Hazardous spill clean

A sub-group of Environmental Industiy Associations that represents for-profit companies in North America providing solid, hazardous and medical waste collection, recycling and disposal sendees, remedial and oil spill clean-ups, and companies providing professional and consulting sendees to the industiy. 

Any spills of epoxy resin or epoxy components should be cleaned up immediately. The immediate concern is to protect personnel, prevent a possible fire hazard, and contain the spill until it is cleaned up. Persons engaged in spill clean-up should be protected from vapors and from skin contact by wearing appropriate protective clothing and equipment. Persons engaged in spill clean-up should also be aware of proper disposal techniques for the materials used in the process. 

If a small quantity of an acid or a base is spilled in a laboratory, you can use a neutralization reaction to minimize the hazard. To neutralize a basic solution spill, you can add solid sodium hydrogen sulfate or citric acid. For an acidic solution spill, you can use sodium hydrogen carbonate (baking soda). Note that you cannot use a strong acid or base to clean up a spill. This would result in another hazardous spill. As well, the neutralization reaction would generate a lot of heat, and thus produce a very hot solution. 

In the same vein, certain waste-handling procedures, even those performed intermittently, can result in very serious contaminant exposure without proper precautions. Workers need to be instructed in the proper procedures for cleaning up spills and accumulated debris. Spilled materials can become airborne and pose an inhalation hazard. Spills and chemical process wastes may end up in the waste-water treatment facilities where they again can be volatilized into the air and result in unexpected worker exposure. 

The 1977 U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ban on PCB manufacture greatly curtailed occupational PCB exposure. Potentially hazardous exposures continue, however, for workers in spill clean up, servicing and dismantling of transformers and capacitors, electrical utility work, and firefighting. A tremendous volume of PCB is still in use and numerous sites in this country and abroad remain contaminated with PCB oil. 

SPILL CLEAN-UP Consider evacuation contain release and eliminate its source, if this can be done without risk remove any sources of ignition until the area is determined to be free from explosion or fire hazards. 

Spills of larger quantities of solids are usually no different from smaller spills except in scale. The spilled solids simply remain as they fell. As long as the solids do not react with materials with which they may have come into contact (such as a reactive metal like sodium might do) or the dust is not a breathing hazard, the clean up is simply mechanically larger, with more containers being set aside for evaluation as to the mode of disposal, i.e., to determine if they are to be treated as hazardous waste or not. 

A color-coded plastic bucket system has evolved to help route various wastes to their proper disposal sites and minimize injuries to custodial staff and waste handlers. This system includes using red buckets for mercury-contaminated materials yellow buckets for broken, non-contaminated glass white buckets for other hazardous wastes standard wastebaskets for ordinary trash and blue buckets for spill clean-up materials. Students are informed of these distinctions at the very beginning of lab each term and throughout the term as needed since all of these buckets are used in each teaching lab. 

The initial use, for our undergraduate teaching labs, of the world wide web was to centrally locate many documents, including the lab course specific CHPs, and allow both easy access and updating when necessary. We became aware of the need to allow access to documents relevant to the students and staff, such as MSDS and course specific protocols. We are currently using the web for access to formatted documents, such as accident reports, spill clean-up procedures and hazardous waste labels. There is still a significant amount of work to be accomplished in this area. 

Federal regulations (40 CFR 261) classify acrylonitrile as a hazardous waste and it is Hsted as Hazardous Waste Number U009. Disposal must be in accordance with federal (40 CFR 262, 263, 264), state, and local regulations only at properly permitted faciUties. It is Hsted as a toxic pollutant (40 CFR 122.21) and introduction into process streams, storm water, or waste water systems is in violation of federal law. Strict guidelines exist for clean-up and notification of leaks and spills. Federal notification regulations require that spills or leaks in excess of 100 lb (45.5 kg) be reported to the National Response Center. Substantial criminal and civil penalties can result from failure to report such discharges into the environment. 

Equipment for Superfund Waste Shipment RCRA hazardous waste that has been spilled, improperly landfilled, or dredged from defunct lagoons is a CERCLA waste, more commonly referred to as a Superfuna waste. For clean-ups where offsite treatment is the chosen solution, soil is excavated and placed in 15-m roll-off box or dump body truck. The trucks may be lined with polyethylene to reduce... 

Hazardous chemical spills may have adverse effects on natural water systems, tlie land enviromnent, and whole ecosystems, as well as tlie atmosphere. Major spills evolve from accidents (see Chapter 6) tliat somehow damage or rupture vessels, tank cars, or piping used to store, sliip, or transport liazardous materials. In such cases, the spills must be contained, cleaned up, and removed as quickly and effectively as possible. 

Chemical spills in the laboratory may be hazardous, damaging to flooring and furniture finishes, or simply messy to clean up. Laboratory equipment houses and distributors of safety equipment carry a variety of clean-up kits made for specific types of spills, depending on the types of chemicals handled. Generally, the kits contain absorbents or neutralizers, or a combination of the two, plus instructions for use. Kits should be stored as close as possible to where spills are likely to occur and not in a remote storeroom. Instructions must be kept with the kits, not in a file cabinet. Quick action in case of a spill is important in reducing both hazards and damage. 

Designate protected raw material and hazardous waste storage areas with spill containment. Keep the areas clean and organized and give one person the responsibility for maintaining the areas. 

Removal actions are short-term cleanup actions that usually address problems only at the surface of a site. They are conducted in response to an emergency situation (e.g., to avert an explosion, to clean up a hazardous waste spill, or to stabilize a site until a permanent remedy can be found). Removal actions are limited to 12 months duration or 2 million in expenditures, although in certain cases these limits may be extended. Removals may occur at any point in time after the PA has been conducted. 

CERCLA, or Superfund, was enacted in 1980, and amended in 1986, for the basic purpose of providing funding and enforcement authority to clean up any site where there is a past unremedied release of a hazardous substance or hazardous substance spill. Such sites are typically characterized as areas where hazardous waste or materials have been disposed of improperly, with litde if any responsible action being taken to mitigate the situation. Standards for financial responsibility were promulgated by the SARA of 1986 which further amended Section 9003 of RCRA and mandated that the EPA establish financial responsibility requirements for UST owners and operators to guarantee cost recovery for corrective action and third-party liability caused by accidental releases of USTs containing petroleum products. 

EPA has determined that 3,3 -dichlorobenzidine is a probable human carcinogen and has placed several limits on the chemical in the environment to protect human health. Under the Clean Water Act of 1977, EPA controls discharges of 3,3 -dichlorobenzidine to industrial waste waters. The agency has listed 3,3 -dichlorobenzidine as a hazardous waste and requires that any spill of one pound or more be reported to the National Response Center. 

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