. Yet those empty barrels aren’t truly empty for they all contain the residue of the liquid or vapour product they once contained.
In fact, supposedly empty barrels are anything but and pose a potentially huge risk – and cost – to companies as they sit, alone and forgotten, awaiting collection. The reality is that even “empty” barrels need tender, loving storage. At the same time, useless old batteries waiting for pick-up pose a hazard to a business, the surrounding community and the environment.
Some 90% of the residue in both empty barrels and used batteries are toxic and pose a serious hazard. Improper storage – even the weather – can result in leaks of the residue material into the ground. If it happens, the resulting expense to the facility in cleanup and fines can run into six figures.
Ignoring Hazards
Too many companies ignore the potential hazard posed by seemingly empty barrels.
For example, two years ago a manufacturer east of Toronto was engulfed in flames that sent three employees to hospital and took fire fighters more than six hours to extinguish. The blaze started when a worker was using a welding torch to cut supposedly empty barrels in half to prepare them for pickup. For nearly a decade, the business had been cutting barrels to reduce the storage space needed while they waited for a monthly collection without a problem.
But then luck ran out.
The welding torch’s intense heat coupled with a week of hot weather set off a spark, igniting built-up fumes inside a barrel which had been sitting outside, unprotected from the unrelenting, scorching sun beating down. The blaze ignited other barrels and before the fire department arrived on the scene, the factory itself caught fire. The place was totalled.
While insurance covered much of the cost of cleaning up the remains and re-building the facility, the process took seven months which meant being out of business for more than a half-year. What wasn’t covered, though, were the hefty fines levied by the province for improperly storing hazardous material and exposing workers to a serious health risk. Legal fees for negotiating with the government, settling suits brought by injured workers, and paying nearby businesses for lost revenue that were forced to shutter their doors for a few days during and after the fire added to the total cost of improper storage.
Yet even without a fire, used barrels and old batteries can cause problems for a business. They can easily leak, causing residue material to seep into the ground which will lead to costly soil remediation projects with the possibility to sample and test nearby potable water sources for contamination and clean up.
Proper Storage and Disposal
As the fire-ravaged factory learned, there is no such thing as an “empty” container. Drums should be completely drained, properly bunged and promptly returned to a drum re-conditioner or properly disposed of quickly. Moreover, they should not be kept under pressure, cut, welded, brazed, soldered, drilled, ground or exposed to heat, sparks, static electricity and other potential ignition triggers.
Here’s the good news.
There is a smart and cost-effective way to protect against potential problems caused by storing empty barrels and old batteries improperly: Modular spill containment platforms are one type of solution which captures leakage risk and avoids unforeseen events or accidents causing a problem. Better still, these solutions cost a fraction of the cost of fines, which can hit upwards of $250,000.00, and possible worker comp claims and lawsuits – and that’s before adding in clean-up costs which will be even greater.
When you leave work today, look out back at the barrels and batteries many industrial businesses find piling up awaiting collection. Remember that those empty barrels need tender, loving storage.
Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc. , Canada’s largest provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, institutional and government facilities.
E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354.
Supposedly empty barrels and used batteries pose a potentially huge risk – and cost – to companies as they await collection for disposal or re-conditioning.
-By Isaac Rudik
We’ve all seen them as we drive along the expressway or down an industrial street. At the rear of a parking lot next to a factory or warehouse sit a forlorn group of empty barrels, sometimes stacked to the sky, awaiting pickup for disposal or re-conditioning. Yet those empty barrels aren’t truly empty for they all contain the residue of the liquid or vapour product they once contained.
In fact, supposedly empty barrels are anything but and pose a potentially huge risk – and cost – to companies as they sit, alone and forgotten, awaiting collection. The reality is that even “empty” barrels need tender, loving storage. At the same time, useless old batteries waiting for pick-up pose a hazard to a business, the surrounding community and the environment.
Some 90% of the residue in both empty barrels and used batteries are toxic and pose a serious hazard. Improper storage – even the weather – can result in leaks of the residue material into the ground. If it happens, the resulting expense to the facility in cleanup and fines can run into six figures.
Ignoring Hazards
Too many companies ignore the potential hazard posed by seemingly empty barrels.
