Don’t Drink The Untested Water
Even without neglect, cost-cutting or carelessness, a private company or government body can get enmeshed in accidental water pollution. Nearly every organisation using water for more than drinking is at risk of causing environmentally damaging water pollution.
– by Isaac Rudik
It seems that every week, the news media carries another report of how either a community water treatment facility or an industrial plant discharge contaminated water either because of equipment failure, improper or inadequate treatment and inspection, or simple carelessness.
The tragic story of what happened in Walkerton, Ontario is a case study on how to do everything wrong. But even without neglect, cost-cutting or carelessness, a private company or public organisation can become enmeshed in creating water pollution by accident.
Take the case of Beaverlodge, British Columbia, a small town not far from Whistler.
It was fined $20,000 after more than 12,000 fish died when an algal bloom feeding on the town's sewage outflow contaminated a stream. In addition, the community was required to install an aeration system at a cost of over $1-million. The algal bloom went unnoticed during regularly scheduled inspections and maintenance.
Likewise, an Ontario food manufacturing plant was fined after accidentally discharging by-products from disinfectants used in the processing line into a sewage system. At the same time, provincial inspectors found that waste left over during processing also were being disposed of improperly, creating an additional water pollution risk.
In fact, nearly every business or government body that uses water for more than drinking is at risk of causing environmentally damaging water pollution. And although clean-up can be costly, complex and lengthy, preventing the problem from occurring is relatively inexpensive, easy and readily do-able.
Multisource Problems
So many organic and inorganic compounds can cause water pollution that they can be easy to overlook.
Organic water pollutants include:
· Detergents;
· Disinfection by-products;
· Food processing waste;
· Insecticides and herbicides;
· Petroleum hydrocarbons, including fuels and lubricants;
· Industrial solvents;
· Chlorinated solvents; and
· Various chemical compounds found in personal hygiene and cosmetic products
As if this isn’t a long enough list, a raft of inorganic water pollutants also pose a hazard:
· Acidity caused by industrial discharge;
· Ammonia from food processing waste;
· Chemical waste as industrial by-products;
· Fertilizers; and
· Heavy metals from motor vehicles.
Yet simple sampling and testing can detect potential hazards although the most-common form – so-called “grab sampling” – is considered unreliable by scientists. Scientists gathering this type of data often employ auto-sampler devices that pump increments of water at either time or discharge intervals.
Other common sampling methods include biological testing, checking water temperature and the concentration of solid material, as well as checking for pH levels, nutrients in the water, metals, oil and grease, pesticides and hydrocarbons.
Cost-Effective Avoidance
Many basic tests are available in kit form. While not always conclusive, they do provide a kind of early warning on any problems that might be emerging.
At the same time, industrial facilities can reduce the risks by installing safe storage containers for compounds that can cause pollution if they leak. Safe handling procedures are a must as is training employees on the proper way to work with potential contaminants. Spill containment devices are both effective and inexpensive – especially when compared to the cost of fines and lawsuits. Finally, it’s incumbent on plant safety officers to monitor spills, report them immediately if one occurs and take fast action to keep a spill from trickling out of control.
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.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Don’t Fool Around With Soil Contamination
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.
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.
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