Saturday, April 11, 2015

Spill Containment Berms Are Only The First Line Of Defence Against Pollution

By Joanna Walsh


The mind boggles at the vast quantities of poisons, dangerous chemicals and potentially harmful waste products that are in circulation every day. It is no surprise that there is an increase in accidents and that spillages have become a common occurrence. There are even recorded cases of unscrupulous operators that dump their toxins illegally. Such incidents can cause untold harm. At least, by using spill containment berms, for example, the authorities are able to limit the area affected by the incident.

Any spillage of harmful chemicals constitutes a possible emergency but the first priority is and should always be to first do everything possible to contain the affected area. This is where equipment such as berms are so valuable. They can make sure that the pollution does not spread and it can give cleaning teams time to plan a proper cleaning up strategy.

On the plus side it is necessary to note that not everybody is ignoring the issue. Much research have been done and giant strides have been made in the war against pollution. There are now several artificial agents that can be employed to either neutralize or absorb toxins and pollutants. These agents are very expensive, however, and they are not universally available.

Environmentalists have hailed the development of a new agent that is not only able to absorb a large number of toxins and pollutants, but to actually render them into a brand new substance that is actually useful. This substance is already being used in the manufacture of road surfaces and a number of rubber products. This means that the result of a cleaning operation can be a product that can be sold.

On the downside it is necessary to accept the fact that the very cost of cleaning operations still limits the ability of local authorities to deal with spillages. Trained personnel and the required equipment and chemicals are simply not freely available. This means that many spillages are simply ignored and that only threats in populated areas and other vulnerable sites are deemed important enough for priority action.

Prevention is always the best policy. Although legislation regarding the manufacture, transport and handling of toxins are in place, many experts agree that it is not enough. They want companies that deal with these chemicals to implement and manage detailed policies and plans to make sure that accidental spillage is prevented as far as it is humanly possible.

The cost of cleaning up spillages is not limited to the cost of the actual cleaning up operation. In many cases, the long term cost is almost incalculable. In some cases the natural environment can take many years to recover. There have been cases of generations of people suffering health problems from an incident that occurred years ago and that caused genetic aberrations resulting in horrible human suffering.

Humans have been neglecting their home planet for many years. Mother Earth cannot cope with the abuse any longer. Humans spill and they do jot care. At the very least, every operator dealing with potentially harmful substances should have equipment that can limit the damage immediately.




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