For example, two years ago a manufacturer east of Toronto was engulfed in flames that sent three employees to hospital and took fire fighters more than six hours to extinguish. The blaze started when a worker was using a welding torch to cut supposedly empty barrels in half to prepare them for pickup. For nearly a decade, the business had been cutting barrels to reduce the storage space needed while they waited for a monthly collection without a problem.
But then luck ran out.
The welding torch’s intense heat coupled with a week of hot weather set off a spark, igniting built-up fumes inside a barrel which had been sitting outside, unprotected from the unrelenting, scorching sun beating down. The blaze ignited other barrels and before the fire department arrived on the scene, the factory itself caught fire. The place was totalled.
While insurance covered much of the cost of cleaning up the remains and re-building the facility, the process took seven months which meant being out of business for more than a half-year. What wasn’t covered, though, were the hefty fines levied by the province for improperly storing hazardous material and exposing workers to a serious health risk. Legal fees for negotiating with the government, settling suits brought by injured workers, and paying nearby businesses for lost revenue that were forced to shutter their doors for a few days during and after the fire added to the total cost of improper storage.
Yet even without a fire, used barrels and old batteries can cause problems for a business. They can easily leak, causing residue material to seep into the ground which will lead to costly soil remediation projects with the possibility to sample and test nearby potable water sources for contamination and clean up.
Proper Storage and Disposal
As the fire-ravaged factory learned, there is no such thing as an “empty” container. Drums should be completely drained, properly bunged and promptly returned to a drum re-conditioner or properly disposed of quickly. Moreover, they should not be kept under pressure, cut, welded, brazed, soldered, drilled, ground or exposed to heat, sparks, static electricity and other potential ignition triggers.
Here’s the good news.
There is a smart and cost-effective way to protect against potential problems caused by storing empty barrels and old batteries improperly: Modular spill containment platforms are one type of solution which captures leakage risk and avoids unforeseen events or accidents causing a problem. Better still, these solutions cost a fraction of the cost of fines, which can hit upwards of $250,000.00, and possible worker comp claims and lawsuits – and that’s before adding in clean-up costs which will be even greater.
When you leave work today, look out back at the barrels and batteries many industrial businesses find piling up awaiting collection. Remember that those empty barrels need tender, loving storage.
Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc. , Canada’s largest provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, institutional and government facilities.
E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Monitoring Potential Soil Contamination Is Cheap, Easy And Makes Good Business Sense.
Monitoring Potential Soil Contamination Is Cheap, Easy And Makes Good Business Sense.
Between provincial regulations and new, relatively inexpensive technology, there is neither a reason nor an excuse not to be testing for soil contamination frequently.
– by Isaac Rudik
Farmers have known for centuries that crops won’t grow in contaminated soil. Likewise, engineers have known for at least a quarter-century or longer that contaminated soil can make a plant – a manufacturing plant, that is – unusable.
Yet far too few factories, warehouses and similar businesses bother testing to see whether they are contaminating the land around their facility. Frequently, the stated reason for this is that it’s either “too complicated” or “too expensive.” But as countless companies have learned the hard way, it is much more complex and costly to clean up soil contamination than it is to monitor it regularly.
Indeed, between provincial regulations and new, relatively inexpensive technology, there is neither a reason nor an excuse not to be testing for soil contamination frequently.
The Gong Show
Early last year, the three owners of a mid-sized manufacturing company not far from Toronto were surprised when pollution inspectors from the province showed up to sample the soil around their facility, which is located in a semi-rural area. Two days later, the owners were stunned when they were served with a sworn complaint that discharge from their factory was seeping into the soil and, eventually, ground water.
The inspection and grievance was prompted by calls to the Ministry from nearby farmers who suspected that contamination from the facility was both damaging crops and causing birth defects in livestock. To make matters worse, not only did the company not realise it was causing problems, the owners had no idea that anything in their manufacturing process was potentially harmful.
The company faced two unpleasant and hugely expensive propositions. Either it could pay for decontaminating the soil or close down; in any event, the business and its owners were facing enormous fines and possible criminal citations.
“It was like being on The Gong Show,” one of the owners told us not long ago. “No matter what we did, we were going to be rung off stage.”
In the end, the business negotiated a settlement with the province and neighbouring farmers, and assumed responsibility for part of the clean-up costs. But threatened with its very existence, the company learned an extremely costly lesson.
