CLEANUP TECHNOLOGIES SERIES: Air Stripping

EPA’s Technology Innovation and Field Services Division developed A Citizen’s Guide Series to Cleanup Technologies. The guide is a set of 22 guides summarizing cleanup methods, designed to help Remedial Project Managers and Community Involvement Coordinators explain complicated technologies to the public using basic terms in an easy-to-read style. Each guide helps answer the following questions… What is it? How Continue Reading…

CLEANUP TECHNOLOGIES SERIES: Activated Carbon Treatment

EPA’s Technology Innovation and Field Services Division developed A Citizen’s Guide Series to Cleanup Technologies.  The guide is a set of 22 guides summarizing cleanup methods, designed to help Remedial Project Managers and Community Involvement Coordinators explain complicated technologies to the public using basic terms in an easy-to-read style. Each guide helps answer the following questions… What is it? Continue Reading…

Managing Environmental Risk is an Important Consideration for Investors Looking to Purchase Industrial Property

Industrial properties are more likely to have environmental liabilities and the problems need to be identified and managed. Demand is high for high tech distribution facilities but most times they are being built on top of old manufacturing sites. Industrial property problems are usually the result of past tenant use. Underground storage tanks (USTs) related to Continue Reading…

Tips for Closing Underground Storage Tanks (USTs)

Many older underground storage tanks (USTs) need be be closed property to protect human health and the environment.  Contaminated ground water is usually the first sign that you have a problem with a UST. For the best tips on closing a UST we need to first know if you want to close it temporarily or Continue Reading…

Emergency Response Plans: Your Continued Business Depends On It!

Last year a Kansas refiner had to pay $2M in fines and reimbursement costs for a 2007 oil spill. Per the EPA, the company discharged about 2,145 barrels of crude oil, diesel fuel, and oil water from it’s refinery into a nearby river during a flood on July 1, 2007. The company will also have Continue Reading…

Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Reports and Why They Are So Important To File Correctly By July 1st Each Year

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Requirement EPA requires reporting of toxic chemical releases under EPCRA, and facilities that manufacture, process, or use toxic chemicals over certain quantities must file annual reports estimating the amounts released to the environment, treated or recycled on-site, or transferred off-site for waste management. These reports are submitted to EPA and the Continue Reading…

Prevent Your Company From Having Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Violations From the EPA

SPCC is the abbreviation for the Spill Prevention, Control, and Countermeasure (SPCC) Rule.  An EPA regulator from the Office of Emergency Management (OEM) recently revealed the most common SPCC violations he finds on field inspections. Typical Violations from All Facility Types… Container incompatibility. Some examples include using underground storage tanks as aboveground storage tanks and Continue Reading…

Learn to Avoid Dust Explosions That Can Cause Severe Structural Damage and Loss of Life

A dust explosion is a very rapid burning of the dust while it’s still suspended in the air, known as deflagration. If this happens in a confined enclosure (building, room, vessel, equipment) there may be an explosion. The dispersion of dust in particulate or finely ground form enables the dust to burn very rapidly. Dust fires Continue Reading…

Above-ground Storage Tank (AST) Spill Prevention Tips that are Highly Recommended By the EPA

Above-ground Storage Tanks (AST) are tanks that are aboveground, regardless of whether they are used for to store petroleum products, hazardous waste, or other hazardous material. AST’s used for the store of petroleum products is regulated primarily under 40 CFR 112. The regulation does not actually use the terms “aboveground storage tank.” Instead the term “bulk Continue Reading…

Preparation is the Key to Surviving an Inspection by the EPA or OSHA

If a state or federal environmental agency came to your facilities today, would you be ready? If the answer is no, then you need to prepare yourself quickly. Environmental regulations are complex and reach far in to most operations. Even the most knowledgeable and dedicated environmental manager will get nervous about the thought of on Continue Reading…