Friday, 30 May 2014

How Containment Berms Help In The Fight Against Pollution

By Nora Jennings


Every year many millions of tons of chemicals and toxic substances are manufactured or produced as by products when other products are manufactured. These chemicals and toxins have to be stored safely and unfortunately, transported to the places where it is needed. When accidents happen the results can be devastating. It is particularly difficult and expensive to clean up chemical spills. When a spill occurs, the highest priority is to prevent the spread of the contamination. This is where containment berms prove to be invaluable.

Preventing the spread of pollution is just the first step in dealing with the disaster. The harmful substances must be made safe, those vulnerable to the pollution must be evacuated and eventually the toxins must be moved to a facility where it is safe to dispose of it. This process is complicated and each separate incident will dictate the actions required and the urgency with which action needs to be taken.

Continuing research has led to some new methods of dealing with spills. Agents that are able to completely absorb many types of chemicals are now commonly used. Other agents act as bio degrading accelerators. Once applied to a spill the toxins degrade at a much faster rate. This means that the toxins can be handled with safety and removed from the scene of the spill without endangering cleaning crews.

Environmentalists are particularly excited about the development of another new agent that not only absorb many different types of toxins and chemicals, but that can actually transform them into a harmless substance. As an added bonus the resultant mass can be used productively in the manufacture of bitumen and rubber products. In this way cleaning up operations becomes cheaper because they produce a substance that can be sold again.

When spills take place in water, it is often not practical to use special agents to absorb the spill. Many chemicals and toxins cannot be absorbed. In such instances special equipment is used to agitate the water in order to separate the chemicals from the water. The chemicals are then pumped onto large containers for safe disposal elsewhere.

Despite the many advances in the field of dealing with pollution and spills there are still many instances where incidents are simply ignored. This is especially true if the spill takes place in remote areas. The cost of cleaning up remains very high and there is always a shortage of people trained in this field. Authorities therefore use their resources in sensitive areas, densely populated regions and environmentally vulnerable sites.

There are strict regulations governing the manufacture, storage, transport and use of dangerous substances. However, many companies are still not prepared to deal with disasters. It is vital to develop policies addressing these issues and to make sure that staff knows exactly what to do when an accident occur. It is also important to make sure that suitable containing equipment is available at all times.

There is a myriad of products in everyday use that contain potentially harmful chemicals. Those handling and manufacturing these substances simply have to remain aware of the danger and they should do everything possible to prevent accidents. If it happens, however, every effort should be made to make sure that the absolute minimum harm is caused to the environment.




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