An Ounce Of Prevention
Whether located in an urban, semi-rural or country setting, monitoring soil contamination is critical. All companies with a potential risk should be doing so at least one a week; daily testing is even better for businesses that know they are dealing with hazardous material. Moreover, farms should also be testing frequently since agriculture has the most to gain – and lose – by knowing soil quality.
Fortunately, keeping an eye on possible contamination is easy thanks to one of the many “handy” measuring instruments that are available today.
There are four smart, simple ways of providing protection through an ounce of prevention:
· Depending on the industry, there are specific test kits available to determine the contamination level of land surrounding a plant.
· Agribusinesses may use a pH-Meter to determine whether a specific crop has the best condition to grow in a given soil.
· Both industry and agriculture should use dissolved salt meters to determine if drainage is working properly.
· Use standardized samplers to obtain a standard soil sample ensuring all tests are showing comparable results.
Today, new, rapidly emerging technology makes it increasingly easy to manage and prevent soil contamination at an affordable cost. As the Ontario manufacturer and its farm neighbours learned the hard way, testing is cheap and cleaning up a mess is awful.
Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc., Canada’s leading provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, agricultural, institutional and government facilities.
E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354
Between provincial regulations and new, relatively inexpensive technology, there is neither a reason nor an excuse not to be testing for soil contamination frequently.
– by Isaac Rudik
Farmers have known for centuries that crops won’t grow in contaminated soil. Likewise, engineers have known for at least a quarter-century or longer that contaminated soil can make a plant – a manufacturing plant, that is – unusable.
Yet far too few factories, warehouses and similar businesses bother testing to see whether they are contaminating the land around their facility. Frequently, the stated reason for this is that it’s either “too complicated” or “too expensive.” But as countless companies have learned the hard way, it is much more complex and costly to clean up soil contamination than it is to monitor it regularly.
Indeed, between provincial regulations and new, relatively inexpensive technology, there is neither a reason nor an excuse not to be testing for soil contamination frequently.
The Gong Show
Early last year, the three owners of a mid-sized manufacturing company not far from Toronto were surprised when pollution inspectors from the province showed up to sample the soil around their facility, which is located in a semi-rural area. Two days later, the owners were stunned when they were served with a sworn complaint that discharge from their factory was seeping into the soil and, eventually, ground water.
The inspection and grievance was prompted by calls to the Ministry from nearby farmers who suspected that contamination from the facility was both damaging crops and causing birth defects in livestock. To make matters worse, not only did the company not realise it was causing problems, the owners had no idea that anything in their manufacturing process was potentially harmful.
The company faced two unpleasant and hugely expensive propositions. Either it could pay for decontaminating the soil or close down; in any event, the business and its owners were facing enormous fines and possible criminal citations.
“It was like being on The Gong Show,” one of the owners told us not long ago. “No matter what we did, we were going to be rung off stage.”
In the end, the business negotiated a settlement with the province and neighbouring farmers, and assumed responsibility for part of the clean-up costs. But threatened with its very existence, the company learned an extremely costly lesson.
An Ounce Of Prevention
Whether located in an urban, semi-rural or country setting, monitoring soil contamination is critical. All companies with a potential risk should be doing so at least one a week; daily testing is even better for businesses that know they are dealing with hazardous material. Moreover, farms should also be testing frequently since agriculture has the most to gain – and lose – by knowing soil quality.
Fortunately, keeping an eye on possible contamination is easy thanks to one of the many “handy” measuring instruments that are available today.
There are four smart, simple ways of providing protection through an ounce of prevention:
· Depending on the industry, there are specific test kits available to determine the contamination level of land surrounding a plant.
· Agribusinesses may use a pH-Meter to determine whether a specific crop has the best condition to grow in a given soil.
· Both industry and agriculture should use dissolved salt meters to determine if drainage is working properly.
· Use standardized samplers to obtain a standard soil sample ensuring all tests are showing comparable results.
Today, new, rapidly emerging technology makes it increasingly easy to manage and prevent soil contamination at an affordable cost. As the Ontario manufacturer and its farm neighbours learned the hard way, testing is cheap and cleaning up a mess is awful.
Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc., Canada’s leading provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, agricultural, institutional and government facilities.
E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Measuring Water Flow Reduces Costs And Helps Prevent Contamination.
Measuring Water Flow Reduces Costs And Helps Prevent Contamination.
