Cleanups of Petroleum in Water, Soil and Roadways

Over the past 18 years, Protect Environmental has helped companies, government entities and non-profit organizations with the cleanup of fuels, oils and other petroleum products spilled during accidents or wrecks. Spills of petroleum products occur across Texas every day and the location greatly affects how the cleanup is conducted. Petroleum spills broadly fall into three categories depending on whether the product spills onto water, soil or hard surfaces.

Petroleum spills on the water are typically the most difficult to contain and can be quite expensive depending on specific factors. When response teams arrive on site, the first thing they will do is assess the situation and determine the best course of action for containing the spill. Petroleum floating on lakes, rivers or streams can spread very quickly so decision making and resource deployment need to happen rapidly as well. Boats or personnel in waders will use floating boom to contain the spill and special pads will be utilized to absorb the petroleum product. Vacuum tanker trucks can also be called in to remove and dispose of petroleum impacted water.

Spills that occur on hard surfaces such as roads or parking lots can spread quickly during the initial incident. As long as the product does not continue to leak from its tank or container and it does not reach drainage structures the spill’s spread usually slows on its own. Once it is contained, teams will deploy granular absorbents and spread them over the spill area to absorb the petroleum product. The impacted absorbents will then be collected into drums so that it can be profiled and disposed of in a legally authorized landfill.

When petroleum spills onto soil, the product typically isn’t as mobile as it would be on water or hard surfaces, but it quickly begins to soak into the soil. If the responsible party waits too long to call for a cleanup, the product has time to seep deeper into the earth and the overall cleanup cost increases enormously. Marking and excavating any soil, sand or crushed rock that becomes impacted with a petroleum product is the fastest and most reliable method to ensure that the product does not spread further into the environment. Back-fill soil is typically brought in to restore the area once the impacted material has been removed in drums, roll off boxes or dump trucks.

Companies and organizations can suddenly find themselves responsible for massive cleanups when their vehicles or equipment are involved in spills. Since concrete, grassy areas and waterways are intermingled across the country, petroleum spills that start on one type of surface frequently spread to others. It’s important that the responsible party has a reliable emergency response contractor lined up before a spill strikes to ensure a seamless and cost effective response. Protect Environmental can be reached any time; any day to perform an emergency cleanup and has the experience and ability to contain and clean up a spill no matter where it occurs.

Contact us today so that we can help your organization cope with an emergency in the future.