Groundwater is a hidden and declining resource. Government, business and citizens are waking up to a jarring reality: It is more widespread than realised and is cheaper to monitor than ever before.
– by Isaac Rudik
Unplug the cable or satellite cord from a television for a moment and then switch it on. A tiny fraction of the static on the screen is the remains of a radio signal that dates back to the Big Bang. Now turn on the faucet at the kitchen sink. Most of what is flowing out the tap is ground water and a tiny fraction it is nearly as old as the earth itself.
Until sometime during the 1970s, the purity and availability of ground water was taken for granted. After all, H20 has been around forever and what could possibly harm it? Much of ground water is held in aquifers buried deep beneath the surface; the rest saturates the tiny spaces between sand, gravel, silt and clay or the crevices and fractures in rocks.
But some 30 years ago, scientists were beginning to discover that man-made pollutants were seeping into ground water and, within the past five-to-10 years, academics realised to their horror that water was actually disappearing.
Clearly, groundwater is a hidden and declining resource. Government, business and citizens are waking up to a jarring reality:
· Approximately one-third of industrial water needs are fulfilled by using groundwater.
· Scientists estimate that groundwater accounts for more than 95% of all available fresh water.
· Nearly 95% of rural residents rely on groundwater for their drinking supply.
· About half of all irrigated cropland uses groundwater.
· On average, about 40% of the flow of the nation’s rivers depends on groundwater.
Countless Threats
There are countless, serious threats to the purity of groundwater and scientists are discovering new ones on what seems like a weekly basis. They fall into one of several broad categories:
· Inorganic Compounds include all compounds that do not contain carbon. Nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and heavy metals are two examples.
· Pathogens, including bacteria and viruses, have been credited with causing more than 50% of the waterborne disease outbreaks in the US.
· Organic Compounds include benzene, toluene, xylene, napthaline, phenol PCBs and pesticides.
They seep into ground water in numerous ways: Discharge from a pipe such as at a sewage treatment plant, factories, livestock farms and stockyards, and landfill. Point sources are easily identified because they usually come out of a "pipe." Examples include sewage treatment plants, large injection wells, industrial plants, livestock facilities, landfills, and others. At the same time, non-point sources like septic systems, cattle grazing, and everyday urban runoff spread seemingly insignificant amounts of pollutants which, cumulatively, threaten water quality and natural systems.
Other sources include underground petroleum storage systems, dry cleaners, restaurants, and auto repair shops. Although a large number of underground storage tanks have been removed or upgraded, a significant number remain. Businesses can threaten groundwater with a wide variety of potentially contaminating substances.
Easy Monitoring
It’s become relatively easy to monitor potential runoff problems, thanks to technology.
Indeed, water flow meters can measure open channels, tubes, partially filled pipes, streams, rivers, wastewater and industrial process waters among other places. Many water flow meters are designed for metering pump pacing or water treatment control, but they can aid in rain water runoff studies and sewer flow measurements, and measuring flows in bodies of water. In plumbing, water flow meters are used to measure the amount of fluid running through a tube for efficiency purposes. Industrial water flow meters are also available for larger-scale applications.
The best thing about the meters is they also provide quick information for simple flow monitoring. They are as convenient as they are lightweight, waterproof, and reliable.
Today’s new technology makes it easier to manage potential contamination and save water at affordable costs.
Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc., Canada’s leading provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, agricultural, institutional and government facilities.
E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354
Groundwater is a hidden and declining resource. Government, business and citizens are waking up to a jarring reality: It is more widespread than realised and is cheaper to monitor than ever before.
– by Isaac Rudik
Unplug the cable or satellite cord from a television for a moment and then switch it on. A tiny fraction of the static on the screen is the remains of a radio signal that dates back to the Big Bang. Now turn on the faucet at the kitchen sink. Most of what is flowing out the tap is ground water and a tiny fraction it is nearly as old as the earth itself.
Until sometime during the 1970s, the purity and availability of ground water was taken for granted. After all, H20 has been around forever and what could possibly harm it? Much of ground water is held in aquifers buried deep beneath the surface; the rest saturates the tiny spaces between sand, gravel, silt and clay or the crevices and fractures in rocks.
But some 30 years ago, scientists were beginning to discover that man-made pollutants were seeping into ground water and, within the past five-to-10 years, academics realised to their horror that water was actually disappearing.
Clearly, groundwater is a hidden and declining resource. Government, business and citizens are waking up to a jarring reality:
· Approximately one-third of industrial water needs are fulfilled by using groundwater.
· Scientists estimate that groundwater accounts for more than 95% of all available fresh water.
· Nearly 95% of rural residents rely on groundwater for their drinking supply.
· About half of all irrigated cropland uses groundwater.
· On average, about 40% of the flow of the nation’s rivers depends on groundwater.
Countless Threats
There are countless, serious threats to the purity of groundwater and scientists are discovering new ones on what seems like a weekly basis. They fall into one of several broad categories:
· Inorganic Compounds include all compounds that do not contain carbon. Nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorus) and heavy metals are two examples.
· Pathogens, including bacteria and viruses, have been credited with causing more than 50% of the waterborne disease outbreaks in the US.
· Organic Compounds include benzene, toluene, xylene, napthaline, phenol PCBs and pesticides.
They seep into ground water in numerous ways: Discharge from a pipe such as at a sewage treatment plant, factories, livestock farms and stockyards, and landfill. Point sources are easily identified because they usually come out of a "pipe." Examples include sewage treatment plants, large injection wells, industrial plants, livestock facilities, landfills, and others. At the same time, non-point sources like septic systems, cattle grazing, and everyday urban runoff spread seemingly insignificant amounts of pollutants which, cumulatively, threaten water quality and natural systems.
Other sources include underground petroleum storage systems, dry cleaners, restaurants, and auto repair shops. Although a large number of underground storage tanks have been removed or upgraded, a significant number remain. Businesses can threaten groundwater with a wide variety of potentially contaminating substances.
Easy Monitoring
It’s become relatively easy to monitor potential runoff problems, thanks to technology.
Indeed, water flow meters can measure open channels, tubes, partially filled pipes, streams, rivers, wastewater and industrial process waters among other places. Many water flow meters are designed for metering pump pacing or water treatment control, but they can aid in rain water runoff studies and sewer flow measurements, and measuring flows in bodies of water. In plumbing, water flow meters are used to measure the amount of fluid running through a tube for efficiency purposes. Industrial water flow meters are also available for larger-scale applications.
The best thing about the meters is they also provide quick information for simple flow monitoring. They are as convenient as they are lightweight, waterproof, and reliable.
Today’s new technology makes it easier to manage potential contamination and save water at affordable costs.
Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc., Canada’s leading provider of health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, agricultural, institutional and government facilities.
E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
The Serious Spillover Of Toxic Spills
The Serious Spillover Of Toxic Spills
Business executives and owners can pay a stiff personal and financial price for not taking steps to prevent toxic spills coming from their business. Since prevention costs a fraction of the price, it’s silly not to be proactive.
– by Isaac Rudik
Not long ago, the owner and president of a small company in Belleville, Ontario was found guilty of discharging PCB-contaminated sediment into the environment from his factory. Not only was he held responsible for the spill, a court found that he failed to comply with a provincial order to clean up the site. The man was fined $659,000 and sent to prison for four months.
That’s an expensive personal and financial price for anyone to pay for something that could have been prevented in the first place – at a fraction of the cost and without anyone being locked up. How much less costly? The price of one salvage drum for storing toxic material such as PCB-contaminated sediment is $264.
Indeed, Ontario’s Ministry of Environment is pushing for tougher penalties as it raises fines and hires more inspectors to enforce the Environmental Protection Act. For companies with a potential exposure, the time to deal with a problem is before it happens: To borrow a phrase and adapt it to today’s cleaner, greener world, $264 worth of prevention is worth a lot more than $659,000 of cure.
Heavy Costs
Even without the stiff fine and jail time handed down to the Belleville businessman, the cost of cleaning up a spill and preventing another one is high.
Simply removing the toxins after-the-fact is an expensive proposition. A consultant will be needed to assess the damage and create a clean-up implementation plan. Specialists will be needed for the actual clean-up and removal. Transporting and disposing of toxic waste once it has been let loose in an uncontrolled way is as expensive as it is time-consuming and dangerous.
Moreover, if the toxins spread into the atmosphere, ground water or property beyond the site of the actual spill, the negligent company is likely to face enormous legal bills for negotiating settlements with municipalities, regions, the province and adjoining businesses or homes. If the accident causes injury or death, the resulting lawsuits might make the rest of the costs seem like lunch money by comparison.
While some of the cost of a first accident may be covered by insurance, one toxic discharge will mean that either insurance is no longer available or the premiums are so steep a business cannot afford them.
Proactive Solutions
Every business dealing with toxic materials is under a number of serious legal obligations. The law says that companies having control over a pollutant that spills must notify the ministry within a short period of time; more to the point, it must also implement a program to eliminate, fix and prevent the negative effects of the accident on the environment, restoring it to the condition it was in before the damage.
There is a smart way to prevent damaging the environment – and the business.
The easiest, and the one that is cost-effective for many locations, is a simple spill kit. They are available for use inside a facility as well as outdoor locations. A supplier such as CSC can provide these as well as specialised spill kits for vehicles. Spill containment systems are placed under barrels and other containers of all sizes carrying substances that are harmful to the environment.
Preventing spills is a much less expensive than cleaning up a site. As the Belleville company and its president learned too late, $264 worth of prevention is worth a lot more than $659,000 of cure.
Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc. , Canada’s largest provider of providing health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, institutional and government facilities.
E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354.
Business executives and owners can pay a stiff personal and financial price for not taking steps to prevent toxic spills coming from their business. Since prevention costs a fraction of the price, it’s silly not to be proactive.
– by Isaac Rudik
Not long ago, the owner and president of a small company in Belleville, Ontario was found guilty of discharging PCB-contaminated sediment into the environment from his factory. Not only was he held responsible for the spill, a court found that he failed to comply with a provincial order to clean up the site. The man was fined $659,000 and sent to prison for four months.
That’s an expensive personal and financial price for anyone to pay for something that could have been prevented in the first place – at a fraction of the cost and without anyone being locked up. How much less costly? The price of one salvage drum for storing toxic material such as PCB-contaminated sediment is $264.
Indeed, Ontario’s Ministry of Environment is pushing for tougher penalties as it raises fines and hires more inspectors to enforce the Environmental Protection Act. For companies with a potential exposure, the time to deal with a problem is before it happens: To borrow a phrase and adapt it to today’s cleaner, greener world, $264 worth of prevention is worth a lot more than $659,000 of cure.
Heavy Costs
Even without the stiff fine and jail time handed down to the Belleville businessman, the cost of cleaning up a spill and preventing another one is high.
Simply removing the toxins after-the-fact is an expensive proposition. A consultant will be needed to assess the damage and create a clean-up implementation plan. Specialists will be needed for the actual clean-up and removal. Transporting and disposing of toxic waste once it has been let loose in an uncontrolled way is as expensive as it is time-consuming and dangerous.
Moreover, if the toxins spread into the atmosphere, ground water or property beyond the site of the actual spill, the negligent company is likely to face enormous legal bills for negotiating settlements with municipalities, regions, the province and adjoining businesses or homes. If the accident causes injury or death, the resulting lawsuits might make the rest of the costs seem like lunch money by comparison.
While some of the cost of a first accident may be covered by insurance, one toxic discharge will mean that either insurance is no longer available or the premiums are so steep a business cannot afford them.
Proactive Solutions
Every business dealing with toxic materials is under a number of serious legal obligations. The law says that companies having control over a pollutant that spills must notify the ministry within a short period of time; more to the point, it must also implement a program to eliminate, fix and prevent the negative effects of the accident on the environment, restoring it to the condition it was in before the damage.
There is a smart way to prevent damaging the environment – and the business.
The easiest, and the one that is cost-effective for many locations, is a simple spill kit. They are available for use inside a facility as well as outdoor locations. A supplier such as CSC can provide these as well as specialised spill kits for vehicles. Spill containment systems are placed under barrels and other containers of all sizes carrying substances that are harmful to the environment.
Preventing spills is a much less expensive than cleaning up a site. As the Belleville company and its president learned too late, $264 worth of prevention is worth a lot more than $659,000 of cure.
Isaac Rudik is a compliance consultant with Compliance Solutions Canada Inc. , Canada’s largest provider of providing health, safety and environmental compliance solutions to industrial, institutional and government facilities.
E-mail Isaac at irudik@csc-inc.ca or phone him at 905-761-5354.
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